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flameworthy confession...pet related...
I hate retractable leashes...and I mean HATE...as they lead to poorly behaved dogs, and inattentive owners.
Case in point walking into my apartment building yesterday I noticed a dog (on a retractable) standing in front of the elevator door barking like the world was coming to an end...with no owner anywhere to be found...because you know where she was???
ON THE ELEVATOR going up to the 2nd floor!!! My DH rushed to the aid of the dog so he wouldn't get hung up if she was going further and released him from his choke hold. A minute later the elevator door opened and a frantic owner popped out and proceeded to say she'd almost had a heart attack and that the dog just jumped off the elevator and she didn't even realize it...
And that is why my dogs are kept on a 6ft leash at all times...
Re: flameworthy confession...pet related...
Amen. x 1000.
We use a retractable ONLY when taking Renzo out to potty. It gives him a bit more space to do his business in. But going out to potty equals putting on the leash and standing on the edge of the patio while he goes and then coming right back in.
When we go on walks we use 6' leashes only.
I don't even want to imagine what could have happened if that dog wouldn't have been rescued in time. *shudders*
People with no leash manners really tick me off. Your dog doesn't need 20' of leash when you're walking in a crowded area. Actually what ticks me off most is when people use NO leash. They think their dog is well behaved enough and "it always listens"... sure, until another dog you don't know comes running up to your off leash dog and then problems can occur.
Totally can relate to that as well...there's been several times where off leash dogs have come at our's and I've had to pick up the boys to get them out of the way because I didn't know if they were friendly or not...and I don't for one second believe it when someone is yelling from 25yds away "He's really friendly"...
I'll be honest, my boys aren't the worlds best behaved dogs and we are continually working on them, but they do have a strong herding instinct so they are always spinning circles. But its for that reason why we keep them on 6ft leashes. I want control over them and they don't need that much more leash anyway. I jog with Scout and he's just fine on a 6ft leash and usually even has slack on the leash when we run as well.
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oh my. how could you not notice your dog was OUTSIDE the elevator when the doors closed???? wow.
edit: deleted the rest. what i had written was in REALLY in poor taste in this post. sorry!Don't hate the retractable leash, hate the user.
I think my dog is reasonably well behaved on her retractable and I'm certainly attentive. There is no way in hell I'd let elevator doors close with me inside and her outside. When we go for serious hikes, her and I both appreciate the retractable cause she can sniff and run ahead or fall a little behind but she's still in my control. She is a dog after all. What is the joy in going for a walk if she can't sniff everything? With that being said, when I see someone coming, I reel her in so she's next to me and distract her with treats if there's another dog. She is never allowed to go up to people unless they ask if they can pet her.
If we're going somewhere and there's a good chance that there will be more than 5 or 6 dogs (which is rare, cause she doesn't do well in those situations), I use the gentle leader. She gets way too excited about dogs and pulls to see them.Tired after a long morning of hiking and swimming.
Oh. My. Goodness. That elevator story is so scary!
We don't even own a retractable leash, I don't like them either.
Even worse, I have idiot neighbors who walk their dogs off leash, but carry the leash in their hand, unattached to the dog. That's helpful. It will make you feel so much better that you had a leash in your hand when your dog gets spooked, runs into the street, and gets hit by a car.
Mr. Sammy Dog
I think my dog is reasonably well behaved on her retractable and I'm certainly attentive. There is no way in hell I'd let elevator doors close with me inside and her outside. When we go for serious hikes, her and I both appreciate the retractable cause she can sniff and run ahead or fall a little behind but she's still in my control. She is a dog after all. What is the joy in going for a walk if she can't sniff everything? With that being said, when I see someone coming, I reel her in so she's next to me and distract her with treats if there's another dog. She is never allowed to go up to people unless they ask if they can pet her.
Even worse, I have idiot neighbors who walk their dogs off leash, but carry the leash in their hand, unattached to the dog. That's helpful. It will make you feel so much better that you had a leash in your hand when your dog gets spooked, runs into the street, and gets hit by a car.
These 2 items hit the nail on the head. We only use a retractable but we use it as just the to retract our dog when in certain situations where 15ft of leash is not appropriate. There is no way in heck I would get on an elevator and not notice my dog was not with me.
Nicole and Sam 10/3/09
Don't get me started on invisible fences. Ohhh boy! Don't get me started on retractable leashes either. I've typed up 10 responses and deleted them all because I just don't want to go to that snarky place today.
I completely agree, I HATE retractable leashes, and I also hate no leashes. I know my dog well enough to know that even when I think I know exactly what he is going to do, he can be unpredictable, and I would never want an accident on my conscience because I was stupid enough to let my dog roam off leash. Even with retractable leashes, you can't always reel them in quick enough. If the leash is 15 feet out, I don't feel like the dog is in close enough control that you can react quickly if something happens. FWIW, I say this because I have a dog that sporadically reacts to things like bikes and joggers, and it is unpredictable enough that I would never risk putting him on a long leash. On the 6 ft. leash I can immediately respond.
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I have a sincere question. If you are paying attention, what exactly can happen on a retractable leash? Isn't a retractable leash meant to be used at different lengths, meaning, if you are in a situation that calls for a short leash, you use a short leash (and vice versa)?
So when I take my dog for a walk, if we are near a road, I don't give her so much leash that she's on the street. If we're crossing a road, she's at my side. If we're in a crowd, in a parking lot, walking through a hotel lobby, etc., she is at my side. If we're on a park trail that's heavily wooded, she's right by my side or within a few feet so that if a wild animal pops out, she's nearby. If the park trail is fairly open so I can see what's out there, she gets more leash. It's not like I'm off in la-la land when I take her for a walk. She doesn't pull, she knows when she hears the click of the stopper thing that she needs to stop and come back and she's not allowed to run up to people or dogs. What exactly is wrong with that?
Also, perhaps in part, it depends on the dog. I've had my dog for 13 years and I've gone on who knows how many walks with her. I know with reasonable certainty how she reacts to deer, birds, squirrels, big dogs, little dogs, kids, men, women, bikes, cars, etc.
Tired after a long morning of hiking and swimming.
I think my biggest issue is the total lack of respect and attentiveness by those who choose to use retractable leashes. I keep my dogs on a 6ft leash because dogs aren't supposed to be out leading the pack, a properly trained dog will walk beside their owner and respond to their owners commands.
Too many times to count I have actually had to un-tangle my dogs leashes from a retractable leash because the owner didn't respect my space or my dogs space and just let their dogs come up and get into a tangled mess with my dogs.
I'm not saying that all retractable owners are like this but the vast majority I've encountered through the years are.
As far as the lady with the elevator dog goes, she was a real dimwit to not know her dog was NOT on the elevator with her, thank goodness we walked in when we did because the cord was pretty tight.
I think the problem with most retractable leashes is that most people don't use them properly. There are always exceptions, but the majority of the people I see using them have no clue. The biggest problem I see is using them on dogs that clearly need a stronger leash. Everyone else just lets their dogs have way too much slack at the most perfectly wrong time.
And I won't get into invisible fences either. I just plain hate them.
It's not that retractable leashes are bad...but lots of people use them incorrectly.
We have one and use it for potty-ing in the backyard and for trail type walks where there is more room for her to roam & check stuff out. I will not use it in the city. DH will often choose it if he walks her by himself, which doesn't happen very often, but I don't particularly like the way she behaves when she is on the retractable - it encourages her to pull. I much prefer her leash manners on a standard 6ft leash.
What's worse is when you see a dog with a Gentle Leader on a retractable leash. You can break your dog's neck if you pull back too hard or the dog sees a squirrel and starts to take off. Not cool.
And I hate retractable leashes too - we only used one when we didn't have a fence to let the dog out.
I see these signs all the time, but still see tons of retractable leashes.
I am not a pet owner, but am glad to see a lot of you find them annoying. I have almost been tripped too many times to count by a dog on a retractable leash that suddenly darts out across the path I am running or biking on. Not cool when you are on a bike - and I have seen it end badly with the biker ending up on the ground.
And as a non-pet owner, strange dogs are, well strange to me. There is a dog owner near my house who lets his two dogs (springer spaniols maybe?) run wild and free in the park. And by free I mean he will be literally 1/4 of a mile away and they just run around full speed in the park. If I didn't know better after seeing this all the time by now, I would think they were wild dogs. Not to mention there is a sign saying they should be on a leash. They have run up to me on occasion, too. I feel bad to confess that it makes me uncomfortable when two dogs come sprinting towards me out of no where. I don't know what they are going to do. I hope that doesn't make me a bad person!
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