Now tell me - if that dog suddenly decided to check out something in the middle of the road, just HOW was she going to get him pulled back in time?

I really, really, REALLY hate those things . . . . . . . . . . .

Straybaby I absolutely agree with you and I used to cross the street as well. People with the retractable leads let their dogs go whereever they want to go no matter what their temperament. In my opinion they are dangerous to all. In my 350 unit community we have had many a dog fight due to people using those leads. And we have had shoulder injuiries and people thrown right to the ground when the dog bolted on the owner. I do not believe it is possible to get the proper leverage that you can achieve with a regular 6/8 ft or so leash. Living in close quarters our animals need to walk beside us and not have the ability to go after neighbors. So I hope you are going to properly warn against these “leashes”. They really are only suitable in my opinion for the best trained obedience dog. Sorry, but that is what I have observed.

Oddly, I never liked to use it when I lived in the US, but now I use it all the time.

Christie

i use 15-25 ft training leads. much easier to handle for me than a flexi and i was warned against flexi’s by someone who knew the damage they could do. i just shorten the lead for street walking, but have the option to give more leash when when we hit the park.

i will cross the street in a heartbeat to avoid another dog coming my way on a flexi. the flexi owners around me seem to leave their brains (if they have any!) at home when they walk their dogs.

late night walk:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/straybaby/999784524/

My dogs were medium size, sweet-natured, and generally well-mannered, but they did love to walk ahead or behind and check out as many smells as they could on a walk. I know that the Dog Whisperer says that meant the dogs were in charge, but they never had any bad habits because of it, so I didn’t care. The constant tension of the leash, I will admit, probably added a bit to Squirt’s pulling, and I will re-think that for my next dog. At the time, it worked well for what I wanted — a leash that didn’t get in my way, and one that I could flip over bushes/mailboxes/boulders that happened to get between me and my dogs. For training, definitely a straight lead, but for fun walking, I really have loved the Flexi leads. I don’t have any photos, but I did tape a video of one of my last walks with Squirt — walking (doddering) ahead of me down the street, heading home. Now that he’s gone, I can still play the tape and “walk my dog”.

You’ll have to pry my Flexis out of my cold, stiff hands. ;)