What kind of leash?

Well, you already know what I consider the perfect all-purpose leash: classy, strong, safe leather. But there are lots of other kinds to buy; the shops are full of different designs.

A well-trained dog can be walked in any of them, but it seems like I see most of these marketed to people as a way to more easily handle a dog that is difficult for them to handle.  Do they really help?

I did a Google search for "dog leash" images and picked out the most common styles.

I'd call this a "tow leash". This particular one is made of polyurethane, but I've seen the same style handle on nylon and rope leashes. You're meant to grip the end like you'd hold a door handle or a bucket. There's really no other way to fit it comfortably in your hand. I see a few problems here. First of all, it's polyurethane, which can either stick in your hand or get really slippery, depending on the finish. (I can't really tell which this is from the picture, but I've run into both kinds.)  And it counts on you being able to hold your dog's weight with your hand's weakest point -- the fingers. So let's say you have the handle gripped in your right hand, your left hand is holding the leash about halfway down, and Rover suddenly says "Squirrel!" and off he goes. Your left hand will either slide because the polyurethane is slippery or reflexively let go because it's tearing at your skin, so you're left trying to hold the weight and force of a lunging dog with four fingers. Not very secure. Also, this particular model is only three feet long, which is quite short. Probably the user is meant to hold it with one hand by design.  As a training leash I think it's horrible, and for regular walking I think you could do much better.

This leash has a bungee cord-style interior, covered by what looks like cotton canvas. The bungee is supposed to reduce shock to your arm and the dog's neck when he pulls.  This sort of leash makes effective training impossible. Important signals are sent from your hands to the dog through the leash, and this leash allows for none of that. And here's a scenario for you: you're holding the leash correctly in both hands, your dog is walking very nicely at your side, and everything is great. Then your dog spots a bit of something tasty (dead bird, poop, discarded fast food wrapper) and makes a move to grab it. You tug on this leash to stop him, and boing! he just stretches on down and wolfs it down before you can stop him.  I hate these.

Let's wear the dog with this hands-free leash! What a great idea! And they can be, with that well-trained dog. Of course, if he were a well-trained dog, you could just use a regular leash, right? I'm not sure why you couldn't hold a leash while running, but that seems to be the main objective here. Maybe you're pushing a baby stroller? Okay, let's go with that, since it makes sense. There you are, jogging through the park with the baby stroller, with the dog tied to your waist. Or better yet, just walking. Let's be safe and walk. Both hands on the stroller, dog tied to the waist, latte in the cup holder and it's a lovely day. The leash shown in this picture is far too long and when Rover steps away to sniff at the grass, he clotheslines a little girl on a scooter which pulls you to the ground, scares the dickens out of him, and spills your latte. Plus you have that little girl's mother shouting at you to control your dog.

You have no control of your dog with this leash. You can't train with it, and the only signal you can send is "stop", once he reaches the end of it. In order to do anything more, you must take your hands off whatever they were doing that prevented you holding the leash in the first place. (Hey, where'd the baby stroller roll off to?)

These leashes actually do have a good use. They are terrific for in the house to help you keep an eye on a dog whose housebreaking skills you're not sure of, like a puppy or a new older dog. It promotes comfort in the dog, because he gets to stay near you. It enforces a your leadership, because he must follow you where you go and stay near when you stop. For some shelter dogs who have never had any training, this sort of attachment can be just what they need to build confidence, and it can be the first step in training a young puppy to walk nicely on a leash because they naturally want to stay near you and go where you go.

But for training outside or regular walking? No, thank you.

You knew this was coming, didn't you. I bet you can already guess how I feel about extendable leashes.  I hate them with the burning hate of a thousand supernovas. They're the perfect trifecta of despicable qualities: that fingers-only handle, the no-limits stretchiness, and amazing length to wrap around things and tangle.

These horrible things are most often seen in the hands of someone whose dog just won't behave so they've given up. Or they think it's more fun for the dog if he can run around.  Come on, people.

Have you ever read the warnings on the side on these? The ones about how that thin cord can cause injury and even cut off your fingers if you grab it? And yet I see people trying to restrain their dogs by grabbing that cord all the time. The button at the top that "locks" the cord often pops loose under stress.  I'll happily show you the scars I have behind both knees when a dog ran around me while I was wearing shorts. You know what takes a long time to heal? Deep burned cuts behind your knees. Oh hey, I found a picture of an injury just like mine...

Every single person at the dog park near where I walk has these stupid leashes. They let the length out so their dogs can sniff and greet each other, and then there's  "Whoops!" and "Oh dear!" as they wind around each other, threading through arms to untangle the leashes as the dogs scamper. Ugh. It's like they want to have seared leash cuts or something.

Now let's talk a little about the dog at the end of the retractable leash. At the least, he's very confused. Because his human can click that leash to stop him at any point along the line, he has no clear idea of what his boundary is. Sometimes he can go way over there! Sometimes he can only go a few feet. And one time he was running over to a tree and just about got knocked off his feet when he reached the end of the leash!

And if you think that a dog's neck is strong enough or different somehow from ours and doesn't get injured by all those sudden stops, you're mistaken.

What about when Rover hits the end of the leash and yanks it from your hand? Suddenly it's winding up, that plastic handle bouncing and rattling, chasing after him! This can be scary to a dog, and without you to help him or control him, he might dash into traffic or crash into a bicycle -- all sorts of trouble. And it certainly doesn't make it any easier to catch him, even if he avoids accidents.

I could go on an on, but by now I'm sure I don't need to.

Oh, but Karen, I hear you saying, These are pretty wild scenarios you've some up with. I mean, it's just a leash. Is it really that big a deal? 

Okay, maybe it's because I walk dogs all day or maybe it's because of my experience handling horses, but I have a tendency to think "What could go wrong with this?" when I look at situations. Accidents happen, and the last thing I want to do is injure an animal or myself with sub-par equipment or methods. I would rather see my friends and clients combine good training and a basic leash than try to shortcut their way to a manageable dog with gimmicks.

Next time: I talk about collars, harnesses, and halters -- which is best for your dog?