Are retractable leads bad?

Lots of owners use extendable leads and might leave them out for their dog walkers to use.

In the context of a group walk, retractable leads are going to cause issues getting tangled up, wrapping around legs and possibly causing injuries to you, your dogs and the general public.

But for solo walks where the dog can’t be let off the lead, are retractable leads bad if you know how to use them?

Things said about Flexi leads for dogs;

• They wrap around peoples/dogs legs and cut them
• You’ll lose a finger if you have to grab the lead
• The mechanism breaks and isn’t secure
• If you drop them your dog will bolt
• You can’t control your dog with such a long lead
• It gives your dog too much freedom
• If you attach it to a dog’s collar you can break their neck
• They cause your dog to pull on the lead
• It makes your dog a nuisance to other people/dogs

The research.

We searched Google’s news archives, asked on dog walker forums for real-world experiences and searched online for any mention of original experiences.

Debunking retractable lead myths.

If you attach it to a dog’s collar you can break their neck

Whilst we didn’t find any news reports supporting this claim we did find plenty of evidence that using a collar with any lead can cause health problems if the lead is jerked on a regular basis.

A famous (in the training world at least) study in 1992 found “91% of the dogs that had spinal injuries experienced hard jerks on a leash or had strained against their leashes.” (Hallgren, A. Animal Behaviour Consultants Newsletter” July 1992 V.9 No 2 )

So if you have a dog who pulls, it’s best not to attach ANY lead to their collar whether retractable or not, and instead invest in a harness and some loose lead training for you and your dog.

They cause your dog to pull on the lead

The argument is that because of the constant light tension on a retractable lead, this teaches your dog to pull.

A contextual cue is something in the dog’s environment that results in a behaviour that doesn’t come from a direct cue.

It sounds complicated but your dog probably does it several times a day. If you pick up their lead, they expect to go for a walk and get excited. The context of you picking up the lead has cued the excited behaviour.

If I walk my dog on an extendable lead, the light tension needed to enable him to walk further from me is a contextual queue that he’s allowed to roam. If I lock the lead to a short length, the increased tension acts as a contextual queue that he can no longer roam and he walks with me without me asking.

It’s not the tension that causes the dog to pull, it’s the reward they get for pulling.

You’ll lose a finger if you have to grab the lead

We failed to find any news reports about anyone with an amputated finger due to grabbing an extendable lead.
We did find a report about a woman who had dropped the lead only to have it wrapped around her finger and had torn the skin and muscle away (degloving).

In the same newspaper article, the doctor is quoted as saying it was a common injury for dog owners when they wrap the lead around their hands.

So it’s not an injury that’s particular to the extendable lead, but indeed any lead.

How to use a retractable lead safely.

Choose the correct length of lead for your environment.

If you’re exploring a park it’s probably ok to have the button unlocked so that they can move freely, but if you’re walking on a pavement then lock the length.

They might look safe enough 26 feet in front of you on a path but it only takes them spotting a cat on the opposite side of the road and suddenly they’ve created a 26 foot arc and are now in the middle of the road.

Always buy the ‘tape’ version.

The tape is associated with fewer injuries than the cheaper cord type. If you can, go for one which is more visible like this fluorescent tape option which makes it more visible to other people.

Walk with your finger over the lock button

Be ready for anything! Cats, squirrels, other dogs, toddlers, trash. Just be ready, be aware of your surroundings and press that button at the first sign of trouble and either call your dog back to you or reel them in.

Use the lock function frequently

It should become second nature to click the lock on and off as needed.

Lock it before unclipping your dog so the lead doesn’t spring back and injure you. Lock it before you open the front door to exit with your dog. Lock it before getting your dog out of your car.

Locked should be the default state and you can unlock and allow your dog to explore once you know it’s safe to do so.

Don’t allow playtime with other dogs whilst on a lead.

This should apply whether you use a Flexi lead or not but it’s even riskier with the retractable. The lead will get wrapped around your dog, their dog, your legs etc. Don’t risk it and never use a retractable on a group walk.

Be aware of other people.

Lastly, make sure you’re paying attention to your surroundings. Again this should apply to all your dog’s walks, not just ones on a Flexi lead.

In 2015 a dog on a retractable lead shot away from its owner across the path of a cyclist who was so severely injured that he was awarded £65,000. A sobering reminder to make sure you’re insured correctly.