Flexi Leads Why do people use them?

[Anne_FS]

[QUOTE=Paks;7772132]
Your half right. I see flexi leads as enablers of people who don’t want to train their dog and delude themselves that they have them under control. So to me Flexi lead is approximately equal to bad owner.[/QUOTE]

I agree that most people using a flexi use it instead of training. Most, not all. Where I walk in public open spaces the cops are fine with me using a flexi to obey the letter of the law as to using a leash. But then some of these cops are the same ones that come to the field when we’re training Schutzhund so they know how well obedience-trained these dogs are.

But it’s rare that I use one at all, and one of the reasons I carry a short leather lead in leash-mandatory areas is to switch, because I know flexis can be bad news and other people hate them, too. That way people we approach don’t have to be thinking, “oh, no, a German Shepherd on a flexi-lead.”

[Nezzy]

Flexi leashes have no control. hate them.

[Anne_FS]

[QUOTE=Angela Freda;7772233]
I actually prefer the handle of the Flexi to a leash, either the smooth nylon one we use on the Lab or the thinner cotton one we used for the Yorkie.[/QUOTE]

Ugh. Way too bulky for me. To each his own.

@Angela Freda;7772233

And I am not a fan of winding anything around my hand/wrist ie the loop of a lead/leash.

Who winds it around their hand/wrist? I walk along holding the loop. If your dog is trained you can just hold the loop, you don’t have to wrap it around anything.

[Angela_Freda]

[QUOTE=Anne FS;7772250]
Ugh. Way too bulky for me. To each his own.

Who winds it around their hand/wrist? I walk along holding the loop. If your dog is trained you can just hold the loop, you don’t have to wrap it around anything.[/QUOTE]

To shorten it, several posters mentioned wrapping it around to shorten it/keep it short and the leash taut.

[cowboymom]

Luckily, I don’t really give a flying dog turd what the Dog Nazi’s instantly think of me when they see my chihuahua on a flexi-leash. :lol:

[hosspuller]

[QUOTE=Paks;7771631]
Because I’m sick of seeing stories like the one on this board about the problems flexi leads called. I’m sick of seeing the dog on one side of the road and the owner on the other and thinking they have control. I sick of irresponsible dog owners who see don’t have the ability to control there dogs and consider teaching it basic training to be some kind of excessive training purist idiocy. …[/QUOTE]

You have a people problem and you’re focusing on a thing. I say that’s the cowards way. Focus your ire on the “100’s of people” you see using Flexi leads. You’ll be either thrashed or ridden out of town on a rail by those people. A thing so despised, can’t resist you.

I have and use a Flexi leash… A long one too… every bit of 26 feet. On a 85 pound Doberman.

[jetsmom]

[QUOTE=Anne FS;7772212]
Of course I realize there’s a locking feature on it, but the bulky plastic holder is awkward to handle. I have large dogs and it’s much better to have them on a leather lead than on a palm-burning bit of nylon should you need to use two hands. And sometimes - I’ve seen it happen more than once - a pulling dog will pop that lock. There are all kinds of quality levels in flexi-leads. A strong dog can pop a locked on.[/QUOTE]

THis^^^. I had someone in my neighborhood that was walking an adult Saint Bernard on one, and when he saw my dogs, jumped at them, pulling the handle out of her hand. The dog charged my 3 dogs. She fell down, so I was left with 2 dogs trying to fight the St Bernard, while my little one tried to get away.
I think they ought to get rid of flexis for dogs over 25 lbs.

[saje]

The only time I use one is for my shy pee-er when I’m traveling with the dogs. It’s great at rest areas because I can stand at the top of an embankment and let my dogs explore a bit, and the shy one can get far enough away from me to go. She’s little and both my girls have very good leash manners, and I have sense enough to stay far away from people and other dogs. I also have sense enough to lock it at a manageable length before getting her out of the car, and to shorten and lock it again before we go across parking lots and among people.

I would never use it at a vets office or a horse show, or anywhere crowded. Frankly I don’t much like the handle on them and the fact that you HAVE to actually grip it, there’s no looping it over your wrist for a second to open the door or stuff keys in a pocket or whatever.

Essentially I hate the things for the same reason I mostly don’t like other people’s pets and kids - it’s all down to operator error.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=jetsmom;7772294]
THis^^^. I had someone in my neighborhood that was walking an adult Saint Bernard on one, and when he saw my dogs, jumped at them, pulling the handle out of her hand. The dog charged my 3 dogs. She fell down, so I was left with 2 dogs trying to fight the St Bernard, while my little one tried to get away.
I think they ought to get rid of flexis for dogs over 25 lbs.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, but you could have that exact same situation with any leash. I was at a dog show and a woman had a rambunctious young male wirehaired pointing griffon – probably an 80lb dog - on a regular leash, in the hotel lobby. He pulled her off her feet to come see my dog. Luckily it was not a problem for the dogs, but the woman was unable to control the dog - on a normal leash. If the woman in your neighborhood had a regular leash, she might have had no more control over her 100+lb dog, except that if her arm was looped through the handle she might have been dragged along after she fell.

[Horsegal984]

I hate them and will immediately (in front of the owner!) replace them whenever somebody brings one into the clinic.

With that said, I have one and use it for foster dogs who are not yet reliable off lead so I don’t have to go out with them in the rain. I DO NOT use it off my property, but without a fenced yard I get a little tired of getting soaked with every new foster. It also helps them to get the concept that we’re out to potty and back inside like with my crew. My guys know if I’m in the yard we’re either training or doing something else fun so it makes life a bit easier.

[dani0303]

I trained my dog to walk nicely on a 6’ nylon lead. I have a Flexi and only use it in certain situations (i.e. walking trails). She never pulls and I have full control with or without the leash. But there are just some situations where I cannot let her off leash but I want to let her sniff so I use the Flexi. I never use it in a public setting (sidewalk, vet office, horse show)

So shoot me. Clearly I’m a horrible owner with a dog with no manners :rolleyes:

[twotrudoc]

I don’t do flexis. Buck has a 5’ leash and a 22’ or 25’ lunge line I call it. I’m so used to horses I handle the lunge line of his just fine for him to wander hither and yon if need be.

[Big_Grey_hunter]

[QUOTE=jetsmom;7772294]
THis^^^. I had someone in my neighborhood that was walking an adult Saint Bernard on one, and when he saw my dogs, jumped at them, pulling the handle out of her hand. The dog charged my 3 dogs. She fell down, so I was left with 2 dogs trying to fight the St Bernard, while my little one tried to get away.
I think they ought to get rid of flexis for dogs over 25 lbs.[/QUOTE]

How is that the flexi’s fault? The dog is just as capable of pulling a nylon leash out of the owner’s hand.

This is such a ridiculous rant. My dog heels beautifully off leash. “Heel” for the left side and “With me” for the right. He even has a perfect heel/with me next to my horse.

He also knows how to walk on a flex lead, so if we’re somewhere he’s not allowed off leash (road trips, horse shows, some dog parks) he can still run around. I find the flex is better because I can allow him to run around then bring him to the heel (by voice, no reeling necessary) without worrying about extra leash getting stuck around his feet or tangled with my old dogs leash.

I do get a kick out of walking past leashed dogs barely under control, while my dog calmy heels off leash next to my horse.

[Romany]

Oh, what a pile-on!

We used Flexi- leashes when we first got our new-to-us rescues, so that they could burn off some energy without yanking us around the back 40, or running away. Worked like a treat, and no baby whales, or worse, died in the process.

No doubt there are evil Flexi-leash users, but there are also good ones. Like any tool, they have their uses. I wouldn’t use one in confined spaces.

The new Flexi-leashes have a tape instead of a cord. We have a cord one and a tape one, and I do prefer the tape, as it runs more smoothly and quietly, and the dogs could see it better, so were better able to avoid it as they zipped around.

[vxf111]

I hate them. I have seen the locking mechanism break at the worst possible time. And known people to get severe burns and lose tips of fingers from them.

That being said, this weekend we were hiking (my dog on traditional 4 foot leather non-retractable leash). There was a man standing on the shore of the lake letting his dog wade in from a safe distance on a flexi-leash. With no one else around. I suppose that’s a reasonable use on a dog you know can swim/is unlikely to get tangled and in trouble.

[_Teddy]

Am I condemed for using it while taking my cats on a walk?

[S1969]

[QUOTE=Teddy;7772604]
Am I condemed for using it while taking my cats on a walk?[/QUOTE]

Yes, you are condemned.

Now you will have the only Iditarod team of cats on the planet because you taught them to pull like sled dogs.

[dani0303]

[QUOTE=Teddy;7772604]
Am I condemed for using it while taking my cats on a walk?[/QUOTE]

Snicker! My cat walks on one too. He “pulled” (as much as an 8lb cat can) while chasing a butterfly. Apparently I’m a terrible cat owner too.

[vacation1]

Oh, the humanity Why is there is always a hardcore group in any debate insisting that instead of focusing on a common item that famously causes a huge amount of trouble, we REALLY need to focus on how people/human nature is the cause? Newsflash - we can’t change human behavior simply by saying “This is the correct way to use this item.” See cell phones, guns, pit bulls, and glitter for proof that this approach doesn’t work. Sometimes, you have to actually take the item out of the human hand and say “See this? Say bye-bye.” and throw the thing out. This is never going to work with things like guns, but works perfectly with stupid consumer items. Flexi-leads, which are simply a cute, convenient consumer item created to be a more expensive version of a clothesline, are one of those things. I totally see their legit use - and don’t care. They’re used far too often by people who vastly prefer that others take appropriate avoidance measures when they see the Death Star-like circumference of a dog on a Flexi approaching, because that beats the effort of actually, you know, controlling Fido.

A little bitter still from my last Flexi encounter, where a woman walking 2 large dogs on the opposite sidewalk watched passively and a bit curiously as her shepherd mix simply walked across the street toward me. When it hit the halfway mark, I asked her to pull it back. She began berating me instead, saying I was crazy and paranoid and shouldn’t own a dog if I was so afraid of them. Yes, this was a people problem. But low-class trash will always be with us, so it would be nice to take some of their toys away.

[ElisLove]

@vxf111;7772546

I hate them. I have seen the locking mechanism break at the worst possible time. And known people to get severe burns and lose tips of fingers from them.

They do make some flexi’s with a wide ‘leash’ instead of the cord which would lessen the burns to that of a normal leash. (again, I don’t have a flexi and don’t think I would ever use one for my dog, just saying that them causing bad burns isn’t necessarily true anymore if people buy the kind with the wider strap)