Flexi Leads Why do people use them?

[vxf111]

[QUOTE=ElisLove;7772624]
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)[/QUOTE]

Never seen that type and I was just in Petsmart looking at leashes yesterday.

Think how many cats you’d need for the feline sled team… 50… 100 you know that saying about cat herding…

[yellowbritches]

I’m actually really surprised there are so many pro-Flexi leash people on COTH.

I am not one of them. I am actually infamous among my FB crowd for my tirades on the subject. Yes. I am sure this is mostly a people issue, and not a tool issue. But, one way or another, usually when I see a dog walking down the street on a Flexi leash, it is followed by an inattentive, clueless owner.

They should be BANNED from horse shows. There is absolutely no reason why a dog should be more than 6ft away from its handler when moving among horses, and I have seen some very, VERY scary close calls with them (and heard many stories going straight to disaster).

There is absolutely no reason a dog should walk down a neighborhood street or sidewalk 16 ft away from its handler. I’ve seen dogs attack or be attacked because the owner was too far away to deal with an easily avoidable incident (these are usually the same people who are so oblivious they couldn’t read dog body language to save their lives, anyway).

They do encourage pulling (Especially when partnered with harnesses on dogs that have never been properly taught walk on a loose leash). They also can rip off fingers, cause some gnarly rope burns, scare skittish dogs if they pull the handle away from the owner, etc, etc, etc.

The only two reasons I can see using them would be for the pee break in their own yard and for walking in secluded areas with leash laws. Otherwise, nope. My dog is perfectly happy to snarfle around at truck stops on her standard leash. She also is happy to hike on it. Most of the time, she has no reason to be on a leash at all, anyway, but when she is, she is very, very happy to walk on her 6ft lead, and without pulling. I do think she gains a bit of comfort knowing I am close at hand in crowded situations…which is exactly where I want to be.
So, yeah, they are more of a people issue. But they don’t encourage bad dog owners to even TRY to be good ones. I much rather see a poorly trained dog straining at the end of of a 6 ft leash and know I can easily maneuver around it!

[ElisLove]

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTaCva3cpGa0_HubolpJufa5BwcANaaBaRaE-bX4psZ1SOBCTiL

the bigger the flexi (for bigger dogs) usually the thicker the leash is

[vxf111]

[QUOTE=ElisLove;7772637]
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTaCva3cpGa0_HubolpJufa5BwcANaaBaRaE-bX4psZ1SOBCTiL

the bigger the flexi (for bigger dogs) usually the thicker the leash is[/QUOTE]

All of the ones I have seen are only leash for a short bit and then turn into cord inside the handle. I think 99% of people are just buying whatever is at the pet store, and I have never seen one where the entire length of leash was thick. It’s still nylon, right? Thick or thin, that can give you a wicked rope burn.

[ElisLove]

I’m not sure. Some that I have dealt with (as a groomer taking in client dogs) have been softer cottony feel and some more nylon feel.

[S1969]

@yellowbritches;7772634

They should be BANNED from horse shows. There is absolutely no reason why a dog should be more than 6ft away from its handler when moving among horses, and I have seen some very, VERY scary close calls with them (and heard many stories going straight to disaster).

Well, I agree with you 100%; and I can tell you that flexis are “banned” at dog shows, although many people (myself included) take their dogs beyond the parking lot and then put them on flexis to exercise. But indoors? No way! That’s insane.

I don’t know…I personally find it odd that people get so animated over flexi leads when there are so many other opportunities to rant about stupid dog owners. Lack of spaying/neutering, lack of training (in any form), chaining to trees, crating 12+ hours a day, lack of vet care or socializing, etc. etc. etc.

In my breed - I would MUCH rather see an owner letting a Brittany get a burst of energy out on a flexi-lead, than be required to “heel” throughout every walk. (Because I know that the dog is probably home, ripping the wallpaper off the walls.) But obviously - there is a right way to do it and a wrong way. If you’re interfering with someone else’s dog/property…that’s the wrong way. But it’s very possible to use it the right way, without prohibiting your dog from being obedient.

And, having used a flexi in various places over the years - it simply requires a vigilant handler. I “reel in” my dogs the instant I see a car, dog, or person. My dogs are never allowed to interact with any dog or person while on a flexi (including each other). So…could a dog pop out of the bushes and surprise us while they are 10’ out? Sure… ok. But 99.99% of the time, by the time any other person or dog is within 30 feet of me, my dogs are within 3’ of my side and “heeling”.

I get that stupid owners with flexi-leashes affect people on a daily basis, but I continue to argue that the leash is only the tool; the owner is the problem.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=ElisLove;7772676]
I’m not sure. Some that I have dealt with (as a groomer taking in client dogs) have been softer cottony feel and some more nylon feel.[/QUOTE]

I have two that are “old style” – thin cord; and two that are “new” – have a 1/2" ribbon instead of a cord. I’ve never seen a thick cord; probably would require a big handle to coil into. But a small dog flexi - the ribbon might resemble a thicker cord. For a bigger dog, it is clearly wider and flat.

[mroades]

yep…its the tools holding the tool…

[cowboymom]

So are some of you intentionally insulting the few of us brave enough to speak up and say we use the leashes that you don’t like? I’d really like to know that. I’m a tool? Ignorant? Clueless and inattentive? Have ill-behaved dogs ALL based on my choice of leash?

Be clear.

[HenryisBlaisin]

While I think a LOT of people who use them don’t have well-controlled dogs, but dogs can certainly be taught to heel on on, locked or not. Mine does. He’s CGC and therapy dog trained and knows that if I tell him to heel, he should heel. I walk him on the Flexi when I want him to be able to roam and sniff a little but he can’t be totally off-leash. He knows better than to hit the end, and he absolutely knows the difference between the normal tension on the Flexi and the tension of him pulling on it or any other leash. A long line would serve a similar purpose, but all that extra lead is an accident waiting to happen, IMO. The Flexi rolls in the extra, so there’s nothing to trip over or get tangled.

[hosspuller]

[QUOTE=vacation1;7772622]
Oh, the humanity …

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.[/QUOTE]

Elitist totalitarianism …

see link to where this attitude leads … http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/600435/totalitarianism

[danceronice]

Puff wears one here because he walks much, much faster than the Corgis and that way he can get ahead without actually being off-leash. It’s “inherited” from my parents’ dog, Molly, who liked it because she could ‘cast’ as she walked. His regular leash is seven feet long, too. And added shock, neither he nor Tucker wears the lead on the collar (unless I’m feeling lazy about putting Tucker’s harness on.) Maggie only gets lead on the collar because I cannot find a harness that fits. She’s between a small and a medium and no style seems to fit her quite right.

The one thing I hate is long lines. Retractable, I don’t get tangled in or knotted.

[bits619]

[QUOTE=HenryisBlaisin’;7772724]
While I think a LOT of people who use them don’t have well-controlled dogs, but dogs can certainly be taught to heel on on, locked or not. Mine does. He’s CGC and therapy dog trained and knows that if I tell him to heel, he should heel. I walk him on the Flexi when I want him to be able to roam and sniff a little but he can’t be totally off-leash. He knows better than to hit the end, and he absolutely knows the difference between the normal tension on the Flexi and the tension of him pulling on it or any other leash. A long line would serve a similar purpose, but all that extra lead is an accident waiting to happen, IMO. The Flexi rolls in the extra, so there’s nothing to trip over or get tangled.[/QUOTE]

Yep. My dogs that I travel with get a ‘heel’ command and a ‘free’ command regularly during any walks, regardless of the leash, and know the difference between the tension of a flexi and the tension of a standard leash.
I’ve definitely seen some stupid moments/people misusing the flexi leads (like the people that instinctively grab at the cord instead of hitting the lock button, hello burns! Or the people that never reel in their dogs in time and end up all tangled up), but the stupidity of others doesn’t preclude me from using the flexi lead properly.

[Casey09]

I will admit that I do own a couple Flexi leads (I also own many other types of leashes - I’m addicted).
I take my dog up to the open field behind my house and put him in a stay and go out to the end of the Flexi. There are lots of distractions up there and I’d be just a little bit nervous removing it entirely. We’ve worked a lot on recalls, but I am a really nervous type and while it is an open field, it is pretty close to major roads, highways, etc. There is no one else in this field. We also practice recalls with me putting him in a sit, going out to the end of the Flexi, and calling him. Again, he is pretty good at this game, but I don’t want to risk him taking off after a deer and getting out on a road. I also have long lines (again, I have a lot of different leads, leashes, lines, etc.) that I also use for this purpose. With a younger dog that is less reliable, I’d always use a long line because if the dog really does take off, it’s much easier to hold onto a long line than a Flexi. With a more reliable dog I use a Flexi because it is easier to carry up there without it getting tangled.
I will also admit, with some shame, that I have also played a little ball in my own yard with my dog and the Flexi. Again, there is no fence and I was teaching fetch and the Flexi made it a little bit easier to coordinate. There is some pull to the Flexi - it is actually hard to get a dog to do a stay with a Flexi at first because when you walk away the dog feels a little tug. It’s very possible to teach the dog to remain in the stay with the Flexi on, but that shows that the line isn’t totally loose, and to some extent, it teaches the dog to pull. I don’t think that occasionally being on a Flexi means that a dog will be a horrible puller. If I had a dog that had a serious pulling issue, then I absolutely wouldn’t use a Flexi for many reasons.
Flexis aren’t, in and of themselves, a problem. What can be a problem is many people’s attitudes about dogs and the way that they manage their dogs. I use Flexis very rarely in very specific circumstances. They are not a leash to take to an indoor place with other people and dogs. That is dangerous. I think that the real problem is people that just aren’t paying enough attention and allow dogs to socialize too much with literally any dog they come across.
Veterinary waiting rooms are no place for Flexis (and most places are not). The only place to use a Flexi is in a big, open area and while carrying a regular leash to switch to should the situation warrant it. There are people that have and use Flexis in a way that is safe, but there are just a lot of people out there who want to give their dog “freedom” in places where freedom isn’t really appropriate, and use a Flexi to achieve this. It can be downright dangerous. I knew a family with a little dog that they walked on a Flexi who ran right out in front of a car on the Flexi. That is the problem - people using Flexis in areas with other dogs, cars, lots of people, etc. My personal opinion is that even when Flexis are locked, they aren’t the best leashes for close quarters because the cord is so sharp and they are hard to grip if the dog does pull or lunge at something (even in a friendly way).
ETA: I guess what I’m trying to say is that it isn’t the product that is a problem - it is people, unfortunately. If Flexis were banned I’m willing to bet that we’d see more people not using leashes when they have no control or dropping leashes when they have no control and don’t want to deal with pulling. Inappropriate use is just a people problem.

[mroades]

I was trying to make a funny, lighten up. I use a flexi leash myself, but I, like you, pay attention to my dog and his surroundings.

[dkcbr]

I dislike them, too. Give me a cotton long line any day, as I feel a better connection to my dogs when I am attached to them via long line rather than those stooopid, awkward plastic handles on the Flexis.

And if I want to either lengthen or shorten the long line, I can loop the line at my own preferred speed, rather than letting a Flexi’s take-up mechanism decide.

If I want to let my dog off-lead, I can drape the long line over my shoulders or around my waist. With a Flexi, I’d either need a pack of some sort to put it in, or a huge pocket to try to wedge the rigid plastic into so I don’t have to carry it.

And best of all, long lines don’t have that annoying CLICK and whirr sound.

[Jive]

There is a woman on my street with two dogs, always on flexis. One dogs leash is attached to a prong collar and the others a choke chain…

[cheval_convert]

I don’t know if this link has been posted, but it is a humorous story (at least if you are not in it) of what can go wrong with a flexi-leash. http://www.dogster.com/lifestyle/dog-training-behavior-retractable-leash-leashes-tips-safety

[ElisLove]

[QUOTE=Jive;7772788]
There is a woman on my street with two dogs, always on flexis. One dogs leash is attached to a prong collar and the others a choke chain…[/QUOTE]

So? I’m not sure what the point is you’re trying to make? Just because a dog isn’t wearing a flat collar doesn’t mean it’s poorly trained/has issues/is the only way it can be controlled.
If the dogs are NOT controlled that is not an equipment problem but an owner problem.

[Bicoastal]

Prongs and chokes with a flexi

[QUOTE=Jive;7772788]
There is a woman on my street with two dogs, always on flexis. One dogs leash is attached to a prong collar and the others a choke chain…[/QUOTE]

@ElisLove;7772927

So? I’m not sure what the point is you’re trying to make?

Maybe the point Jive is trying to make are prong and choke collars are designed to be neutral most of the time when there is no tension and to only engage briefly under tension. A flexi keeps those collars under constant tension, thus constantly engaged…inappropriate use of those training collars that, at best, leads to desensitization and physical changes. At worst, physical damage.