Be Proactive - A Rant

There are times I want to track down the person or persons who invented the retractable leash/flexi-lead and throttle him/her/them with the stupid thing. I've seen them cause problems in the hands of people who don't know how to use them, and too often, the people who have them don't seem to realize they can actually limit the distance their dogs can go on them. Or perhaps they don't care. They also tangle up way too easily, even with regular leashes, so that even if the dogs involved are getting along, it becomes a pain to get those leashes separated again when it's necessary to do so. I've used one exactly once--because I was taking someone else's dog out to go potty when she couldn't, and it was the leash I was handed--and I also found the big, boxy plastic handle much more cumbersome to handle, plus I couldn't get any feeling for the dog on the other end of the leash through it. It made me wonder all over again what the point of such a thing was--it tangles more easily, it makes it easier for the dog to get way too far away from the handler, and it lessens the feeling of the connection between the dog and the handler (IMO). Is the idea that the dog feels as if it has greater freedom while still on a lead? Is that necessarily a good thing? It seems like a bad idea to me. If you want a dog to have greater freedom, teach the dog a strong recall and find a safe place for it to be off-lead, like a large fenced yard, but when it's on lead, let the dog understand that being on lead is different, that it's a joint operation between the two of you.

And there's just zero excuse for a reactive dog to be on an unrestrained flexi lead around other dogs. Or to have your own dog on one if you know that it could likely run into a reactive dog that would be bothered greatly by such a situation. Dang. For how many years did those things not exist and everyone walked dogs just fine without them? Why, oh why, were they ever necessary for normal walking situations?

kelly528 said:

Yeah around here the big drawback is crowded suburban sidewalks, apartment buildings, stuff like that where people use them and just never bother locking them or controlling the length.

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I think it`s a cultural thing to some extent. People in Estonia seem much more careful about dogs - about controlling their own dog in the public and also about approaching strange dogs (especially big ones). The Americans I have met have all been very bold in approaching my dog. I was in a cafe once and this man just straight walked up to us and started stroking Ella`s HEAD. No Estonian does that unless they have asked "is she friendly" and "may I?" before hand I also see you guys here complain about strangers approaching your dogs all the time and petting them without asking ...

I have a theory (bare with me ) that it is because in US dog training and classes are almost a norm alas, most dogs out and about are very well socialzed/trained and people assume they are harmless.

In here, dog training en masse is rare and new. Most dogs dont go to puppy classes etc and most dogs are never consciously socialized. So people in general are more careful about approaching strange dogs (because they don`t want their fingers to be bitten off ). I think most Estonian dogs are still used as working dogs in guarding home and property. We have less companion dogs.