Bloody labrador

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661-Pete
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Joined: 22 Nov 2012, 8:45pm
Location: Sussex

Re: Bloody labrador

Post by 661-Pete »

As it happens, the above story has already been linked to (or rather, the Daily Fail version of it) on another thread.

I'm not, and have never been, a dog owner, and I have no cause to defend the wretched pooches running around and defiling our streets - but at the same time, I don't see the need to come across all "ban-the-lot-of-'em". Extending leads are perfectly OK if used responsibly. Calling to ban them is like calling for a ban on bicycles because there are some irresponsible or incapable cyclists around... I'm not going there.

Of course, an extending lead should never be used with a dog that is so large and powerful that it can overcome the locking mechanism. Come to think of it, such a dog should not be placed in the charge of a child or other person not able to control it, whatever type of lead.

I learned this from experience. Last year, while visiting my brother-in-law in the USA, we took one of his dogs for a walk in the countryside - a fully-grown Irish Wolfhound bitch. This is a big dog! But extremely docile and obedient most of the time. We had her on lead (non-extending) because there were cows with calves nearby: I was holding the leash and my b-i-l instructed me: if she does a runner, drop the leash at once, otherwise you'll be dragged along. As it turned out, this dog caught scent of a deer and away she went like Lance on steroids! I did exactly as I'd been told and dropped the lead. Just as well.
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Psamathe
Posts: 17650
Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Bloody labrador

Post by Psamathe »

661-Pete wrote:As it happens, the above story has already been linked to (or rather, the Daily Fail version of it) on another thread.

I'm not, and have never been, a dog owner, and I have no cause to defend the wretched pooches running around and defiling our streets - but at the same time, I don't see the need to come across all "ban-the-lot-of-'em". Extending leads are perfectly OK if used responsibly. Calling to ban them is like calling for a ban on bicycles because there are some irresponsible or incapable cyclists around... I'm not going there....

+1

Ian
Flinders
Posts: 3023
Joined: 10 Mar 2009, 6:47pm

Re: Bloody labrador

Post by Flinders »

Dogs on leads and therefore under control, fine. Dogs off leads where the dog is under control, fine. Extendable leads, not fine.

Even if the dog does absolutely nothing wrong, the lead can cause injury and death to innocent people because some idiot owner isn't paying attention - or even because a third party or other dog is messing about. There is no reason for using one, they are dangerous, and it's time they were banned. It isn't just cyclists who have a problem with them, it's other pedestrians and people on scooters, skateboards, or whatever.
And extendable lead is a strong cord which is thin and not easy to see with a human at one end and a dog at the other. If that's not a recipe for disaster I don't know what is.

If a dog won't come when called it needs to be on a short lead, it's too dangerous to be on a long one. If it will it can just walk to heel without a lead and be allowed to run free where it's safe, being called back when necessary.
Psamathe
Posts: 17650
Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Bloody labrador

Post by Psamathe »

Flinders wrote:...
There is no reason for using one, they are dangerous, and it's time they were banned...

I think you are thinking along very narrow lines. I used to use one with one of my dogs whilst his recall was questionable. He needs decent exercise yet allowing him to run free through training was not a good plan. The are also a good training aid (when locked in the extended position). The extending lead had a lock clip so in effect becomes a short lead when required. So when in the fields (sometimes with livestock around) he could run around a bit and we could at the same time continue training. But when on the street the lock could be applied and no problems. The extending lead was very useful in training his recall - or maybe you think such training "irresponsible" and would prefer have disobedient dogs with no recall running around ?

I think the "ban everything" attitude some cyclists have does alienate cyclists (pubic perception being that they demand everything to be 110% as they want). As others said earlier in the thread, talk about banning something on the basis of the irresponsible exceptions is madness (as Pete said, cyclists would be banned under such criteria because of the irresponsible minority).

So maybe explain why a locked extending lead is dangerous ? Or maybe a bit of education of the public about the risks of such leads and we can all be happier.

Ian
MikeF
Posts: 4339
Joined: 11 Nov 2012, 9:24am
Location: On the borders of the four South East Counties

Re: Bloody labrador

Post by MikeF »

We had a dog some years ago and we had an extending lead as well as others. The problem is most people don't not know how to use an extended lead. It's possible to shorten the lead very quickly, but so many do not understand how to do it, and that's why they are such a menace. Also just because it's an extending lead doesn't mean it needs to be used at full length and in many cases a short lead is better. :wink:
"It takes a genius to spot the obvious" - my old physics master.
I don't peddle bikes.
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