[Dailydrool] Flexi Leads

[Elizabeth Lindsey]

My first experience with a Flexi-Lead was with a friend's standard  
poodle, Cinder. I was taking care of Cinder while her family was  
gone, and that involved walking her around the block several times a  
day. (To make this basset related, Cinder was a close friend of our  
late Jane Basset.) Cinder was about a year old at this time, still  
very much an exuberant and delightful puppy but full grown and about  
60 pounds. I hadn't used a Flexi-Lead before, but the family showed  
me how it worked, and I practiced with the little button. It felt  
rather stiff and sometimes required me to hold the lead's handle with  
both hands to offer enough resistance to get the button pushed in,  
but it did stop the lead.

The first few walks went well. I let the lead play out for Cinder and  
then rolled it back in again just like a pro. Then we went on the  
walk where she saw the squirrel. Cinder spotted it before I did and  
was after it like a shot. The lead reeled out *fast*. I fumbled for  
the button, but it was stiff and unresponsive. The next thing I knew,  
I was yanked off my feet and pulled on the sidewalk with Cinder the  
full length of the lead in front of me. Somehow I was able to hang  
onto the lead's handle, though I discovered it's not very well  
designed for good gripping in this particular situation.

A human's center of balance is significantly higher than even the  
largest dog's. When a Flexi-Lead reels out too quickly for a human to  
push iin that little button to make it stop, the laws of physics  
dictate that the human will be quickly and easily pulled down by the  
dog's weight and lower center of gravity combined with the rate of  
speed the dog is traveling.

Fortunately Cinder immediately felt my fall and sensed something was  
wrong enough to leave her squirrel chasing and go back to check on  
the human at the other end of her lead. She found me with badly  
scraped-up knees and palms. In fact, the heels of my hands looked  
rather meaty, they were so scraped; the next day I discovered they  
were bruised as well. I was also greatly embarrassed because at least  
three children across the street had witnessed my grand fall and  
brief drag, and the sight had frozen them in their tracks with mouths  
wide open in amazement. Yes, Virginia, even adults can fall down and  
hurt themselves. Only instead of bursting into tears, I found I had a  
whole lot of bad words I wanted to say very loudly to make my knees  
and hands hurt less.

That was the last time I ever used a Flexi-Lead as it was intended to  
be used. There have been a couple of times when I've had no choice  
but to use one, but I ensure the lead is never longer than six feet  
and that little button is securely locked in place. God's angels  
themselves couldn't convince me to let a Flexi-Lead play out ever  
again. When Cinder's family returned home, they found me walking  
their dog with one of our Jane Basset's regular woven leashes and  
bandages still on my hands. They felt terrible, and every time I  
cared for Cinder after that, they always made sure they left a  
regular leash next to her Flexi-Lead for me.

And that's why I avoid Flexi-Leads like the plague. I know from  
personal experience that they can be dangerous to human and hound.

Elizabeth