Need one for our holiday. Any recommendations? Needs to be as light as possible. Bought one recommended by Labrador site but much too heavy to carry around.
Maybe one of the Biothane ones? Not sure who are best for them, one of the others might know. We just used a long length of nylon rope from a DIY store. I assume you mean a trackingline rather than an extendible/retractible one?
When Molly was younger I bought a 7m one from Pets at Home. It was very light and did the job, but wasn't teeth resistant as I discovered when I left it lying around one day.
Yes I do. We have a retractable one but never use it - find them dangerous. The biothane ones are so expensive. DH suggests nylon rope so will probably go for that.
Be very careful not to get the rope tangled around your legs/arms - you could get a nasty cut/burn. Long trousers and gloves are essential.
I have several training leads; a webbing one from Pets at Home, a rope tracking lead and a very long (and expensive) biothane line. They all have their pluses and minuses. The webbing lead is very light, but isn't very long and picks up rubbish and gets caught and tangled easily. The rope tracking line burns your hands if they take off and also get very dirty and is difficult to get clean again. Mine also came with a very small lightweight clip which I don't trust. The long expensive biothane line is lovely to hold but is quite heavy once you get meters of it and therefore difficult to carry around with you. It doesn't get tangled as much as the others and is super simple to clean - you just run it under the tap. Whichever you choose I would suggest that you tie knots at strategic intervals. I have one which close to the beginning of the line so that I can stand and keep them with me and perhaps another two further down to stop the line just running out under your foot when you stand on it. I also always attach a short tab to the collar so if we are surrounded by multiple dogs at any point I can just drop the line and hold the dog by the tab so that none of the playing or approaching dogs get entangled.
I bought a 10 metre flat material one for Nell , it was fine until it rained ! Then the poor thing was weighted down with it , like a ball and chain ! I then bought a biothane one which is much lighter and easier to keep clean . Nell is off lead most of the time now but due to her deafness , she will still need a long line in unfamiliar places , for some time to come x
I have two training lines, the material one and the biothane, same issues as those above. I prefer the biothane purely because it is easy to clean and Max's is bright neon yellow so easy to see but on the downside when it's wet and if I've forgotten a cloth to dry it with it's very hard to grip, my hand just slides down the line
I have tried a few, I found the biothane one I bought too heavy. My favourite it this rubberised one by mystique. The rubber means it doesn't slip through your hands, and doesn't burn: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mystique-...hash=item33c551e78e:m:m9upskRqJUuLpb38x5bcQOw Sorry the text is all in German! I couldn't find a UK stockist, but maybe you can find some like this with rubber. This does ship to the UK though. It doesn't have a handle at the end, so doesn't get caught on things. I have a 10m one which is 20mm wide and it's not too heavy, but not very light. This one is 12 mm wide so would be lighter.
Thank you so much everyone for your responses. I had already bought a biothane one (expensive) but it is so heavy - can't imagine ever using it and certainly no good for our holiday. Got a Clix one yesterday from local pet shop - not sure how it will be but it's lightweight so will take it with us. The Mystique one looks good.
When we took all three on holiday recently, we used a flexi giant retractable tape lead for Casper. We use it on the odd occasions when walking down unfamiliar but quiet lanes...with the odd car, bike etc.. or around livestock. Benson and Bramble are fine around cows/sheep however Casper can be a little unpredictable. We have the bright yellow one so easier for us to spot the tape, and for other people.
What do you want to use it for? I think long lines are only really useful in training set ups. I find them absolutely hopeless for 'walking' a dog. They get tangled round stuff, including the dog's own legs and other people, and there is really no use for them when the dog is doing its own thing. It's just not safe, for example, to step on a long line unless the line is running clear between you and the dog and you have a plan to do so such that there is almost no slack in the line - because stopping a dog moving at speed is dangerous for both person and dog. Retractable leads are much better for walking a dog that you need to keep hold of, although I think the dog needs to be ok at lead walking on a shorter lead and relatively sensible. Having a lunging, mess of a dog on a retractable lead is a nightmare. Very handy for more sensible dogs though.
We are going on holiday and will be going to the beach. Won't be used as such for walking. Red's recall is very poor at the moment and I have neglected this bit of training over doing other things recently. She will be 6 months old when we go away. I want her to have some freedom and think probably the beach will be the only place though. Hopefully will set up some training opportunities also for recall.
I have one of these which is very useful as it has rings to adjust the length of the lead to suit what you are training and where you are walking http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CUSHION-P...hash=item3d0ddf3035:m:mKzG_pfYhWZWEXG1zuTJD-g Personally I would like to take a pair of sissors to every retractable lead I see. I have been wrapped round more leads, dogs, humans with those blasted things Over the weekend we were walking Charlie a Labrador coming towards us, the owner called him and put him on lead - great, oh no it wasn't he decided just as we walked close to them to release the retractable lead to a longer length and let his dog in Charlie's face as we are trying to train LAT Rant over x
Retractables can be a problem if you have difficulties with your hands. I can't use them at all due to problems with my grip. They are far too dangerous for me to use. I have 2 leads the same length which I take out together. They will clip together so I just clip them when I need a longer lead and keep one in a pocket. It works fine and can grip them easily.
You're not alone on the flexi lead @charlie . I ban their use with my clients - nasty horrible things. That's the flexi lead not the clients . It seems though that we are not alone with disliking the flexi lead http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2014/06/11/retractable-dog-leash.aspx
Yes this is just like the Halti lead I have which is great . I don't use our retractable lead as I had a few incidents using it on our older dog Sky and then my friend hurt her hand using it when she had Sky whilst we were on holiday - that was the last time it got used. I didn't want her or anyone else getting hurt . What a stupid dog owner to do that - I can understand your frustration .
My 86 year old FIL end up in hospital with head injuries due to a flex lead recently. The dog went one way and it's owner the other tangling him throwing him into a wall . It KO d him and caused his heart to beat irregularly in was in hospital for a while. He was very lucky. I've seen them being used in very illogical ways and am sure they can be used in a safe way but I just wish people would be more careful . I don't use them for many reasons as stated in the article.
I'm just curious does she not follow Sky? When Stanley was little if I walked him with another dog he just stayed with that dog so I never had to worry about him running off
