Recently I have been engaged in quite a few discussions about off-leash versus leashed dogs. 

Most leash laws use language similar to “under control by leash”. The term leash is never actually defined, however, so there is some wiggle room in terms of what an individual might use. A quick search through the dictionary gives you a few different options.

• A restraint consisting of a rope (or light chain) used to restrain an animal
• A leash or a lead or lead line is a rope or similar material attached to the neck or head of an animal for restraint or control
• A leash or lead is a length of rope, leather, chain or other flexible material ostensibly for restraint or control.

According to these definitions, I could restrain my dog using an old necktie and as long as she was “ under control” my dog is considered leashed. By this logic anyone walking his or her dog on a string or rope of some sort automatically has control because the dog is in fact on a leash. 

As dog owners we spend time and energy to teach our dogs basic obedience commands. Sit. Stay. Lie down. Heel. Come. Sometimes, if your dog is stubborn or has behavioral issues, a professional trainer has to be consulted. It is both for our safety and the dog’s safety that these commands are necessary. Despite all this there are some alarming statistics out there regarding dog bites.

• Dogs bite nearly 2% of the U.S. population — more than 4.7 million people annually
• Dog bites send nearly 368,000 victims to hospital emergency departments per year (1,008 per day)
• An American has a one in 50 chance of being bitten by a dog each year.
• The vast majority of biting dogs (77%) belong to the victim’s family or a friend. (CDC)

Even trained police dogs are involved in off-duty attacks despite their high level of obedience training. Just last week the Boston Globe reported that a woman walking her Chihuahua was attacked by a police dog.

If a skilled and trained police officer doesn’t have complete control over his dog, what makes people think their own dog would never misbehave? I get extremely frustrated when I encounter dog owners who say their dog is obviously trained better than mine because they’ve never had an incident while their dog was off-leash.

To ALL dog owners (because it is easy to forget sometimes) I’d like to echo a statement I recently read on a blog from the San Francisco Chronicle:

Dogs are unpredictable 

Please do not assume yours is the world’s best trained dog. In fact go ahead and throw out ALL those assumptions. Stick to the facts. Dogs are animals. Like humans they have basic genetic instincts that at some point will rise to the surface. You can’t train out the instinct to chase a rodent (even if its just fake fur hanging around someone’s neck). At best, you can take steps to control the behavior, but you’ll never eliminate it altogether.

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No Retractables!

I’ll never forget the first time I had to pick out a leash. I had no idea what to look for. I had read all sorts of books on puppy care- and while they all mentioned a leash, none of them gave further details.

Standing in the aisle, I heard the voice of a sweet girl asking if she could help. With a sigh of relief I said yes. She gave me a smile that said it all. This was not her first rodeo.

It wasn’t to long before Storm outgrew that first leash and I had to start shopping for another. This time, however, I was prepared. Ultimately Storm and I went home the happy owners of a new, red leash. Non-retractable.

My decision at the time was based on the fact that Storm would be at least 50 lbs. (being a lab-mix) when she was grown and I didn’t want a retractable leash to snap with one good yank.

It turns out retractable leashes have quite the track record for causing strange and unfortunate accidents.

In March, ABC News wrote a story about one little girl who was struck in the eye when the metal clasp on her retractable leash snapped. Video Here.

And according to both the ABC article and an article in Consumer Reports the warning’s that accompany some of these retractable leashes are quite frightening.

One company, Flexi USA offers these words of warning on their Web site:
“To avoid the risk of eye or face injury and cuts, burns and amputations to your body or the body of another person from the leash cord/tape or all belt and hook, read and follow these Warnings and Directions for Use before using your Flexi leash”

Now, certainly loss of sight is an extreme case, but I have heard many stories of burns caused by the retractable leash. I myself have been victim to the kamikaze bird, attack-induced leash burn.

Some people might tell me that I just don’t have control of the dog during the walk.

Indeed, the Web site wiseGeek tells me “to effectively use a retractable leash, the handler must anticipate when he or she will need to restrain the dog.” But it seems to me that not even Bear Grylls himself could anticipate the action of some very cheeky squirrels that reside in my neck of the woods.

I think the attraction to a non-retractable leash is “a sense of freedom.” This is certainly understandable. All it takes is one time chasing your dog down the street to make you swear she will never escape again (and she probably will). However, there are much safer ways for dogs to experience “freedom”.

Take them to the dog park once in a while.

Research off-leash areas near your house and let your dog run wild for a little bit.

Or exercise them enough that they don’t really care about anything except getting home to pass out in their favorite spot on your kitchen floor.

The next time you’re in the market for a leash take some time to consider the safety of yourself, your pet and others.

Nina <nina@rascodog.com>