Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 2:23 pm Post subject: I always thought Flexi-leads were dangerous.....
....then I heard two tales about them last week that made my hair curl .
A friend popped over one afternoon and I noticed he had plasters of most of his fingers......Curiosity soon overcame me and I had to ask what had he done. Well......He was looking after a Lab for the weekend and he decided to take it for a walk in the woods one evening. He took his young son with him (8yrs) so they could collect conkers. He wasn't sure about the dogs recall, so kept it on it's flexi-lead as they were going along.
Anyway, the dog stopped to pick up a stick and the young boy, knowing dogs shouldn't have sticks, took it out of the dogs mouth......then threw it behind him into the bushes.....BIG MISTAKE. Dog thought the stick was being thrown for her, so dashes past the lad, knocking him over as she went. The line of the flexi lead went across the boys neck and as the dog circled it went right round the childs throat, effectively garrotting him . Dad let go of the handle and so the whole line slid across and round the boys neck as the dog (now scared) keeps running....eventually the handle reaches the boys face and smacks him right across the eye. Boy is now understandably screaming, dog is in a right panic, as is Dad. Dad checks boys and then makes a dive for the dog but misses and grabs the line, which then burns it's way almost through to the bone on five of his fingers.
So back home they go... Dog terrified, Boy still screaming and bleeding from his neck wound.....he also has a smashing black eye coming up.....Dad can barely move either of his hands......And I'm sure you can all imagine the trouble he was in when his wife saw the state of her little boy. Thank goodness everyone wasn't more badly injured.
As if that tale isn't bad enough, I was recounting it to my sis and she told me how her hubby had been driving his tractor at a show ground in the sumer, when all of a sudden a Jack Russell attached to it's owner by a flexi, shot out of the passing crowd and went right under his back wheel . Thankfully the ground was very soft and the dog was a Terrier (they seem to be made of cast iron), as apart from having a tractor tyre print on it's back, the dog was fine. Scary though, for all concerned.
So, yes I have always hated flexi leads, due to the amount of behind knee burns I've had from them when other peoples dogs run round my legs......but now I know they are positively dangerous.
Use with extreme caution, is all I can say, if at all.
As I posted on the other thread, a dog ended up under my husband's car because the lead was too long for the pavement the dog was being walked on (not sure whether the lead was a flexi or not). Thankfully the dog was fine but I hope the owner did not use such a lead again by a road - my poor husband would have been so upset if he'd hurt the dog too
I also remember hearing of a dog breaking free of the "lock" on its flexi-lead and yanking the lead to full length as it ran across the road after another dog. Thankfully no cars coming at the time.
I think they have their place if you have an older/ploddy dog with rubbish recall/going deaf etc. for using in the park but I wouldn't want to use one with a young/energetic dog and you do have to be watchful when using them. Not good for using along roadsides, even if they are "locked" as I don't think they're 100% resistant to being yanked.
I have heard a simular story of them, where an owner hadnt really got to grips with the locking system on the lead, the dog ( a boxer) say a cat the other side of the road and went to dart the owner paniced and pushed the wrong button releasing the long lead the dog was in the road and was hit up a car and ended up in the vets for a few days with a broken front leg.
We have a Flexi for Roo, but NEVER use it near roads. We use it when on long walks where he has to be on lead e.g. around sheep or fast moving water, and to be fair it is really useful then. He can have some freedom whilst still being restrained. We also use it as a form of long-line around sheep - allowing him to get reasonably close and then recall him - reeling him in if he ignores it or goes tp chase - so as he learns to behave around them. However, I would not trust it near a road or the like, and always swap to his fixed lead in such circumstances.
Flexi leads are just awful things
In ten years I've seen at least half a dozen RTA dogs that have been on flexi's.
We had one 5 month old pup just a couple of mnths ago, sadly he was killed instantly
Sad, and so, so unnecessary
I think the leads ought to carry a warning on them, people might think twice then.
XXX
____________
Georgia XX
"If tears could build a stairway, and memories a lane.
I would walk right up to heaven,and bring you back again"
I agree, Georgia, they should carry some sort of a warning.
They have their place, but I hate seeing people using them on a road. Indeed, I once saw a van driver walking a little westie on a flexi lead. The guy was actually driving the van very slowly along a busy "A" road at the time and the westie was running alongside attached to the flexi, which the driver was holding by just dangling his arm out of the driver's window. Height of stupidity. I was in a position where I was going to have to overtake him too and I was terrified.
I have a flexi, which is only ever used in fields and when I am on my own. I can't use it on Charlie because he is so powerful he would dislocate my shoulder with it if he bolted to the end, but it does sometimes have a use for stopping Topsy (petite little cocker) from constantly chasing pheasants atm.
I am shocked to hear of the injuries to the people mentioned in this thread. Hope they are recovering quickly.
I really hate Flexi leads, too many horror stories
My brother had one snap, it was old, you should have seen the whip mark it caused, luckily he was in an open field, not walking along the road otherwise it could have been a much worse tale.
____________ I am only responsible for what I say, not for what you understand !
Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 6:00 pm Post subject: Re: flexi lead.
sasha1999 wrote:
not the lead that is the problem . yet again it back to training.
so is it now ban the flexi lead then ?
We all know that it isn't the Gun that is dangerous but the person using it. But until we can "Train" every dog owner, in common sense and sensible use of the Flexi-lead, then yes, I say remove them from the market, or at very least put a warning on them.
The dog in my first Tale was a well trained fully fledged Guide Dog...It was just a series of very unfortunate events which would never have happened if the dog had been on an ordinary lead.
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