Extending Leads -
An Alternative Viewpoint

After reading what I said in Extending Leads - Who Needs Them?, Tammy from Ontario wrote to me to offer an alternative viewpoint to my somewhat throwaway remarks.

Here's what she said -

"Extending leads, I believe have a justifiable place -- not always, and not in the situations you mentioned. Here is where I find them indispensable.

I've looked after and rehabilitated a lot of "rescue" dogs over the years - although I haven't in the last couple of years because of not having space or time - and they need a lot of both of those.

One rescue dog that really worked out well, was a purebred American Eskimo, sometimes known as the Spitz or the Miniature Samoyed - she weighed 24 lbs and was just a little large to be a lap dog. She had been a boyfriend's birthday present to his girl friend, the girl friend had treasured the puppy - taken it to work with her in a carrier, even, so that it would not be alone all day - but she never denied the dog anything it wanted.

It got to choose which dog food (she would take it in the petstore and let it sniff the shelves and whatever bag it wanted to bite at, she would buy) and it got to choose where to sleep (on her bed, chewed up her expensive imported comforter she said), had more dog toys than any dog I've met before or after, and had intolerable house manners - had torn up the linoleum tiles off of her kitchen floor when she left it at home alone, ripped down the curtains, destroyed the living room furniture, and because she never told it "no", not for anything, as the puppy became a dog, it began to bite and snarl to get it's way.

By the time the dog was a year old, the boyfriend had gotten snapped at and bitten by the dog, and the boyfriend gave his girlfriend the ultimatum "me or the dog" so the girlfriend called the breeder, the breeder called me, and I agreed to take the dog for a one week assessment to see if it would be possible to train the dog for her. I drove to meet her half way, and told her to bring collar, leash, the dogs favourite blanket, and her feed dish and a weeks supply of food. In the back of her car, was a beautiful sight -- like a little Fox so beautifully perky, impeccably groomed . . . but the girlfriend did not want to take her out of the car.

I asked why, and the girl said that if she took her out of the car, she was afraid that she would not be able to "catch her again" -- and it was then that I learned that the dog had never worn a collar except for a fancy and in no way restraining "ribbon" and the dog had never been on a harness or a leash, and had not been to a vet in six months, because no vet would touch her because the girlfriend refused to muzzle her.

After considerable persuasion, the girlfriend slipped a choke collar I had brought, over the dogs head, then held her hand over the dogs eyes while I quickly scooped up the dog under my arm with one hand, while grasping the choke collar firmly in the other hand . . . and that was how "Babe" rode home, on my lap in the passenger seat, using the choke collar to restrain her every time she tried to bite me. By the time we got home, I had learned two things -- American Eskimos are made of steel, and she didn't know her name.

So I called her "Babe". Because she was uncontrollable, I could not risk crating her - I'd have had a snapping demon to let out of the crate. So I put a strong leather collar on her (not choke) and tied her with a chain beside my bed, with her blanket handy to sleep on and plenty of room to move around, but not quite reach my bed, or anything else destructible, which meant moving furniture around. Also, I rigged it so that I could snug the chain up without getting within reach of her, so that I could take control of the situation before I got within reach of her jaws.

Then the lessons began -- slipping a choke collar over her head and on leash, taking her with me everywhere I went around the house. Up and down stairs to do the laundry, outside to hang clothes on the line, to the garden to pick tomatoes, etc.. For the first couple of days, I needed one hand always on the leash, or she would turn to snap.

After that, I could clip her to my belt and she was happy to follow me. So then in the house, I decided to lengthen her chain, so she could reach my bed if she wanted to, and approach for petting of her own accord. It took a couple of nights more but she snuck over to cuddle one morning, and then I thought the battle was over. I rewarded her by unclipping the chain -- bad move -- I had a spitfire on my hands again. It took a lot of time and coaxing and finally bribing with food, to get in reach of her and get a leash back on.

Then we began again. A short 6ft leash does not give much latitude for exercise - so I switched to an 8ft and then to a 12ft, but a 12ft is inconvenient to be handling all of the time, so I began to use a retractable. By this time, Babe knew her name, sit, down, stay, come, hop up, hop down, walk, car-ride, would relieve herself on command if I couldn't take her out at the usual time, she was beginning to get the concept of fetch, etc., . . . and also during this time, I had phoned and talked and talked with the girlfriend, that wanted her dog back, but said she couldn't talk her boyfriend into letting her try again. I told her that I'd keep Babe for her, for at least a few months, and give her time to work things out. I requested that she arrange to visit and begin working with Babe, but she said she wouldn't see her again unless she knew she would be able to take her home.

So I worked with the retractable leash for a long time, so that Babe could feel comfortable to approach me again, after being several feet away. Also, I began to socialize her with other people, on a short leash and a choke chain at first, and then on the retractable leash just to have a little security, after she was comfortable with neighbours, vets, and even total strangers at the shopping mall, approaching her.

The retractable leash gave me the flexibility that a shorter leash would not have, to overcome Babe's problems.

Eventually, we progressed to Babe dragging a short leash around after her, and at about 6 months from getting her, she was fine to run free without a leash. It took another 3 months after that, before I could trust her without a collar. It was at that point that the girlfriend said that she didn't want Babe back - she was marrying the boyfriend and the dog was not such a big deal now.

So, because I had other things on the agenda and really did not need Babe, although she was a beautiful dog, I began looking for a good home. Finally, Babe was successfully placed with a disabled girl that has trouble walking and talking and spends much of her time in a wheelchair. Babe is small enough to ride in the wheelchair with her, and big enough to not be hurt by the girls rough movements. They get along great and her mother says that Babe has helped her make new friends, and encouraged her to practice her walking more, so that she can walk Babe down the street, because wherever Babe goes with her, she makes new friends.

That was 10 or so years ago now, and last I talked with her, she was taking a special college course, yet had Babe, and the only complaint she had, was that Babe was begging for food at the table now . . . and she didn't have the heart to correct her. All the other training had been retained, and Babe was sociable with everyone.

Without that retractable leash tho', I don't think Babe would have accomplished all of that.

Seeing a dog run free IS a beautiful sight, I agree with you, but extending/retractable leads can play an important part in training, in some situations."

Wow - what an inspiring story!

I doubt many people would have had the patience to work so hard to rehabilitate a dog with so many problems. And from her description I agree with Tammy that using a retractable lead played an enormous part in the successful outcome.

I was clearly wrong to be so dismissive of retractable leads. But I would still encourage you not to use one as a crutch - instead, like Tammy did, work towards the situation where you can dispense with it.

Recommended reading - "Dog Training Blueprint To Success".

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