Thinking of altering the long lead

[Living with Lily]

Hey everyone, happy christmas!

I've a jack russel and like most she's a ball of energy and pretty free spirited. I bought the long lead last year but I don't think I'm getting the most out of it.

I live near a busy road and my neighbourhood can be fairly busy at times too. Just up the road from me there is a green area about the size of an acre.

I usually walk lily with her 16ft retractable lead twice a day and a few times a week ill take her to the green area for fetch etc with the long lead.

My problem is walking her with the long lead. It's a bit too heavy for her and can't be bundled up so quickly. Also if we are walking along the road and we see a person coming, walking there dog etc, I don't really feel like its safe if we pass them and the lead is trailing along behind us. Where we walk can be pretty busy with people sometimes so it's not ideal.

Also trying to hold the lead bundled up is awkward and looks quite silly with such a small dog.

I am thinking of maybe shortening the lead and maybe altering the width of it.

It actually wouldn't be such a big deal if I had a way to quickly roll up and comfortably hold the lead when we meet something.

Any ideas?

[neilsattin]

Hey there, and thanks for writing in. Welcome to the forum!

Generally, when I'm doing a more neighborhood-y walk with a dog, I'll hang on to the leash, and coil it/uncoil it as necessary as we go. That way, you always have a reasonably tidy coil - much easier to manage if you need to.

That being said, I've made custom leashes for a few people - 50' but with 3/4" nylon, for instance - which cuts down on the weight for a smaller dog, and is a little less bulky. If the 50' length is still working for you, that's probably what I'd recommend. (or a shorter length - perhaps 40').

I'll soon be offering those leashes as a regular item on my site, so people can choose appropriately for a smaller dog. I generally use my "standard" leash no matter what size the dog is - but recognize that's not always practical.

Let me know if you'd like to try it out...or if you'd like any more thoughts on leash management with the one you have.

If you've progressed to working on heeling/redirection with her on walks, you probably wouldn't need more than a 6 ft leash for the walk - and then you could just hook her up to the longer leash once you get to a more open area.

I've done both (i.e. coil/uncoil the longer leash as I go on a walk - or just switched to a shorter leash). Depends on what you're trying to accomplish.