“I’ve read stories of dogs darting into the street and getting hit by a car while on those craptastic things.”
Do you know this almost happened to me?
I was driving home 1 evening (dark) near a school where often people parallel park on the main road. After I turn onto that road from the connecting main road and start speeding up, I notice parked cars and then what looks like an Irish Setter step out from between cars into the road! On that retractable lead probably let out about 12 ft at that point! Luckily I wasn’t at speed yet or might’ve hit him.
Damn morons with retractables.
To me, retractable lead says “I have absolutely no control over my dog”.
Not necessarily. I keep my dog on heel when walking by the busy street. She's allowed to chase squirrels (within the limits of the leash range) on the side streets.
Not all breeds are as easily trainable as others.
The mechanisms inside are prone to failure, the retractable portion is too light a gauge of cord, the handle tends to lull people into a false sense of security.
A hard pull can jerk the handle right out of the owner’s hand.
I can’t think of anything good to say about them at all.
I’m not sure who decided to combine fly-fishing with dog walking but they didn’t think it all the way through.