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In the meantinme long leads are the aswer and I wish more people would use them.

I swear by my bright red 30-footers. I can do near-distance work, and if I'm somewhere I can reasonably let the lead loose to drag, I can see them easily should I need to grab it in a hurry, or step on it, but they don't get as tangled as a really long lead can.

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The nice thing a bout long leads, especially the 100 footer, is I don't really need to pull on it to get Jin to come. If he's not doing what I want I just pick it up and he feels that even 70 ft away and responds correctly. Great training aid. Worst case scenario is it can be picked up and and pulled on dragging Jin away from what he's doing. A couple of notes. always use a pulling or gentle walker chest harness when using a long lead. At 100ft that's a lot of weight and friction to pull along the ground and you don't want that transfered to the back or neck. One added benifit to a very long lead is weight and strength training as it's pulled along the ground BTW if the ground is wet a wetter rope means more weight for the dog to work against. A warning for long and drag lead users. Watch where your feet and legs are, rope burns hurt. I've gotten a couple nasty ones from Jin when the rope wraps against me.

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  • 1 month later...
The nice thing a bout long leads, especially the 100 footer, is I don't really need to pull on it to get Jin to come. If he's not doing what I want I just pick it up and he feels that even 70 ft away and responds correctly. Great training aid. Worst case scenario is it can be picked up and and pulled on dragging Jin away from what he's doing. A couple of notes. always use a pulling or gentle walker chest harness when using a long lead. At 100ft that's a lot of weight and friction to pull along the ground and you don't want that transfered to the back or neck. One added benifit to a very long lead is weight and strength training as it's pulled along the ground BTW if the ground is wet a wetter rope means more weight for the dog to work against. A warning for long and drag lead users. Watch where your feet and legs are, rope burns hurt. I've gotten a couple nasty ones from Jin when the rope wraps against me.

 

Oh boy… Where to start? I have a BC who has been fearful in lessening degrees since I got her. People all think that because they “like dogs” my dog will be ok with them. I make no bones about it. I say “STAY BACK. THIS DOG BITES!” Even thought she’s never offered to bite anyone except a big husky mix who galloped up off-lead and practically bowled her over. She snarled at him and I pulled back a foot as if to kick him. (I wouldn’t have – he was just being an idiot – not really dangerous.) His owner scrambled over and took him in hand while I distracted Sugar with a tennis ball. She huffed off, and Sugar settled down right away.

Sugarfoot get lots of opportunities to greet strangers in her own time and without pressure – I usually pick people with no apparent interest in dogs, and who don’t appear to be in a hurry to get anywhere. They are usually so much better at not reaching for her or staring directly into her eyes. Self-avowed “Dog Lovers” cannot seem to avoid doing either one – even when they try!

 

I was once standing at a corner with my Doberman at sitting heel, waiting for a walk light. A bus was approaching and pulling into the stop at that corner when some little monster child of about 10 rushed up and pushed my Dobie off the curb and into the path of the bus! Thank God for the leash! I was able to pull Blaise to safety. I won’t repeat what I had to say to that child and his mother – who seemed not to understand that there was a problem with her canicidal brat.

 

I don’t like flexi-leads either. I once nearly lost a finger to one when a clueless Golden Retriever at a dog park mistook me for an agility A-frame. That vicious little nylon line looped around my finger, and when Bozo took off he almost took my finger with him. Down to the bone on one side and cut deeply all the way around. I’ve heard stories from other people who sustained similar injuries, and dogs with mangled toes, legs and even muzzles. I think that six feet is enough lead for any dog – except of course in training situations. If the dog needs exercising, take it to a safe off-leash area!

And then there’s the people who tie their dogs with one in front of sidewalk cafes – the better to trip you with, my dear!

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Flexi-leads have a lot of pros and cons mostly cons and the big pro of giving oyur dog room to play. However as a rock climber and sailor let me say a flexi has all the dangers of handling any kind of rope, line or other cordage. From mechanical failure to problems of the cord/strap itself I do not recommend them. Yet I also issue the same warning for rope and web long leads. If your dog runs off on a long lead beaware that even a medium size dog can pull you off your feet. Keep tension on your leads at all times and if your dog bolts beaware of th epossibility of rope burns.

 

And then there’s the people who tie their dogs with one in front of sidewalk cafes – the better to trip you with, my dear!

 

I try to keep the dogs close in under the table.

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And then there’s the people who tie their dogs with one in front of sidewalk cafes.

 

I was walking out of the drug store yesterday and saw two beautiful bcs tied up to a post right outside. Part of me just melted at the sight of these beauties, and part of me remembered that some of my neighbors recently lost (and thankfully eventually found) their Viszla to a crazy lady who stole her right off the street while she was tied to a bike rack in front of a grocery store. Between wanting to keep the gorgeous dogs for myself and wanting to teach the owners a lesson about leaving their dogs tied up on a busy city street it was all I could do not to steal them myself :rolleyes:

 

People! When you live in a neighborhood with a history of dog snatchers, don't leave your dogs unattended on the street!

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I am promising myself this is my last look at this site before heading out for our walk. I have a new rescue boy that is dog reactive. If dogs approach they can do one sniff but if they continue he will bare his teeth and if they still continue he will snap. I call out a warning to the owners to let them know his behavior. What I need to know, from the experts, is what is the best thing to do in this situation. He will sit by my side. But if the dog goes around the back to sniff he will show show his teeth and then snap. If we, at that moment, all decide to walk together he perfectly enjoys being with them and if they leave him be he is just terrific and further meetings are fine. It is this initial meet and greet that brings out the snarl and snap.

 

Any thoughts on the best way to manage him would be great. Can you actually do anything to help change this behavior or is this a forever response. He is a lovely, lovely dog and is wonderful with people.

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I was walking out of the drug store yesterday and saw two beautiful bcs tied up to a post right outside. Part of me just melted at the sight of these beauties, and part of me remembered that some of my neighbors recently lost (and thankfully eventually found) their Viszla to a crazy lady who stole her right off the street while she was tied to a bike rack in front of a grocery store. Between wanting to keep the gorgeous dogs for myself and wanting to teach the owners a lesson about leaving their dogs tied up on a busy city street it was all I could do not to steal them myself :rolleyes:

 

People! When you live in a neighborhood with a history of dog snatchers, don't leave your dogs unattended on the street!

 

Can you believe how many Border Collies there are in NW DC?!?!?!

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Can you believe how many Border Collies there are in NW DC?!?!?!

 

 

OMG - I thought I was just imagining things. Because I always have border collies on the brain I tend to assume every other dog is either a border collie or border collie mix. I feel a little bit better about my observations now :rolleyes:

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I know how you feel. Last night I was taking Jake out for a pee walk and a neighbor had her dog off-leash. Jake loves other dogs, except when she is tethered. The other dog came bolting over and started attacking Jake. Jake being unfriendly on leash, starting fighting back. I was so shocked all I could do was scoop her up and wait for the other dogs owner to come over and retrieve her beast. All she did was mutter a "sorry" and gently say no to her dog. I was shocked that her dog just ran up and started attacking.

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