In my opinion you can never have too many dog leads, long dog leads, short dog leads, Slip Leads, Clip Leads, show leads, every day dog leads, I have a vast supply and yes I use different ones for different occasions, depending where I am and what we are doing. The show leads don't get used that often because now I come to think about it, I never show any dogs! The one I love and use most of all is my trusty rope slip lead.
I like slip leads, I know they are not everybody's cup of tea but for me they work, they are easy to slip on and off, hence the name, for those quick in and out of the car experiences when you just have to transfer them quickly from the house to the car, rather than hanging onto their collars for dear life, crouched over the dog running quickly to the back door, or you are at the park and after a brief look round, yep no dogs about, a quick release, a shout and your dog is off, running, enjoying their moment of freedom, to quickly seeing another dog coming, no, back on the lead because your dog doesn't like other dogs or vice versa, and this may continue for the entire length of that walk. Very frustrating but it does help when the lead is on and off more times than Spikey will have wind (and that's saying something!)
But there is a better reason why I like them, in fact slip leads have vastly improved my quality of life and no that is not an exaggeration. We have a Spinone, a big dog, a heavy dog, (how should I put it politely?) an exuberant dog, a dog that pulls, a dog that I was struggling to walk on my own without adult supervision (I am 43!) until someone taught me the figure of 8.
It's a very simple trick, but since then my simple 10mm rope slip lead has earned its weight in gold. Just put the lead on as normal but then bring some slack to the front of the dogs throat, twist it so you have another circle, then pop this circle over the dogs nose. So the lead is round the neck and also the nose, in the shape of a figure of 8.
When the dog goes to pull, it checks him, bringing his nose down and making him stop, bringing him back to your side, where he should be. When we first tried this on Luca, of course he didn't like it around his nose and we had to keep a very sharp eye on him, to check that he didn't bring his donkey sized paw up and rub it off, but over time and with some rather stern telling off he has now gotten used to it and doesn't seem that bothered. Which means, I can walk my own dog, without having, dare I say it, a man to accompany me!
I now also have another dog lead to add to my collection, it's still a slip lead but this time it has a tiny ring on it, which basically does the figure of eight for you, just pull the rope through the clip, you don't need to twist it any more making it quicker and easier for the figure of eight, a very good invention I think. But from time to time and being an old fashioned type of girl, I still use my trusty 10mm Rope Slip Lead, twisting the figure of 8 myself, old habits die hard!
For those people that are not convinced by a slip lead, we hold many different variations in stock, still the good old rope lead but as a clip not a slip, variations in Braided Slip Leads not rope and also our Comfort Leash, which I have spoken about before and listed the many different virtues of this too. We also hand make our very own Paracord Dog Lead, they come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Please have a look at our website to find the lead that suits you the best, I think the right lead is very important, it's a personal decision, as to what works for you, but if you are still not convinced or have further questions please do not hesitate to contact us and we will do our very best to assist.