I'm really not sure what to think of this comment

I was in a local pet shop today buying Zoe's food. I asked the girl (who was about 20) if they carried the flexi, extendo type leashes because we lost our last one on a camping trip. You know, the ones that extend up to 15- 20 feet, and you can stop the extension by pushing a button.

She looked at me horrified and said they don't carry them "because they're very dangerous!" As an example, she said a woman was using one when her dog ran after another dog, then they got tangled up in a tree, etc. I told her that really didn't sound like a problem with the leash. Then she said she's heard a lot of "horror stories" involving those leashes!!

Wow. Has anyone else heard "horror stories"? We've never had a problem with them and I was taken aback by her sweeping generalization- she wasn't giving her opinion, she was stating it as fact.

i've heard that once you get them wet, they have a tendancy to break..

but Riot has one of those for when we go on our walks through the woods or he also has a lunge line(30') that he wears.

I've yet to have a problem..

its true that they are harder to control a larger dog, but if your dog is well trained.. you'll have no problems.

I have never heard anything bad about them.

For going for walks in the woods etc., I think they are a great thing, althought I don't like them for residental use. Well when they are being used by idiots that let them go as far as they can to get at your dog while they are stilll 20 ft away.

I have one, but many trials are banning them from grounds. I guess too many people not paying attention to where their dogs are. And too many rope burns on legs.

I've never had any problems with mine. If your dog has a good recall you should have no problems.

The only thing I don't like about it is that is pulls on the dogs neck some.

At the last show I was at with Riot,
a lady with a little white fluffy thing had her dog on a flexi leash..

Riot hadn't been in the ring yet and she let her dog go ALL the way up to Riot.. I have no clue WHAT this dog has been vaccinated against, it wasn't properly groomed(just a spectators dog)..

I told Riot "No" (he LOVES little dogs and was starting his whiney play talk and dancing in one spot lol) the lady heard me say it and said "sorry".. but still.. You should KNOW better at a DOG SHOW... the competators obviously dont want a dirty little dog mauling their properly groomed dog before ring time lol

People with flexis really dont pay enough attention to their dog when their on it... SOO true Dekka - glad they are starting to ban them at shows.

Around here flexis arent normally aloud on show grounds. Somebody told me that a lady was walking her dog on a flexi inside a hotel and the dog was way ahead and went into an elavator and the doors closed or something like that.

I always use flexis though.

You know, all the examples I've seen here aren't related to a problem with the leash itself, but with the person holding it! We use one, but we pay attention to what Zoe is doing and adjust the line accordingly. Sheesh.

^^^ Exactly. It's all about the owner.....

lol the only problem I've really heard about the Flexis is them breaking.

that could be due to a VERy badly leash trained dog, it coul dbe that the leash line itself from wet (it gets weak when its wet) and it snapped..

Other then that, the leash is fine..

its just the owners with the idiot dogs

Yeah, the problems are not with the leashes themselves but the people holding them... but because so many people don't know how to "properly" use them, shall we say, a lot of people hate Flexi-leads as a whole.
I like to use it on walks so if we get to a park or something I can let Auggie run around more, but it is a pain because it's thinner and gets tangled around me a lot easier than the regular leash does if he starts scooting around behind me. I can easily see the rope burn problem, LOL.

The only thing I have heard about them is that you aren't supposed to use them with greyhounds. The local rescue says that if you drop it the handle makes a loud noise which can startle them into bolting away at 45 mph, and then you have no more dog.

My trainer hates them with a passion. She says she's seen way too many dogs and humans end up getting sliced/cut from the leash.
I haven't ever used them (I use a lunge line if I have to use anything), but I too think it has more to do with the person at the end of the leash.

My mom would be able to tell you her horror stories, actually she'd probably just show you the back of her legs! She has some mean scars from rope burns from Flexi's. I've been tripped by them and fallen but that was because I was too slow in jump roping the oncomming cord. hehe.

She's a dental hygenist so she always had to wear white pants to work. She would walk the dogs in the morning in her pants (duh) and the leash would get wet and sometimes drag on the ground and get dirty. She's come home with all these brown lines all over her white pants from the leash rope rubbind accross her pants...haha, I kept tell her to wear sweats or something!

I don't know how life-threateningly dangerous they are but if you don't know how to use them or you have slow reflexes you could get yourself into a little trouble.

I dislike them immensely and won't be carrying them in my store. Rope burns, untrained owners, untrained dogs, they're just plain awkward to carry and they do have a tendency to break at just the wrong moment.

i've seen numerous dogs who were hit by cars while on flexis. the owners simply don't pay attention to what the dog is doing. yes, it's user error, but there's a whole lot more that can go wrong when the dog has 20 feet of leash compared to 6.

I don't like them.

I suppose a well trained dog AND owner who was RESPONSIBLE would be just fine with them.

We have one (my parents didn't know any better) but we rarely use it.

~Tucker

I played at a HUGE softball tournament this weekend and lots of people had dogs on flexi leads...they drove me absolutely nuts. I lost count of how many times I got tangled in a leash because the owner wasn't paying attention. I even saw kid run one over with his bike...thankfully the dog on the end of the leash was a large dog and didn't get hurt. I had a dog almost steal my hotdog while I was watching game, all the owner did was pull his dog back, no appology or anything... I find that the leads tend to be ok only if the owner is responsible and pays attention to the dog.

I met a woman once earlier this year whose JRT lunged while on one of the flexis at a DHL truck and got hit. Her mom was walking the dog and couldn't get a good grip on the lock button. She lost a leg because of it I don't reccommend them for city streets near lots of traffic but hiking they are great for.

Pretty much everything I dislike about them. I guess if I was walking in open fields and had a dog that couldn't be off-leash they might be useful. I think they are completely inappropriate where there is contact with other people/dogs/traffic, and are far too much of a pain to untangle from the brush in the woods.