Nearly killed two dogs today.

CorvusCorax

CorvusCorax

Deary me...
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And it would not **really** have been my fault.

Dog 1 - I don't want to fall out with people, I know a lot of people use flexi leads but if you must use them in urban areas, PLEASE keep your wits about you.
I nearly ended up with a little scruffy JRT pup under my wheels not an hour ago, I actually thought it was loose and alone, the way it was running around the pavement, and then darted right in front of my car - I was already braking because it was obvious it was about to do it, and at the last moment I spotted it was attached to a flexi, attached to a man who was busy waving and joking with his mates across the road and the dog was actually back up on the pavement beside him by the time he realised it was HIM who I was standing on - er, beeping - my horn at.

Dog 2 - Staffie in a matching camo harness and bungee lead decided to chase a leaf across my path this morning - again, owner daydreaming - if you have a strong dog who pulls and likes to chase things, a harness and a bungee lead, held at full length with one hand, will NOT work, you might as well check forward, side and rear exits, strap yourself in and enjoy flying DogAir.

Both situations, poorly-used bits of equipment and owners who should have been watching their dogs instead of looking round them.

Sorry if I am pontificating **again** but I really don't want the deaths of two dogs on my plate because of the muppetiness of their owners - and on both occasions I was doing well under the speed limit, a rarity for me :p
 
Agreed CC - flexi leads when used incorrectly and by owners in a constant state of daydream are the work of the devil!

And harnesses for strong or big dogs...don't even get me started...
K x
 
Flexi-leads next to roads scare the life out of me!

There is a little old man with a lab of similar vintage that I sometimes see walking through town on my way to work, on a flexi. The dog is always out ahead, and although it always behaves well, passing it gives me the screaming heebie-jeebies...:eek:
 
I drive by dogs around here every day that aren't even on leads, walking alongside a 60mph country road, most of which do not have footpaths, as well as the town. Even if it is highly populated by the over-60s drivers (!) I will never, ever understand what goes through these peoples minds!!
 
LMAO - reminds me of the time my three nearly splatted a border terrier - they met it on a walk, and the owner refused to reel in the flexi lead..... her mistake....:rolleyes:
 
I nearly ran over a dog yesterday...coming round a blind bend, doing about 25 in a 30 limit, border terrier type dog just wandering in the middle of the road! Nearly splatted the poor sod! Owner stood on the pavement not batting an eyelid!
 
I live on the A38 and it's amazing how many people walk their dogs along there with no lead at all!! I know its a 40mph section but a lot of people speed and 40mph hitting a dog wil probably be fatal.
 
I know that feeling, driving along and someone has their dog trotting along the pavement either on flexi lead or not on lead at all. I mean, yeah i know most well-trained dogs will trot along happily on the pavement, mine do it fine up our lane but I am well aware that it only takes a squirrel or similar small animal to appear across the road and that's it, dog is off!!!

I have actually just recently bought a flexi lead though for our old dog as he's always been an independent soul woth 'selective' hearing but now he is 13 and rather deaf so i find the flexi lead helps give him some freedom in places but I know I can get him back if needs be (rather than running after him screeching to a pitch he can hear - well if he chooses to!! Lol). Funnily i also actually find he is less grumbly to other dogs he meets when on the flexi lead, i guess maybe cos he can't feel tension down the lead from us as he can on the normal lead. So I guess the leads have their place.

Anyway, that was off topic - it maddens me when people are not aware of where their dog is or what it's doing!
 
On Monday I got a flexi wrapped several times around both my legs - the very obese chocolate lab it was attached to pulled so hard that the little girl walking him was pulled over and let go, sadly leaving it locked so it trailed behind him and thus cheesewired around my ankles. :rolleyes:

I didn't say a damn thing at the time, I was more concerned with keeping Dax away from him so her lead didn't get tangled up in there too but the more I think about it the more I think I ought to have flipped out at the older bloke, who barely muttered a sorry after eventually wrestling the dog off us. :mad: Anyone else, especially a non-dog person, would have sued the silly twunt if they fell over.

I will leap to the defense, however, of harnesses and bungee leads on large dogs. Invaluable for jogging cross-country and mountain climbing! :p They are bloody useless for walking around town, I'll give you that.
 
I jog and mountain climb with a dead choke chain and a leather lead :p
As you know, my point is, for correction...er, asking the dog to walk nicely in a positive and non-compulsive way, they are rubbish.
 
Don't have a problem with flexis in open country, though prefer a long line, but agree that they should be banned in towns, by roads or where they are likely to scoop up other people. There have been several cases of dogs being killed on the road whilst on flexi leads, the owners must have no sense at all.
 
Can I have whinge about the woman down the road from me who lets her 10 year old daughter walk their enormous Akita on a flexi lead pls? When it sees my 6 month old Malamute in the front garden it just flies across the road towards my fence dragging said small child behind it.....Im just waiting for her to get dragged right out in front of a car.

And the idiot man who lets his collie X wander the streets up the road from me - as many times I have had to brake suddenly to avoid running it over. I had to get out of my car the other week and come to the rescue of a young girl trying to walk her teeny wee terrier along the road, but she couldnt get past the collie x who was growling and snarling at them both - poor lass was terrified and almost climbing into someones garden. Im getting a little fed up with it having to yell at it when I walk my dog past the area - its either going to cause an accident or someone is going to kick it in the teeth.

Some dog owners drive me absolutely scatty :(
 
They should also be banned from CX courses. I was jump judging once at a BE event when some competitors were walking the course and met some people they knew near my jump. Small JRT was on a flexi lead and stood in front of the jump, on hearing a horse approach I duly blew my whistle, no reaction, blew whistle again, everyone carried on chatting. Had to jump out of my car and shout move the b****y dog before they realised their beloved dog was about to trampled by 500kg of adrenalin fueled eventer.

Appology? Not a word!

JDx
 
Evil bits of kit, giving people a false sense of security.

*Most* are not designed to withstand the weight of a dog REALLY tugging on them. A sudden jerk, and the dog's gone, the owner has no control.

You put them on 'Lock' and the dog yanks hard and they can just 'unlock'.

I had one snap at the clip end on a busy main road. Pup had spotted a dog on the other side of the road, tugged, lead snapped, pup gone - straight across the road.

A woman round here has a collie she walks that lunges at passing cars. She walks it on a flexi lead and I swear one day they're going to cause an RTA.

And ruddy toy dogs on flexi leads do my head in. The amount that come up and tangle round my bitch's legs in the park :mad: (not to mention tripping me up).


Besides, a lunge line is cheaper. If you MUST have a flexi then buy a proper one, not one of the £2.99 jobbies.
 
I have a flexi horror story, jsut the other week a dog owner had a dog on a flexi, the cord type that burns ya hands off:rolleyes: anyhow, a greyhound was mooching and hooning having a run and the flexi lead dog ran straight infront of its path making a nice straight tight line between it and the owner:eek: the grey ran straight into it and it basically near enough severed its leg:eek::(
 
...or you can go completely the other way...and be so engrossed by getting some serious focus and happy-prancing-feet-heelwork from your dog that you fail to realise there is a car bearing down on you very fast indeed. OOOOPS!
 
Biking through the woods a few weeks ago, my 2 and my friends Collie loose, see a couple ahead with 2 labs on flexis. Rang my bell (shame :D) bloke puts his hand up and shouts "it's alright love they're friendly" :confused:

Don't care about that, they both make a beeline for ours to play, he doesn't reel them in and I nearly landed arse over handlebars :eek:
 
Ooooh.... 'Dont hit the dog' has become a game on our street. The front of our street is on a busy A road (40mph zone - but people speed straight through!) and people still happily let their dogs wonder about aimlessly round the back.
There is one little old lady who has 2 very fat JRTs, they are both on flexi leads, and they both sod off in opposite directions!
I very often find one of Betsys friends (little beagle pup) running around under my car! I take her back to her house about 3 times a week, always met with 'I didnt realise she was out again'.

There are 3 impeccably behaved spangles, the owner frequently visits next door and the dogs sit outside the gate, off lead and off the road and just wait. The youngest one tends to sit outside my gate rather than next door so she can have some sniff / kisses time with B but they NEVER wander off.

If loopy spangles can be trained to sit on a spot whilst the owner is out of sight how hard can it be to keep your dog out from under cars??

Luckily my loopy puppy is scared of cars and I detest flexi leads.
 
I hate flexi leads, they were advantageous in training the dogs when they were pups (and always in a open space without people to trip over!) but I stopped using them once recall was done.
 
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