[MisterJim]

Hey guys, if you've seen my other posts then you know that i have a pup arriving the end of May and I've tried to keep myself busy buying bits and pieces until Bailey arrives.

I was looking at leads last night and am planning on getting two leads - one for just plain walking around the streets, along a path etc where i don't want him wondering that far and another extendable lead which i can use when i take him to parks and mountains etc

I went to pets at home the other day and the extendable lead choices were staggering!! Can anyone in the UK recommend a specific make/model which they know to be A1 and well suited to a Beagle? There's so much choice nowadays I'm worried about constantly buying the wrong things!!

Cheers Guys! xx
Jim

 

[we3beagles]

I recommend you never get an extendable lead. Most trainers hate them as they encourage pulling and real pullers can break them easily. When Bugsey was young I used one too and he broke two of them before I smartened up. A good 6 foot nylon or leather lead is just the thing. Of course the choices for those are staggering too, but you are really only choosing how fashionable you want your pup to be. I have fancy leather leashes and collers for special occasions and nylon leashes and body harnesses for walking.

 

[Murphys Dad]

I've got both a regular lead and a retractable leash for Jersey. I use the harness and regular lead when we go for walks, in the car, to the park, etc. I use the retractable one when I take her to potty. Jersey likes her privacy when she does her business and won't go if we're too close to her. I would recommend training your puppy to walk properly on a regular lead before using the retractable one. That's what we did with Jersey and it seems to have worked out well. She still pulls a little, but it doesn't matter which leash she's on for that. If there's something for the Beagle to smell, she's pulling me in that direction. I can't make a recommendation for a specific brand/model for you though. I got ours at Wal-Mart on clearance one time and it works great. I did get a heavier duty model than would be suggested for a Beagle. I think ours is for dogs up to 75 lbs. The smaller one just didn't seem like it would be durable enough.

 

[angelaH]

I dislike the retractable leads, otherwise known as rabbit-leads here. A rabbit is about the only animals one can control with them. An extension lead to your standard one, would be better, i.e. you can clip an extra length of leather or nylon lead to your standard lead.

We have a long lead, wrapped over our shoulders and then two leads for the harnesses. If Dave and I take a dog each, we can make the lead as long as we wish, by adding leads to it.

 

[Murphys Dad]

I would never trust a retractable lead. Murphy as a pup or Summer now would break those if the saw a rabbit or squirrel. Have you ever chased a loose beagle that is in full "hunt" mode? You had better be a track star.

We use 6 ft. "mountain" leads. These are thick, strong, and easy on the hands. If you want a longer lead, there are training leads as long as 30 ft.

Your best bet is training the pup to heal, stop on command, and recall. That should stop the pulling. I would also NOT recommend a body harness. A simple collar should do in the beginning. Others may recommend a choker chain for training. Worse comes to worse, you could always buy a SPORN NO-PULL harness. They work great for hard pullers. But that is down the line for you yet.

 

[Guest]

We use a regular 6 feet leash which works great, he does pull a little but nothing dramatic.

However when we reach the park you can see he wants to run and stretch his legs. Although I am in fairly good shape I just can't keep up with him.

I would like to get a longer leash for the park only so he can run in whichever direction he wants without taking me along for the ride.

Two leashes clipped tiogether doesn't sound sturdy to me. Maybe I am just misunderstanding how its done.

Donna -
( Lost 4 pounds since Lucky joined the family )

 

[DreamOfGlass]

We use only regular leads: we tried a retractable one, but Luce broke it We had to buy metal leads because they chew the leather ones while walking /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/confused.gif

 

[martiknox]

We have always used 6' leather leashes. They have a 30' rope "leash" for special training and playing situations, but we rarely use it. You have no control over the pup on long leashes. We go to dog parks where they can be off leash and this helps. My neighbor has a retractable leash for his Greyhound and his Cocker and one day the Greyhound decided to take a sprint. Needless to say my neighbor was almost pulled away and the Greyhound hit the leash of the cocker and badly damaged his leg and foot. Be very careful. Also, the need to pull beagles away from nasty little items they want to sniff and put in their mouths is much easier on the shorter leash. They also learn to pull less and obey more, if possible.

 

[sherocks]

Emma has a retractable lead. She is not a puller so it works for us. (I would definitely train a puppy on a regular lead 1st.) She loves that she can lag behind with a good smell & then run ahead so she can lag behind smelling something else.
I did have a huge scare when I 1st got her. Emma is a rescue & in the beginning lots of things scared her. Some think startled her & she bolted. I lost grip of the handle & then it started hitting the ground behind her scaring her more & keeping her running. She crossed 2 major roads & was heading for a 3rd before someone caught her. After that I did buy a new retractable lead (she beat the tar out of the other one). This one is made for 110 lb dogs & it has a strap that you are supposed to put around the dog’s neck to reinforce the collar, but I put it around my wrist twice as bolt insurance. I NEVER go out with her without the strap around my wrist. It is also helpful if I need my 2nd hand. I can lock the lead & let go.
Suggestions for leads:
Get the tape lead instead of the small rope (the rope makes an awful rope burn if they get you).
I have this…
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_d...4294966619&Ne=2
I used to have this & liked the trigger type stop…
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_d...4294966619&Ne=2
I have looked into getting one of these…
http://www.pet-dog-cat-supply-store.com/...f3bf8d4c58ff1f4

 

[BeagleLover]

I actually use the expandable leashes when walking my 2. Its the only thing that works for me.

I know most people don't like them but I like them. I use the ones that are the belt leash, not the cord leash. The cord ones have broken on me before but haven't had a problem with the belt style kind.

 

[LuckyBeagle]

I do exactly what Jen does for Jersey. We use the regular leash & harness for walks, car rides (though we have a special harness for this), and things of that nature. But we do use the retractable leash for potty time. Lucky just like Jersey needs privacy or he will not go. He has yet to break the retractable leash, and trust me he has tried many times. I have no idea what brand we have, but it is the medium sized one for up to 75 lbs.

 

[Murphys Dad]

I use a regular leash for polite walks and a 35 foot lead with his tracking harness for those sniff adventures. Since tha Bagel is always near the end of his lead, a retractable doesn't seem useful. A four foot leash is good for training and quick walks. Except in his backyard and indoors, the Bagel never leaves home without his leash and I carry his lead in the basic beagle traveling supplies (Bowl, food, towel in case he requires a bath, and sandwich bags in case he leaves a deposit in an inappropriate place)

 

[cheerio]

Personally, I have never liked extendable lead for 2 reasons. First, they are the cause of many accident as the dog steps off the sidewalk onto the road and your finger is not fast enough to lock the mecanism, and secondly because they are a well known anti-training device. I explain: Dogs learn to heal by learning that when the leash is loose, the dog is walking correctly, when it pulls, he is not. The extendable leash always pulls thus never offering the consistent education of a loose vs. a tight leash. Furtthermore, becfause it is in consistency that dogs do learn, the only way to have a dog leash trained, it is if when on the leash, he is expected each time to walk without pulling.
I have heard so many times that dogs do need to run and to feel free and this is why people like to allow them from times to times to walk ahead. Well, this is a faulse idea. Dogs allowed to pull whether on a long leash or on an extendable one does not go any further than by walking properly. Typically, t5hey pull untill they reach the end of the leash and carry on. They can do that by walking properly. The only thing they cannot do is sniff here and there as they please, something that should not be allowed especially in younger dogs as it is the way to catch all sort of illnesses from worms to Parvo. They is absolutely no need for that, and Beagles do all the sniffing they need around the house and the yard.
If you want your dog to run free, the best way is to put him in a flyball or agility class, or again in a puppy daycare as soon as he is 6 months of age. In the mean time, he can do all the running he wants when you play with him in the house or the fenced yard.
Just remember, consistent rules is what maske an obedient Beagle.

Next to the leash (I like 6'), you will need a harness...

 

[BookerMoose]

Quote:Originally posted by BeagleLover:
I actually use the expandable leashes when walking my 2. Its the only thing that works for me.

I know most people don't like them but I like them. I use the ones that are the belt leash, not the cord leash. The cord ones have broken on me before but haven't had a problem with the belt style kind.

Same here for our three - the expandable leashes (belt kind) just seem to work better for me. Most of the time I just lock the leash and then it is like a regular non-expandable leash - but there is also the flexibility to let one or another go further away by unlocking it if and when necessary. One of the difficulties with using regular 6 foot leashes is that they seem to want to be further away from each other than that when doing their business - with the expandable leash I can give one more space to do his/her thing away from the others. Of course ours were all adults (or close to it) when we adopted them and are not horrific pullers (unless they want something) - that may make the expandable leashes more workable for us than they would be for others.

 

[cheerio]

Walking 3 dogs at one is probably quite an excercise, especially when the dogs are Beagles! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif However, an easy way to walk 2 dogs is this one:
Using 2, 6' leashes, you hold both leashes into your right hand. You then shorten one of the leash, designed to walk the dog you will have on your right, and hold the middle of the other leash, ment for the dog walking on your left, with your left hand.
This way, you have one dog on each side, and each dog is controlled by a different hand: the dog on your right by your right hand and the dog on your left by your left hand. Further, because both leash are first held by your left hand, you never get that feeling of being pulled by both dogs on convergent side.