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walking your dog

rocky

Well-known member
when i take vegas out for walks i use the extending lead i have heard that he should be walked close and to the left hand side of you any advice and why the left hand side?
 
If you are walking him near traffic I'd get rid of the Extensa lead for town walking -- these are great for walking in safe areas away from traffic but NOT for town/city walking because they very easily can pop out of your hand and also come unlocked, allowing a dog to run straight into traffic or run off dragging the whole lead -- which can scare the dog into running even faster away from you. You are better getting a good 4 foot lead for city walking. Most trainers do not ever recommend using extensa leads for walking near traffic. (y)

It doesn't matter at all what side your dog walks to. If you do an obedience class they will often (especially in old-style classes) teach walking to heel with the dog to your left but these days it is more common to simply teach dogs to walk on a loose lead without pulling. Few people need a dog to stick to their left side and it is a pretty boring way for a dog to go on a walk. :)

It is always a good idea to do an organised, rewards-method obedience class though so if you haven;t done this yet I would look into it.
 
I use a flex-y lead when I'm doing a little jogging because I don't like how a standard leash pulls but I only use this on our cities' rec. trail that is far away from all roads. I would say if your walking some place safe that your dog won't get into harms way with it I don't see a problem with them.

I'm working on training Maverick to heel on both sides and walk on a loose lead. They have us heel them on the right in class.

One of my biggest pet peeves with flex-y leads is when people have them on in crowed places (pet store, fairs, dog training open houses) and don't pay attention to where there dog is. Not saying you do this I just needed to vent about the crazy lady the other day not paying attention to her dog pooing on the floor half way across the training hall... yuck
 
Yes, be very careful with those extension leads. I have seen 2 very near misses with them. One was where the locking mechanism let go & a dog shot out in front of traffic. Another was where someone could not reel their dog in quick enough when there was strife with another dog. I do not use extension leads at all now, but if I did, I would only use them in large parks or on the beach.

Strictly speaking yes, the dog walks close to your feet on the left hand side of you. However, it is nice to let them have their head occasionally so they can sniff around & do what doggies like to do. I always start & end a walking session with the dog very close to me but at some time through the walk I will give all the lead & say something like "ok, go play". When it is time to resume walking close I say the dogs name then "heel" and they know it is time to walk nice nice!
 
when i take vegas out for walks i use the extending lead i have heard that he should be walked close and to the left hand side of you any advice and why the left hand side?

When I took Mickey to the puppy class the trainer asked if we knew why dogs had been taught to walk to our left. Obvious we didn't know. She said in the old days when people took their dogs out to hunt, they carried their guns with their right hand, hence, dogs walked on the left. It has sort of become a tradition.

I am not sure if that has any thuth to it but it makes sense to me.
 
hehe Faith's trainer is trying to get me to walk her on the left side now :rolleyes: The problem is, Faith usually walks on the right :lol: I have two of them and I have one leash in each hand.. so naturally, one dog needs to walk on the left and one on the right.. they do cross every once in a while and I just switch hands, but honestly that's the funniest "reason" behind "walking on the left side" ever! :lol:

I use extensa-leashes when we are walking around our housing development, which is low traffic of course, but whenever we go "out" (the pet store, the vets, etc) I always use a regular lead. The extenda ones are pretty big and bulky and I have dropped them before and it scares Kosmo into running away every single time :neutral:
 
I have dropped my flex-y lead many times and every time is scares Maverick when it come chasing after him.
 
with 3 to walk - 2 hands cannot manage 3 extendies.:eek:

Will walks on my left (and on his own cos he needs extra attention):paw::paw:
Guinness is usually left a bit slack on the right - he has earned a bit more freedom. Then Bailey is also on the right - but a bit more in check.:rolleyes:

Have had it a few times where an extendie jumps out of your hand - and well frightened dog - very risky.:eek:

Extendies do have their own uses - especially in the country or on a beach - if you cannot let them off.:dogwlk:
 
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