How awful - talk about a bad combination of training aids! You should never, under any circumstances, use a flexilead with any collar that tightens up, prongs or not.

I have used Flexileads with my dogs for a good 15 years, but that happens to be because both breeds are notorious for not having any concept of recall, no matter how much training you put in. That's not true - they have every concept of it, but they are intelligent enough to know if they are off the lead they can do exactly what they want and there's not a damn thing anybody can do about it unti they are ready to come back. Before I get bashed for not having the right motivation, I have trained dogs, including a shar-pei to an acceptable standard of obedience and agility in the past. I know my dogs rather than being naive or lazy.

I do think some people who use them could do with taking "driving lessons" or a night school class in basic physics before being let loose with one. First one being don't grab the line (if I had a quid for every time I told my mum that, I'd have a modest nest egg). Second one being don't let your dog run right to the end as they will be able to drag you about effortlessly no matter their size due to the momentum built up. Third being letting your dog cavort about on one near a main road is about as much use as the berks I see walking their dogs along said road with the dog loose and lead round their shoulders or folded in their hand. They are a training AID nor a training substitute.

What is it about Tibetan breeds? Mine is a Tibetan Terrier and cannot be trusted to come back. He was taken to a dog trainer when he was younger. After ten individual lessons the trainer did teach him to sit and walk to heel.

I find my flexi lead invaluable on walks. I can use the short loop when walking along roads and then let the lead out in the forest. If he starts pulling at the end of the lead then I call 'no pulling' and he usually stops. I may have to say it more than once.

I have never had a lead break. I wonder if those who have are using the correct lead for the weight of the dog. My dog weighs 12 kilos and the lead is for dogs up to 25 kilos.

I absolutely 100% agree with this.

I have dogs that cannot be off-lead, so a flexi is their only hope of a little freedom.

Use it right and there are no problems......

I do not think Flexis should EVER be used near traffic, roads, etc.

That said, in parks for instance they can be very helpful, if used correctly. I am currently working hard on my Lab's recall and have found the Flexi extremely good for those times when I cannot let him off leash but still want him to have a bit more movement and freedom than a conventional long lead would offer.

Think the flexi should only be used as an additional lead. Short lead for walking along roads, paths etc and flexi, if it must be used at all, for parks and open spaces.
I found a couple of totally encosed parks in the city where at night time I could take a young greyhound I was training to let her off the lead and run about, she always came back as I approached the gate to leave!

I haven't read the whole thread because I am so incensed at being called a lazy owner.

Up until I adopted Pepsi I never used a flexi lead, I never needed to.

Now I have a terrier with a very strong will and strong prey drive. She is 10 years old and used to getting her own way. Who knows, may even have been trained to hunt prey.

Twice we have lost her down Badger sets.
This is something we are not prepared to let happen again.
So when in the fields/woods she is on a flexi lead. Because there is no point in buying two leads we always use the flexi lead but not necessarily on extend.

So please stop and consider why people use these leads before a blanket condemnation of the owners.

I wouldn't worry Nippy the only time I've used one was with my Boxer and we were running on average 10 miles a day, height of laziness innit.
Just cos some people are clueless how to use them properly means everyone should be condemned for using one. Same s**t, different day.

Thanks Trouble, I feel better now for getting that off my chest

They are a training aid, not a solution. IMO. A friend used one for a senile dog as otherwise he`d get lost. I considered using one for a deaf elderly dog but decided against it as I could run faster than him anyway.
The worst thing I `ve seen is a child (aged about 7) walking a young Lab wearing a Halti attached to a flexilead. Ouch!

Unfortunately those who use them sensibly seem to be in a tiny minority. I don't think its necessarily lazy to use one, I just hate the damn things after running into so many idiots using them. And there's no way on earth I'd trust one to hold my dog if he lunged! The brake mechanism on the one I had broke after a few months of use without a single lunge from him and it wasn't one of the cheap flexis either.

C&D, I see that on a regular basis, halti and flexi. I've tried warning the owners just how dangerous that is but they don't care. One day their dog is going to hit the end of that flexi and break his neck