Long lines?

Louie's recall is becoming shocking, despite working with him everyday - his springer nose senses must have kicked in a lot

So, we have a 30ft nylon long line, but it is very difficult to hold, when he's not a far distance away, also when he pulls unexpectedly - we get rope burn - Ouchie!!

We have a couple of 6ft leads, but thats not much room for recall purposes.

I have a flexi - but only for dogs under 15kg (Sadie) and it's pink so there'd only be me using that and it's gotta be a man thing "That pink lead is not going on Louie" - so useless.

Any suggestions on the best long lines?

i just bought a lunge line off ebay and yes you are right it is difficult to hold on the 'normal' part of the walk, so im going to start using a 'normal' lead till i get to wherever it is that they are going to be allowed the freedom then use the lunge line on the field, that way it can be allowed to drag along the ground and you can pull the dog in when the recall doesnt work, hopefully that way the dogs will learn that when i recall them it should only have to be the once.

Firstly - get some gloves! Horse riding gloves are quite popular as they are warm but not too thick, so they don't inhibit your hand movement/grip too much.
Learn to loop the longline around your palm (between your thumb/finger) and your elbow, it's a lot quicker to pick up slack lead and then you can hold the loop at the top with one hand, instead of just trying to hold on to a bundle of tangled lead. You've then got your other hand free to let out bits of the line as needed/grab hold of firmly if you need to.
Bad picture but you can see how this lady is holding the lunge line for this horse - http://www.brainnoodles.com/weblog/i.../cornwall4.jpg
Another option is to leave the line trailing - tie a few knots down the line so that if you need to step on the line to stop it, the knots will jam rather than the lead sliding right under your foot.
My long line is actually a horse lunge line, it's very thick and strong, however the clip on it is quite bulky so wouldn't suit smaller dogs. You can get a whole variety of lung lines though so if you have a local horse-y shop, you could try checking it out.

Thanks, we do use a normal line til we get to the field, but on some occasions we use a back alley way (more trees than walls) that leads to the field area, Louie has good ish recall but on this particualr bit he will race to the field and just stand there and wait for us - which I suppose is good but we dont know whats around the corner. Yes - I know we should probably keep him on the lead til then.

We have a horsey shop - I may just visit it Thanks for the advice and I will invest in some riding gloves - I did have a pair until a horse chewed a hole in one of the fingers - Damn Smurf!

Hi you could try a leather tracking line. They do not seem to burn like the nylon lines and the weight on them means they lie flatter on the ground but down side is that they are very expensive £45, gloves would be a cheaper option

I was going to suggest the same, I did have a spare one I could have sold you as well, but unfortunately it got lost in the move!

get a lunge line from a saddlers - it`s flat fabric - and tie a few knots down the length.
Personally I drop the line and let it drag. The weight slows them down and then I can just stand on it and reel them in.

As suggested get yourself some gloves.. preferably not the ones with rubber type pimples- they wear far to easily. Mine are Leather/cotton mix/elastic mix; love them. Easy to hold when you horse is brocing like a loony ont he end of a lunge line!

My lunge line for my horse is 30ft useful for anything up to 20m I reckon. Clip is sturdy been tested against my 450kg horse many times! So dogs should be fine

A handy tip for getting used to a lunge line of any sort I found is to clip one end to a cupboard or chair, and practise reeling it in and looping it. My advice is to start nearest the clip end and reel in from there. Knots at certain intervals can help if the line gets mixed up and your dog starts to run off.

If you find it I would be interested in buying it

My gloves are similar to this.

http://www.equestrianclearance.com/w...ves/index.html

And this is my lunge line:

http://www.ingatestonesaddlery.co.uk...in-100504.Aspx

Found it easier to handle than the others. However mine is longer.