Depends what you are defining as 'road', doesn't it? obviously there is a big difference between walking a dog along a fast A road/duel carriageway on an unlocked flexi and a quiet residential street or county road that averages 2 cars per hour.

To get to my house I have to drive down a non-residential road which doesn't get much traffic but it only takes one car to have a freak accident. It was just the other day that I was driving home and spotted a family walking their pup, paying it hardly any attention with a loose long lead and it stepped out into the road infront of me, luckily I was far away enough to slow down but they were so oblivious I bet they wouldn't have noticed if I was right up close with no chance of stopping. Infact, I actually live down a private dirt track lane which only leads down to my house and 3 others, and last month I drove down it and around a corner to come face to face with someone's dog running around off-lead under no control (owners were busy feeding the horses). Even quiet roads have traffic and pose risks - I know I drive down the lane carefully but we get the odd carful of chavs deciding to skulk around and they certainly zoom down the road, and the braking distance is greatly extended because it's loose stones and cars just slide along when you slam the brakes on, so a dog on a Flexi that was wandering way up ahead of you could certainly be at risk and you lack the control to reel them in quickly with a Flexilead. Roads are made for cars so I think you should certainly be prepared to encounter one, no matter how quiet the road seems - and unfortunately nowadays it's often the quiet roads that people speed down as they know there are no cameras/police around.

Yep. Me too. But in order to do it properly you have to be observing everything around you, keeping an eye on your dog, etc.

There are idiots who do all sorts of stupid things. I came close to hitting a dog who ran out into the road. The woman was standing right on the curb, talking on her cell and had her dog on a 6 foot lead. Plenty of room to get far enough out into the road to be near traffic.

It can also depend on where you walk. In my neighborhood there are sidewalks and the sidewalk averages 6-10 feet from the road. My flexi is 12 feet long and rarely is Dahlia at the end of it. So I have plenty of time to lock it even if she did want to run out into the road for something.

And with Dahlia's freeze into a herding/stalking posture before she tries to race off to anything. I have plenty of time to lock it down close to me and distract her. lol

I posted something like this a while back too - I totally agree with you!

And the problem isn't just near roads. I was walking Dexter to the park a while back, and two women with some dogs were coming towards us.

One woman had her dog on a Flexi and as we got nearer I made sure I was between Dex and this dog - Dex goes wild with glee when he sees another potential playmate...

But the woman hit the wrong button and instead of withdrawing her dog, suddenly this blinking dog comes shooting forward right at Dex......

Just what we needed - not!

I agree that Flexis are fab - in the park, or a field, or somewhere 'secure'. But as with anything, they need to be used with care.

I sw a dog killed when on a flexi lead a few years ago the dog went into the road and the owner could not put the "break" thing on I think they actually released it instead not sure but so so sad people in tears the driver and passenger in tears and so were the other drivers (like myself who witnessed it and people standing at a bus stop.
So sad.

I got some advice from a co worker (who has 3 dogs himself - one a cocker spaniel like my Cannon) when I first got my pup at 9 weeks old.

He told me to teach him to stop at curbs and intersections and sit. I incorporated the word "wait" along with this.

It comes in handy when your putting on the leash at the front door, when your taking it off when you get back, and most importantly, when you approach a street crossing. He will stop and wait for me to tell him it's ok to go across.

I have both a flex and normal lead. During the "training" period I would use the normal lead until both myself and he got comfortable with the walk. Only when we had a solid fault free 2 weeks of controlled and well behaved walks, did I start to use the flex leash.

Ah but it very much depends on where you live and the type of dog you own etc There are risks involved with everything, I've seen someone walk their dog on a short lead by the roadside when the lead snapped and the dog got into the road narrowly avoiding being hit by a car! If we were to try and attempt to avoid every risky situation no one would ever go out!

Using the flexi when road walking means Oscar has a bit more freedom to sniff and explore etc. He's trained not to race around on it and also to come straight back when he reaches the end. Like every dog I've used a flexi on, they know exactly how long the lead is and learn not to pull on it.

Like I said, I've managed perfectly well for nearly 20 years without problems, you obviously see it as more of a risk thN I do but as with everything it's only relevant to each individual and their circumstances.

But a lead snapping is a different thing, an unpredictable, unpreventable accident - a Flexi could snap just the same as a short lead (though I've heard of more Flexis snapping/breaking than regular leads). But walking a dog with so many metres of line and just assuming it will stick to the pavement is a different risk altogether IMO. All it would take is for the dog to have a sudden urge to chase a squirrel on the other side of the road, or be spooked by a strange sight or noise to the near side of it and it could bolt out infront of a car.

I've not seen any leads snapped, but I HAVE seen plenty of owners drop a 6 foot leash for various reasons.

The worst one I saw was when it got wrapped around their leg. It was a little dog, ran around her foot and yanked the woman right off her feet! Because the lead was dragging it was easy to wrap around her that way. With a retractable that's LESS likely to happen.

For me, I'm happy using my flexi. The chances of my dog going into the road are almost 0% (about the same percentage as if I were using a regular lead). We're usually 6-10 feet away from the road, sometimes more. She is a trail follower (even when off leash she doesn't veer from the sidewalks or trails) unless she's playing with another dog. She doesn't chase squirrels unless I give her the command (go get 'em!). She has a rock solid "stop" command.

I've weighed the pros and cons of the flexi and decided that the pros far outweighed the cons. And I took steps to make sure she wasn't going to pull on the leash and that she would stop on a dime and not chase unless I let her. And I pay 100% attention to her (no cell phone talking for me). I'd imagine ripsnorterthe2nd is much the same.