Dog Leads & Leashes

About

A dog lead is the piece of walking gear that gets replaced least often and thought about least, and it is the one that decides how a walk actually feels. Length, material and clip weight matter more than colour. This page holds the leads and leashes on their own; harnesses and collars have pages of their own. Fixed length, training length or retractable A standard fixed lead of about 1.2 to 1.8 metres is the everyday default: predictable distance, no mechanism to fail, and enough slack for a dog to walk beside you without being held short. Training leads are longer and let a dog range while still being under control, which is what you want for recall practice in an open space rather than on a footpath. Retractable leads such as the Flexi Standard Cord and Tape, the Dots and Neon versions and the Alcott Adventure, Expedition and Wanderer models give a dog room to explore and reel back in — worth choosing by the weight rating on the pack, and worth locking short near roads and other dogs. The Halti Training Lead and Double Ended Lead have clips at both ends, so one lead can run to a front-clip harness and a headcollar at once. Cord, tape, rope and nylon Flat nylon webbing is the hard-wearing everyday material and the easiest to hold. Rope leads have more give in them, which takes the jolt out of a sudden lunge and is kinder on your shoulder. On retractables, tape is wider and easier on the hands than cord, while cord is lighter and better suited to small dogs. Whatever the material, check the clip: a trigger snap is quick to use, and a heavy bolt clip on a small dog is dead weight hanging off the collar all walk. Brands on this page Flexi covers the retractables in cord, tape, dots and neon. Halti runs the training side with the Training Lead, Active Lead, Double Ended Lead and the Anatomy Multi Lead. DASHI sells leads that match its Neo Mesh harnesses and collars by print, and Anipal, Lilly and Dash and Max & Molly cover the patterned everyday end. Dogit makes th