We have just come back from a week in the Lakes with Rosie. We have had a brilliant time.

However thought we should warn you about an experience we had with a "flexi" lead - ie long lead that is mainly made of that very high strength nylon "string" rather than webbing and rolls up into the handle.

For fell walking we usually have Rosie off the lead unless there are sheep about when we use a long Ruffwear "flat out" leash made of flat nylon webbing. However we do have a flexi lead which we sometimes use for road walking as the handle is comfy to hold. Anyway one day we were walking to the village pub for lunch through fields with sheep and lambs, so we put Rosie on the flexi lead but had it quite long so she had some freedom. A rather brave Ram approached us and stood staring at Rosie. In a moment the sheep ran accross her path and as Rosie also ran the string lead wrapped round the sheeps neck. This all happened really quickly and the sheep started to panic, Rosie tried to run off which tightened the string further and the sheep began making horrible choking sounds. My husband grabbed the string which because the sheep was pulling sliced through his hand like a knife and he now has a nasty wound. As my husband is so quick thinking and very calm in a crisis he unhooked the lead from Rosie, I held Rosie and he went after the sheep and held it by the horns whilst he unwrapped the lead and released the sheep. No harm done fortunately but a bit of a scary moment. These leads could be lethal and ours has gone in the bin now !!!!

Jesus....that's a story and a half.....glad everyone's ok

Thank goodness you were all okay after that awful experience!
I prefer the flat tape ones if we need to use one but our last one broke through too much wear and we've got a flexi we sometimes use now for one of them and I hate it if one of the other dogs run into it, the nylon cord ones are so thin they must be very difficult for a running dog to see them until they are too late
Good point made and the next one I get will definitely be a tape one.

Oh my Gawd!! That must have been AWFUL
So glad everything turned out ok!
On the subject of Flexi leads, we had a dog come into the vets where I'm a nurse that had got the cord wrapped round her hindlegs, it cheesewired straight through her tendons and she required alot of surgery to fix her up.
Horrible things
XXX

Will also share a flexi-lead story..

A few years ago my auntie and uncle had a white boxer, Benson. He was a pain in the bum for comming back so they always kept him on a flexi-lead. This day me my brother and cousin were out kicking the football between eachother with Benson on the flexi and he was chasing the ball....my brother kicked it to me and benson ran behind me to get it then ran back to my brother around me..i now have two nasty burn scars on the backs of my knees...it HURT to say the least!!
I have not used or advised anyone to use them since.

Blooming nasty rope burns!!!

For a dog as strong as a Springer I highly recommend that only the tape/webbing ones are used, we have two of varying strength both all tape, you just need to check before you buy.

That is scary

I don't like them but have two mmm best get another for walks you don't know one web and one rope, think I'll get the tape one again.

The other thing to remember with either type of flexi is to make sure they are fastened to collar properly. We can only assume we had either not clipped lead on properly or clipped it to the wrong ring as Woody once ran to the end of his lead, it jerked, came un-attached and flew back at very high speed and hit my mum on the bridge of her nose - very very painful.

I find flexis very useful in some situations - I always use one when I take Rhian out for the last time at night. But they need to be handled properly, and I wouldn't use one on a very unruly dog. Not everybody who uses one knows how to shorten them at need!

I have some rules for the flexi:
- Never allow play on the flexi
- Never fix the lead in a rolled out position - I always have the roll-up mechanism active
- Always call the dog close and shorten the lead when passing a group of people

Apart from that last short round at night I don't use it often - sometimes on hikes when dogs have to be on lead, or when Rhian is in season. I can't bear to watch when people let their dogs play on the flexi, it's so dangerous. I always explain why I won't let Rhian play in such a situation, maybe the odd dog owner will get thinking....

I never use a flexi lead hate the stupid things personally i think you have no proper control over the dog and the amount of times I have had people's dogs wrapped round my legs or my daughters trying to get at my own dogs is stupid and frankly dangerous. I used one for a short while with shrek but all he ever did was run to the end the first chance he got and then pulled like a loonatic getting himself wrapped round the other dogs, trees, lampposts etc IMHO if you are in a situation where the dog is not allowed off lead then we just use a normal lead either a slip lead or one that clips to the collar/ harness.

I occasionally use a nylon cord type Flexi, I did find the thing very useful when walking on fells or steep areas where allowing a varied amount of length on a leash helps when negotiating steep and difficult paths. I used it when we approached sheep and although Brandy was very good in the fields with sheep there was only one occasion when I needed to restrain her and the Flexi did the job.

I have tried handling more than one dog with each on a Flexi....... big mistake.....although I'm not bad at untangling knots, the springers defeated me regularly and having to untangle your legs whilst chatting to a passer by is embarrassing

Make sure the cord does not stick and retracts easily, some worn out units can be a source of problems.....you really do need the cord to retract freely. Make sure it will lock in a short length easily too then you can use it as a short lead too.

I agree that the cord type can cut and give a nasty friction burn and I suppose the tape type will be better...I have never tried one.

Julie can't get on well with the Flexis so she never uses them on the dogs.

Steve

I agree with Steve, it can be very useful when mountain walking. A normal 2m lead is simply too short on difficult paths, and a long line takes two hands to handle.

I can see that two dogs on flexis is a recipe for a tangle - how about two dogs on the same (heavier and stronger) flexi?

I use a Flexi lead all the time with Charlie - due to his complete ignorance on recall and the fact he's running out of ears - it's the only way I can take him out and give him a decent wander. Have several 8m ones - as they tend to wear out at a rate of knots.

Can't say I've ever had a problem, apart from walking with several people when if they're not watching, Charlie has a habit of wandering in between and round everyone and tying them up.

When he goes off into the trees etc and wraps himself up, he'll unwind himself on signal.
...if only he'd come back off it, then I wouldn't of had to go through that, but such is life.