Quote:
Originally Posted by gemy  \
Kathy please accept my apologies. I reread my post, and I didn't mean to sound harsh, although I can see how it came across that way. I am truly sorry you lost your beloved yorkie.
You are right that many many walk dogs on these retractables. Here is where I see the danger lies. The lever or switch that locks the lead in one position, first can be hard to flip up or down, and then unless you are constantly aware you may think you have it in the locked position and you don;t. By the time you realize it isn't locked at a full out run a dog can move a fair number of yards, and then you are fumbling with that lever to press down or up depending on what model you have. the handle of the retractable is not too suited for quickly pulling aaway your dog out of danger either.
Those retractable should absolutely never be used with large dogs on walks especially. Let me share with you a real life situation. So we are all at the same hotel in Kentucky for our Black Russian Terrier National Specialty. This is a large breed dog. It is morning fairly early, and I am walking my boy down the stairs to go to the car, a woman with another large BRT male is coming up the stairs with that dog on a retractable, her dog charges mine, the leash sings out, she was desperately trying to push that lever down, her husband is yelling and finally leaps up 4 or so steps to burn his hands grabbing the "leash". My male thought this dog was charging me. He of course reacted, but he was stopped by my close haul on his regular lead and by my command. It could have been a disastrous situation.
So to say the least I am not a fan of retractable leads on walks. |
I agree with you on the retractable leashes. I had a close call with one years ago so I through all mine away.
To the OP I agree with the others about getting obedience traing first. Also most reputable breeders wont sell at Christmas time anyway because of the usual hustle and bustle in households at that time. Good luck and Im sorry you lost your yorkie in such a tragic way. I just lost my beloved cat that was hit by a car so I know that hurt