What makes a good dog leash is a matter of personal taste. As an owner, you will probably have a preference. For example, which material you like to walk with. Of course, it depends on the dog you are walking with. Does your dog pull a lot, which is of course not ideal, or not? Is your dog big or do you have a small dog? In this blog we describe the most used types of dog leashes.
If you want to put the puppy outside quickly, because he is not yet house-trained, it is nice if this can be done quickly. You do not want to struggle with a harness or collar for 5 minutes and then attach a dog leash. It is often useful to use a hunting leash for those first pees in front of the door. If you buy a hunting leash, make sure you buy one with a stop. This prevents the hunting leash from becoming a choke leash!
For the course we find it important that you follow the course with a 1.8m or 2m line. You can also use this line for walks in the city. These lines can be made of different materials. Below we have listed a few examples.
You can buy a 2m line made from Biothane. Biothane is a soft material, light, flexible and strong. The disadvantage is that when it rains the material can become slippery. The advantage is that it is easy to clean.
We are big fans of the anti-slip lines, in addition to the biothane line. These have a rubber lining incorporated into the line. The anti-slip line is also lightweight, somewhat rougher in the hand, strong and does not become slippery when wet.
The biothane and anti-slip lines are available in different thicknesses and lengths. So, if you are going for a nice sniffing walk with your dog or to a nature reserve on a leash, you can also choose to buy these lines in a 5 or 10 meter version. If you still have trouble letting go of your dog, you can choose to buy the 5 or 10 meter option of these lines without a loop.
Then there are the flex lines. We are absolutely no fans of these. The reason for this is that if the handle falls on the ground and your dog is startled by the impact, your dog can run away or experience a fear experience. These lines are also often not as sturdy as they seem. If the dog takes a good 10 meters of run-up, it can happen that you are standing with a handle without a line and dog, because the line is pulled out of the holder. In addition, it often happens that a malfunction occurs in the lock mechanism. If your dog then walks far ahead of you when crossing the street, for example, you no longer have control over it. Another disadvantage is that the line is always under tension and there is never a slack line. As a result, the dog can get used to that tension on the line and does not learn to walk relaxed with a slack line. So, if you want to give the dog a bit more length for a nice sniffing walk, think about the anti-slip or biothane option described above.
Then there is one last line that we would like to give as an option. Many people like to jog with their dog or sometimes the dog pulls so hard that they have a lot of pain in their arm afterwards. There are special lines for this that are shock absorbing. These are elastic like a kind of bungee line. This is very nice when running, because you can also take your phone or water bottle with you. In the following link you can see an example of a bungee line and hip belt that you can use for running or walking with the dog.
