The dog supply industry is a gazillion-dollar business. Even though your dog doesn’t complain, and for the most part, he’s happy about any toy, chew, ball, bed, and the like that you bring home, it doesn’t mean that it was made in your dog’s best interest, foremost in the manufacturer’s mind. All the beautiful bright colors, fancy materials, sizes, and shapes apply to your dog’s leash as well as his toys.
So, let’s talk about leashes for a moment. I’ve noticed that the expansive variety goes from simple half-inch wide flat nylon to braided, roped, twisted leather and Bungie stretching, to name a few. Some clips used to connect the leash to a collar or harness are huge, bulky, heavy, and unnecessarily difficult to open. Some leashes are four (4) feet long, some are five (5), and some are six (6) feet long. Some extendable leashes…I know you’re familiar with those; extend to sixteen (16) feet and some to twenty-six (26) feet!
First, the leash doesn’t matter to your dog for the most part. The leash size, color, material, and design are manufactured with you in mind, not your dog. This is what to consider:
1. Is the leash comfortable in your hand and comfortable enough for you to wind around your palm?
2. Is it long enough for your dog to walk a few feet away and sniff the grass to pee or poo?
3. Is the clip small enough that it won’t weigh on your dog’s neck or body?
What leashes does Jenna, the professional dog trainer and pet parent who loves her dogs, use to enjoy walks and keep the dogs safe? What leashes do I use, and do I recommend?
Here’s what I don’t use.
1. I never use thick, stiff, rope, leather, stretchy, or bungee leashes. Pet parents often complain that their hands hurt or are irritated from the leashes they use. Braided, rope, and thick or wide leashes are hard to hold comfortably, especially for smaller hands.
2. I never use a leash shorter than or more than six (6) feet. Keep in mind that the smaller the dog, the longer the leash needs to be. But even if you’re a pet parent of a large breed dog, your dog will still need a six-foot (6) leash to sniff grass or urinate, even when taught to be at heel.
3. I never use a leash with a heavy or larger-than-necessary clip. Many of the newer, fancier leashes on the market have extraordinarily and unnecessarily large clips that pull on the collar and the leash. They do not benefit the dog or the pet parent or enhance walking or training your dog.
4. I NEVER use or recommend extendable/retractable leashes. For the most part, letting your dog be that far ahead of you or behind you, no matter what reason you attach to this potentially dangerous device (unless you are exercising your dog in an isolated area like a field) is DANGEROUS. You cannot react fast enough to protect your dog if he is even (10) ten feet away from you. Using an extendable/retractable leash is not a method used for training, and allowing your dog to have complete freedom on a leash is validating unwanted behavior in many areas of training.
Here’s what I do use.
1. For most medium-to-large dogs, I use a cotton-web training lead, six (6) foot-long, 5/8” wide leash with a small-to-medium-size clip. Cotton-web is my favorite and the choice of trainers because it’s soft, comfortable, flexible, strong, washable, durable, and inexpensive.
2. For very small breeds and young puppies, I use a nylon six (6) foot-long 3/8” wide leash with a small clip. Adjustable-length narrow leashes also work well. Some pet parents prefer narrow-width leather leashes, which are comfortable and flexible, but I do not use leather leashes personally or professionally.
What about extendable or retractable leashes? I don’t use them, and I don’t recommend them. If your dog is in front of you, the dog is in control. If the dog is in control, you are not! You cannot train a dog on an extendable leash, and you cannot even protect your dog on an extendable leash.
The only purpose I think it may serve is when you are out in a field or backyard that is not fenced in and want to give your dog more freedom to explore, play, or go to the bathroom.
If you are walking your dog on an average neighborhood street, there’s a good chance your dog can run into the street when a car is coming before you have an opportunity to realize what’s happening and retract the leash.
Consider what may happen if your dog is several feet away from you and a dog off-leash runs toward your dog. 
Dogs are companion animals, and walking with a companion should be done side by side. Why would you want your dog walking ten feet in front of you? How can you stop your dog from eating, touching, or picking up foreign objects if you cannot monitor his actions ten feet away? How can you protect him from that distance?
Most pet parents consider their dog to be a member of the family or even a kid in a furry suit. Why put so much distance and danger between you and the furry family member you love so much? How is that beneficial to either one of you?
