Meg Heath Dog Leads & Collars

Long Lines / Training Lines

Choice of length - With regard to safety, consider if you will be able to hold your dog when s/he runs to the end of your lead and do not use a head collar. This is because if your dog is likely to run to the end of the lead, he will probably get a sharp jolt.

Double up - this means that you will be able to use the lead at half its' length, so for example a 20 metre line can be used at 10 metres.

Washing - we've never washed any of our dog long lines / training lines, but I would if I thought I needed to. I guess washing them out in a bucket of soapy water would be a good idea too.

Tangling - Consider the areas where you use your line and askk yourself if your dog is likely to get tangled around anyting?

Use as a trailing lead - Only let your dogs' lead trail behind him / her when you are:

• sure you have a recall any way
• sure s/he wont get tangled
• sure s/he won't run off and get lost AND tangled (hence stuck and unable to move)
• just using as a fail safe when your dog maybe doesn't like to be caught at the end of a walk in a safe area

Use with other equipment - as stated above we strongly recommend that you DO NOT use a long line with a head collar because of the potential jarring effect on the dogs neck when s/he runs to the end of the lead. Use your own judgement if you think your dog is calm enough for this not to cause injury to your dog. I guess a harness would be a good compromise and any jarring will be absorbed by the dogs body rather than neck with a collar.

Brass or Nickel Plate fittings - Brass will last longer if you abuse it, ie hang it outside or leave it wet. I use brass in my kennels and they last forever. Nickel will rust and sieze up, but if you store them indoors they will be just fine. Some people chose brass because it looks nicer too, I will always make up leads for myself with brass as I think it looks much nicer.

Updated 21st October 2011