Flexi Comfort Small > Reviews (1)

A few weeks I finally took the plunge and bought myself a puppy to add to the household, I have always intended that I would get a dog when I retired and now that I am just working part time, mainly from home, I decided the time was right. So a few weeks ago little Ellery came to live here.

I can't say the cats were best impressed with the new addition but they are adapting and for my part I have enrolled him in a puppy training class to try to instill some element of discipline. He is pretty good and he loves to go out walking so I decided to treat him (and me) to a flexi lead.

What is it?

The flexi lead is basically just a long lead on a spring mechanism which means that you can allow the dog to walk up to five metres away from you and when he is closer it automatically retracts into the handle so that neither you, nor the dog, trips over it. You can lock in at any point along the length so if you want the dog to walk close to you you just lock it on a short length.

The flexi leads are made in a variety of strengths depending on the weight of the dog you are trying to restrain but as little Ellery will never grow to be huge I was happy to buy the one for a small dog.

In use

The Flexi lead I chose was the 'comfort' variety which is designed to be comfortable to the hand as I thought this was important for when he is older and we go on long walks. I very quickly got used to the technique for shortening the lead during the walk when I need to have him close.

We are lucky where we live in that there is a quiet farm road we can walk down which is more of less free of traffic so when we are on that I can allow him plenty of range but as we get back close to home where there is more traffic I can shorten it down and keep him safely at my side.

I have also found it pretty useful as a training aid. I am able to allow him to wander off to the full length and then do a recall and get him back to heel. Very useful if we want to practice the skills he is learning without running the risk of him disappearing if he gets distracted which can happen when they are young. It is also good for teaching the stay as I can walk away for a distance and yet still have control if I need it.

Would I recommend it

Yes I would, it is very comfortable in the hand and it is proving very effective in terms of letting Ellery have a little more freedom whilst still keeping control. It is also useful as part of our training routine.

Just be sure that you get the right 'weight' to suit the dog you are trying to control, it is fine with my little puppy I am afraid I can't comment on how robust the heavier rated ones are with big unruly dogs.