Hello, hello! How’s the day going so far? Hopefully great.
Mine is just swimming along with an extra long (and late) lunch break that looked a little something like this.
On my plate: spinach, spring mix, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms, black olives, ground turkey, and shredded cheddar cheese with a side of salsa and blue corn chips.
No need for dressing when there’s salsa and (even better) chips!
I worked up quite the appetite on today’s training run, which is where my “lunch break” actually started right around 1:30 p.m. Today called for three miles, which seems like a piece of cake these days. Isn’t that crazy?
That’s usually how training goes though. In a couple of weeks, six miles will feel like as breeze as well. Too bad it isn’t always like that!
You probably wouldn’t have noticed this, but I had my left pant leg rolled up for a reason, and it’s not because I joined a gang.
Last Wednesday, I was burned by Roadie’s retractable leash on a walk.
As a (mostly) Rhodesian Ridgeback, he never walks straight and constantly zig-zags in front of me. Hunting tactic, perhaps?
He’ll often stop abruptly at the sight of a squirrel, then charge forward at it with full force. I’m usually on my game and stop him before he does it, but every now and then he’ll sneak attack and catch me off guard.
I happened to have shorts on and the thin part of the leash whipped the back of my legs, which caused it to cut and burn that area. It’s happened before when Scott was holding his leash and he decided to sprint behind me for no reason around a year ago too.
I’ve also kicked myself for holding the leash when he’s trying to dart and burned a couple of my fingers. Bad. That Roadie sure can be a stinker!
I’m not sure what do to though. I bought a shorter leather leash for him last time it happened but I don’t like using it, and especially not on our runs. I like the retractable because I can control how close or far he is, which makes running with him a lot easier.
But then… I endure the occasional retractable leash burn.
So what’s a girl do to? Do any of you have this problem?
I can’t really get mad at him, either.
He’s just doing his thing… being a dog and hunting rabbits and stuff.
I would love to hear your stories and suggestions of the best way to make our future runs and walks more pleasant. Thanks in advance!
Questions
• Do you run with your dog? What kind of leash do you use?
• For the dog walkers, has this ever happened to you?
My friend was just telling me about a co-worker of hers who got burned badly the same way, except on the front of her shin. Her dog was small too! She ended up needing 25 stitches to repair the cut! Yikes!
![[in our elementary school era] 🚌😭
Skyler did great walking into KINDERGARTEN with a big smile on his face this morning. I, however, was a bit of a mess on our walk home. 🥹
It’s wild how fast these 5 years with him have gone … 7 since we moved to NYC and into our apartment, dreaming of the day our kids would someday go to the *awesome* school right down our block. 🏫
That day is today, and I still don’t believe it — feeling allll of the emotions and thanking God for placing us here and for being able to trust His timing through the journey. 🫶🏼 #hbshinnyc
SO proud of you, SK - you are going to rock your first year at your “big boy school” - WE LOVE YOU !! 🩵👑](https://lifeinleggings.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
My last dog was a Jack Russell terrier and she was crazy on a leash! I think sticking to routes you trust for runs/walks is always helpful.
Yeah… the trails are always a toss up! Some days he’s great and stays on track an others he stops and sniffs and has to investigate (and throw me off) every two seconds. He’s a treat 😉
Ouch! That looks so painful. I’m sorry. 🙁
Not nearly as bad as last time, but certainly noticeable! It should be healed in a couple of days, no sweat. 😉
Oh no..at least you can look back on this memory and just laugh!
Our deceivingly strong Snooki dragged my sister in law across the street (on her face) on Easter :-/ everyone always says “drop the leash” but that is never the instinct!!
I have 2 Rhodesian ridgebacks and they are huge. One weighs 90lbs and the other is 140lbs. I use a paracord 4 foot leash with a chain prong collar. I train and run half marathons/marathons and the dogs train with me, so the paracord leash was much more comfortable to hold for the long runs. My vet told me that the prong collar was actually a safer way to train the dog because it evenly distributes the pressure around the neck where as a regular collar applies to much pressure in one spot when the dog pulls ahead. From day one of training them I have only allowed them to walk/run on my left side with their shoulders aligned with my body. I know this sounds rigid, but it was the only way I felt like I could safely have control over them for my safety and others. Now both dogs are trained and they don’t pull on the leash or move from my left side, whether there are distractions like squirrels or not. I’m not going to lie though the training was frustrating at times and took a lot of patience and a lot of less than enjoyable runs, but I feel like the results are worth it.
I love how when you get into training your runs seem easy. This weekend I found myself saying, I only have to run 10 miles. Only 10 miles!
Oh geeeeez… I hope it heals quickly!!
I know the zig zaggy dog struggle. My puppy is just starting to get a little better, but still seeing squirrels or bunnies she looses her mind 🙂 Honestly I’ve never been a fan of retractable leashes just because I thing they give less control. I use a 7 foot well broken in leather leash. I kind of like that the short line helps for when I’m having a tough time motivation wise- I have to keep up the pace so my pup doesn’t drag me! Hope this helps! Granted my dog is only 60 lbs and your guy pulling might be a little too much “motivation!”
Your salad looks amazing. Ouchie! Your poor leg! I take my dog with me when I run and just use a regular “thick” leash for her. I can gather the slack of the leash so she’s closer (which I prefer since our trails are a bit busy) I feel if she’s closer I have a bit more control over her and can anticipate her moves a bit. I’m also a little strict about her staying on my left side just so we don’t get tangled on each other. She’s 8 though to so she’s not as unpredictable as she was when she was a puppy. She still could get a wild hair and dart someday that could put me right on my booty. Hehe
I have a leather leash so luckily I’ve never had that problem, but I swear my lab has almost dislocated my wrist due to a squirrel sighting. She’s usually good on a leash otherwise, but if she sees a squirrel it’s game over!
I have a really short leash that I use for runs with our lab and he is trained to stay right on my left side. Walks are a different story, but I had a friend trip over the leash and break his ankle while running with their dog…so I am pretty strict during a run.
I’ve found that its better to hold a short leash and keep my dogs (labs) right by my side when I’m walking them or running them. They get some ‘free’ time at the park to go out and sniff and walk around where they want. But walks and runs are structured events and therefore they need to be right by my side so its easier (and much more calm) for both of us. I’ve been burned MANY times by retractable leashes. I don’t use them anymore. You have very little control of the dog. I very much subscribe to the Dog Whisperer methods of dog walking. Over time I’ve been able to let one of my dogs completely off the leash and she stays right by my side on walks and runs.
We have an 85 pound pup. He is full of energy and loves to drag me along on walks and runs. I use a “training collar”-yes, the ones with the spikes. I put it on my leg to try it before putting it on the pup (I didn’t want it to hurt him!!). It doesn’t hurt, but it is uncomfortable. It helps me to control him better so he runs beside me.
I never got burned by the leash when I had my dog, but she also never sneak attacked me, so it made it easy to know when she was going to go after something. I wish I had soemthing helpful to share with you, but the only thing I can recommend is just going on walks with him for a while, and really pay close attention to him, so you can address his attacks. Maybe he would understand then after repeatedly being told no that it’s not okay to sneak attack and burn you? I’m sorry I don’t have something better to offer haha but at least you didn’t need stitches 🙂
When I moved to downtown Chicago, my dog was lunging at everything she saw because of all the stimulation overload. We took her to obedience school and while that didn’t help us a whole lot, they did introduce us to the BEST thing ever- the “no pull” harness. If you just google “no pull harness” you can get a bunch of different kinds and they are amazing! If your dog pulls, the harness is designed to turn him around so that he can’t get anywhere. It was truly lifesaving and made walks with my dog SO much more enjoyable! I highly recommend it.
We’ve actually tried one of those before! I loved it, but then I noticed it started to rub under Roadie’s front legs when we went for long runs. I felt bad about that and haven’t put it on him since. Does that happen to you at all?
It did happen a little initially, but I found that adjusting it helped- I think it’s the kind of thing where you have to make sure it’s on a specific way and that it is fitted perfectly (maybe have an expert at a pet store help with fitting it?) Also, once our dog got used to the harness and realized she wasn’t going to get anywhere, she stopped pulling so the harness wasn’t rubbing up against her anymore if that makes sense. 🙂
Yeah, we probably need to take him in and get him fit for one or something. Thanks so much for the tip!
Oh boy do I know that pain! Marley is a year old so this summer was the first time taking him out for runs and he would drive me crazy when something caught his attention. He has even nibbled through 3 leashes mid run. What the heck?! I eventually got an Easy Walk harness and a long non retractable leash. Now not only do I not have an issue with the pulling anymore but I can just wrap the leash once or twice around my hand if I want to shorten it which works well for me. Good luck!!
If you want him to stick closer to you, in a more uniform space around you, then give him treats whenever he is in that space–over and over and over. You can also teach him and build on the basic command “leave it” if it is the darting and random stopping that is affecting you. Dr. Sophia Yin has awesome training advice and videos online.
My dog (boxer/pit) is the same way,loves to sneak attack when I am not ready. The other day the grass was wet on my lawn and she spotted another dog that she really wanted to meet and I was trying to hold her back slipped on the wet grass and she drugged me all the way to the dog! Ouch! I use a body harness so I have more control of her body with a lesh that is pretty long but it also has a low handle to hold if you need that extra control.
Oh man, that happened to me once on ice. There’s nothing you can do but let go or let them drag you! Hope the harness has helped!
Hi there! My husband and I are foster parents for a rescue in Massachusetts. We highly suggest against prong collars – negative reinforcement usually ends badly. Our rescue uses only Martingale collars (they are a self-tightening collar). These work really well on strong dogs that may tend to pull while walking. We also use the Easy Walk harness. I’ve found that hooking the leash (non-retractable) to both the collar and the harness. It gives you a lot more control. It’s also really important to work on structured walks with your dog. Many dogs will be interested in animals (we’ve had several dogs with high prey drives come through our door!), but that doesn’t mean they should chase after them. I hope this helps!
Thank you for the info on the Easy Walk harness. I appreciate your input!