Leads glorious leads!

The humble dog lead. What a marvelous invention!

What is so special you ask?

My dogs' lead is his seatbelt. It helps keep him safe.

I love a nice offlead walk as much as the next person. Seeing my dog happy and enjoying the freedom to sniff and run and play.

But it's not always safe to do so. I might come across livestock, there might be a road or a carpark between us and the walk, there might be more distractions today than I was expecting.

I also believe in being a responsible dog owner. Everyone should be able to share our public spaces without fear of an out of control off-lead dog spoiling the fun. Friendly or not.

I don't set out on an onlead or offlead walk. I flit between the two guiding my dog where needed to help him make good choices.

Dogs aren't robots. I've seen very well trained dogs suddenly bolt across a road after a cat or in excitement to greet a friend. Dogs that wander into Blaise carpark narrowly missing the learner driver.

We need to stop viewing leads as failure.

I don't wear my seatbelt when I drive because I'm a terrible driver. I do it to help keep me safe.

Using leads to do the same for your dog makes you a great owner. For those of you with sensitive dogs that are onlead more than most, thank you for taking such good care of your dog as well as those around you.

When I see people walking their dog down my street offlead, I don't think they are impressive or have a perfect dog. I worry for that dog's safety when something goes wrong.

I encourage all my clients to work hard at their recall, to have offlead connection. But remember we have a useful tool in our leads and that connection is an important one too.