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Posted by TomsMom on August 28, 2009, 12:24 pm
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I agree that flexis have inherent problems but I find them useful. I'm disabled and I walk slowly. When I'm tired I walk glacially slow. Only the old gray cat, who walks on a leash, finds that to be about his speed. The K9s find it mind numbingly slow.
But, as the DW says we have flexi “rules, limitations, and boundaries”.
1) No pulling on the flexi (pulling it tight) else you must walk by mom's left heel on a loose retracted flexi until you regain your manners.
2) A shaking (vibrating) flexi means “wait” - especially helpful as the dowager queen Tofi has lost her hearing. If a dog ignores the command s/he must walk by mom's left heel on a loose retracted flexi until they regain their manners.
3) Dogs may lead the walk but no pulling and you must immediately turn and go the direction the human is going when you hear the “let's go this way” command. Else you must walk by mom's left heel... etc.
4) Dogs must do a 180 degree turn when they hear the “let's go back” command. Well, okay, Tofi does the 180 when she sees Dirk do the 180.
5) As the human holder of the flexi I have to be constantly aware of any road noises so that I have the dogs by my side on retracted flexi by the time a car is close enough to pass by us.
6) I have to constantly hold the flexis in a manner that a dog can't jerk them out of my hands (very useful especially when a coyote trotted by us about 50 feet away and Tofi wanted to go to him. Whether she wanted to kick his tail feathers or play with him I don't know but I'm thankful I had my hands pushed well into the handles).
The downside of flexis I find are:
Windy days I can't hear cars approaching because trees in the wind sound like approaching cars. I try to stay on the non-motorized paths on those days because I may not have a dog at my feet by the time a car has approached us.
Some cars and motorcycles never conceive of dog walkers being on the road. I do my level best to have my dogs at my feet but politeness is a two way street. The large truck drivers (there is some home construction going on down the street) always slow their speed when they see us on the side of the road. :o) And they wave back when I thank them.
Dropping a flexi can be a problem. In the past I have used a short leash through the flexi handles and anchor the short leash to my pants belt loop. Failing that I do train the dogs to walk around the house pulling a flexi handle behind them. It's noisy on wood floors but they soon get over “being chased” by the handle.
House to property ratio around here is one house to 5 to 10 acres. People think this is the wilderness and will drive in and turn their dogs loose on the road. Did I mention large construction trucks? Invariably people will say, as their dogs barrel towards mine, “they're friendly”. I love the looks on their faces when I reply “Mine are NOT”. It gives me permission to collect my dogs behind me, take a karate stance, and yell “NO” at their dogs. I'm a real jerk about it. Why would you ever turn your dogs loose on a road?
I don't know that I will ever walk a puppy on the roads around here because of the dogs being bussed in for their walks. It's like an open off-leash dog park and I get real irritated but I digress.
Having said all that my dogs are trained to walk on a loose leash to begin with. And we do regular “polite walks” where dogs are expected to walk by my side on a loose leash around town. And yes, they have to walk glacially slow.
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