If you thought choosing a collar was the hard part over with, think again! Available in a huge range of materials check out this article to know what's best to pick and then lets unpick the best styles.
Fixed length leads: traditional, easy to use and provide great security. These leads clip onto the collar and are great for out and about as well as training. Be sure to check the weight rating to make sure they are suitable for your dog.
Our Pick- Ancol Leather Lead
Training or double ended leads: You can swap these lead up depending on what you are doing at the time, so clip both ends onto your dog for extra control, have it short next to a road, give your dog a little extra freedom, lead two dogs at once the combinations are endless. A handy bit of kit, favoured by police and professional dog trainers.
Our Pick - Halti Training Lead
Long-lines: Probably the one time, that we would say stick with one material, Biothane. Long-lines are a great training tool for dogs whose recall isn't 100%. They take a bit of getting used to, but are well worth persevering with. When using a line, the idea is that the line stays loose- if there is tension call the dog back towards you, so over time they learn to say within a comfortable distance. Wear gloves, thin horse riding gloves are ideal.
Our Pick- Biothane long line
Slip-leads: Again these require a bit of practice, but can be an excellent training tool. They need to loop along the top of the neck first and over the other side, so the loop runs freely, and when first worn fitted up behind the ears. When used correctly they tighten slightly evenly, so the dog picks up the communication from the handler, rather than leaning into a traditional collar.
We'd recommend having a session with a trainer just to get into the habit of quick corrections and praise as well as understanding how to fit it correctly in the first instance. There are lots of videos online, but sometimes its much easier to see what someone is doing with a teacher present.
Our Pick- Slip Lead
Extendable leads: A bit of a controversial topic. They are very easy to use and come with a nice sturdy handle. If you keep getting your long-line tangled, or you know that your dog is never going to be off the lead this might be the option for you. They do apply constant tension to the dog, so can encourage pulling, and some dogs may get frightened if they are dropped and feel the lead is chasing them. We recommend this as a lead to use in an enclosed park, swapping to a fixed length lead near roads, in case the mechanism locks or breaks, or the dog spooks and runs.
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