Well last winter I saw a nice girl being draged by 2 dogs in harnesses on a very icy sidewalk. Dogs were running at a good pace and ran right throught a traffic light. Lucky it was in a small town and the lady kept on going.

No one even try to grab the dogs. I was in my car go off to teach and was kind of shocked

Connie we may need the callator wait for the answer.

Ariane do you think she may have been body jouring?

In an emergency I won't drop the leash, ever....I don't care if I"m in danger of having my hand twisted off or being pulled a mile, I won't. However I've never had a red zone dog at the end of my leash with no way to control it. I got both of my dogs as young dogs and was lucky enough to be able to work through any leash issues waaaay before I had to expose them to something that would provoke that issue in the real world. When I was young I saw three dogs run over and their owners injured (pulled in front of cars) because the were unable to control a pulling dog so I'm a bit paranoid about dog control.

With the two of them I do have to be careful since with little effort they could send me flying. I have two methods of leash set up when I walk. For city or public walks I walk with a leash splitter on flat collars and two leashes (one on each dog) on an emergency prong. The flat collar single leash is looped around my hand, the prong collar leashes run through my left hand (both dogs walk on left) to my right when they're tagged so I know which one will correct which dog. The other method when I'm carrying something heavy (like in the pet store) is Older dog in harness and prong on single leash if needed. Younger dog on thin flat collar attached to older dog's harness. If I need two hands to do something I have older dog down and become solid tether point for younger dog (who can pull all he wants but won't move lead-butted Ryuk in harness).

However in daily things that just happen. While bikejoring if my bike wobbles the line is detached even before I hit the ground (emergency release). Ryuk's dragged me on my belly when I neglected to realize that I'd failed to attach the tugline to my bike and told him to go, then I just dropped the line and told him to stop, which he did...

I should note however that I just turned 23...am generally healthy, fall very well (don't tend to get injured no matter how hilarious the fall), with good balance.....so my deathgrip during an emergency isn't likely to result in horrific injury (also, my dogs reactions to my falling are to stop and sit (Ryuk) or look horrified and try to crawl up my shirt (Gambit...and we're working on that)


I think my previous pup's owner could still hold the record for most topics started in giant chunks (may also hold the record for stupidest topics >_> though, so maybe it doesn't count?)

If you want my leash, you can pry it from my cold, dead fingers...

Sometimes being off leash is safer than being on. We have three feet of powder snow on the ground off any packed trail.

Walking a packed multi-use trail at lunch, I had all three dogs on leash because we were approaching a moose just off the trail and I wanted complete control. As we came up, the train came by on the tracks next to the trail, blowing it's whistle. The moose spooked, jumped up, and started running up the trail right at us. There wasn't any cover, just a few sparse alders, and no where to hide. After a millisecond hesitation, I decided that letting my dogs off leash was the safest for all of us. I released the dogs, and jumped off trail behind a small shrub. The moose thundered past.

My dogs dodged it's hooves, running in front of it for a bit, then came back to me. The moose continued to run from the train (the tracks parallel the trail), and other pedestrians dove for cover. Quite the scene.

Had I kept my dogs on leash a few bad things could have happened.

The moose could have freaked and focused on us and stomped me and my dogs. The leashes would have tangled, leaving my dogs unable to escape. Happens to mushers fairly often.

My dogs could have panicked and refused to step off the trail with me. While they are good on leash, imminent huge animal charging at them could make them revert to instinct. In their panic, they could have gotten in the way of the running moose and been inadvertantly kicked.

In this situation, I would never do anything differently. A spooked animal is a dangerous animal.

I would only let go if my dog needed to get AWAY from something and I was slowing him down.

Well, I have had Jethro throw me completely off my feet backward, and I landed and he stopped. He couldn't drag me, but we were on grass and I was bundled in my heavy coat (yah, it was the weight of the coat that stopped him : )).

I think part of him stopping is that we have worked very hard on leash pressure - if he is putting pressure on the leash it means we are going to stop and not go forward until there is no pressure. I have seen Jethro completely freak out at something - a squirrel, for instance, and stand there barking like a maniac but not pulling forward. This is not always the case, but it is very sweet when he stops himself, even when he is in a frenzy.

I have also had Jethro get the jump on me and start going for something forward, and because I don't have solid footing, all I can do is scramble after him to stay upright. But I have still managed to get myself sorted out and stop the charge.

I should say that I am pretty strong, and somewhat agile, for a 56 year old. When Jethro tries to catch a crow, I can still give as good as he does, and get him back in hand.

You have to understand, I am using a halti head collar and a halti chest harness. He is leashed to both. Sometimes it feels like I am harnessing and driving a horse rather than walking my dog. The halti head collar gives me a lot of power to bring him around. Then I have both leashes clipped into the carbiner. We walk with a nice pair of loose leashes draped from my hand (and avoid triggers).

When he is on a flat collar only, I have had him almost topple me when he gave a mighty lunge. I don't bother leashing to the flat collar for the time being because it is too difficult to manage when he does react, and he seems to react more frequently and with more effort when I am using the flat collar alone.

So in answer to the question, how far has Jethro dragged me? I would say about 2 or 3 feet. But we don't have ice here, so that would definitely change things.

I'm one of the ones who has already been dragged down by my dog. Eighty-pound dog started pulling in excitement, we were on loose gravel...you get the picture. I got a hole in my jeans and a bloody knee, but I didn't let go!

When I walk my dogs in a public place, I use a leather leash about five feet long that has a slip knot on the handle end. The dog walks on my left and I am holding the leash with both hands. My left hand is closer to the dog and doing most of the controlling. My right hand is usually relaxed by my side but still holding the leash near the handle end, and as a security measure, the slip knot is tightened around my right wrist.

I know I am placing myself at risk of injury by having the leash attached to my wrist in this manner, but I would rather risk injury to myself than lose my dog. I'm always thinking up worst-case scenarios, and I have thought of the possibility that I could pass out for some reason and the dog would be loose if not securely attached to me somehow.

I suppose I should consider using a back-up leash attached to my waist instead as that would be a more firm anchor than my wrist, but then I envision getting all tangled up in the two leashes.

In my case, if the dog is the kind of dog to yank me off my feet and drag me, and I didnt see it coming, I wouldnt let go- at least that way ill end up wherever hes going instead of running impotently blocks behind the dog.

But I agree with Michael, once my dog and I were charged by several loose pits, I could see that I wasnt going to be able to do much right away so I un clipped the leash and let my dog run for home while I grabbed the leader as it went by me. Thankfully, it worked for me that time.

 Quote: Mary Velazquez

........I agree with Michael.......

I hear this a lot.