There are a lot of things I learned the hard way as a dog mom. Retractable leashes are at the top of that list. I want to tell you two stories. One is mine. One belongs to a man who showed up to one of my obedience training classes missing part of his finger.
The Man with the Missing Finger
When I taught obedience classes, retractable leashes always came up. Every single time. I’d explain the dangers, walk through the risks, and watch people nod politely the way people do when they’ve heard something before and aren’t quite convinced.
Then one evening, a man in class held up his hand. He didn’t say a word. He just showed us his finger — or rather, where part of it used to be. A retractable leash had done that. The cord had wrapped, the dog had pulled, and that was that. The class got very quiet. Nobody argued about retractable leashes after that.
My Own Retractable Leash Story — And Yes, It Involves a Face Plant
I’ll be honest with you. Before I knew better, I had two retractable leashes. I think one is still somewhere in my SUV, locked in a compartment, not seeing the light of day anytime soon. My wake-up call came courtesy of Einstein — Einy — my first lab. The sweetest, most enthusiastic dog I have ever loved. It had been one of those days. Rush hour traffic from Cleveland to Akron, a drive that normally takes 25 minutes, had stretched into two hours. I was exhausted, wrung out, and barely functioning. But Einy needed a walk, and Einy always got his walk. I grabbed the retractable leash. Off we went.
We stopped at an intersection. I was standing there in a fog, thinking about crossing, not really thinking about anything at all. And then something made me look down. Einy was five steps ahead of me. In the street. The lock on the retractable had dislodged without me noticing, and he had wandered right out into traffic. I ran. I tripped. I face planted in the middle of the road. No cars, thank goodness. Just me, flat on the pavement, and Einy looking back at me with what I can only describe as lab mix energy. I’m fairly certain he was laughing.
I was more embarrassed than hurt, which probably says something about the adrenaline. That was the last time I used a retractable leash.
Why Retractable Leashes Are More Dangerous Than They Look
The problem with retractable leashes isn’t that they’re inconvenient. It’s that they create a false sense of control. Your dog is technically on a leash — but they can be 10, 15, even 26 feet away from you before you can do anything about it. A few things that make them genuinely risky: The lock mechanism can fail. As Einy so memorably demonstrated, those locks are not foolproof. One bump, one moment of inattention, and your dog is loose in traffic. The cord can cause serious injury. That man in my class is proof.
Retractable leash cords have enough tension to cause severe rope burns, cuts, and worse to both dogs and humans. Fingers and legs are particularly vulnerable. They teach dogs to pull. Every time your dog reaches the end of the cord and keeps moving, the leash extends. The dog learns that pulling works. You are, without meaning to, training pulling as a behavior. They give you no real control in an emergency.
If something happens fast — another dog, a car, a child running up — you have almost no ability to quickly bring your dog to your side.
What We Use Instead — And Why It Works for Benji
After Einy, I switched to a 6-foot leash and never looked back. With Benji — my pit/lab mix who has been known to launch himself toward squirrels with the enthusiasm of someone who has never heard the word no — a fixed leash is non-negotiable.
Here’s what I use and why:
A standard 6-foot leash gives you enough slack for a comfortable walk while keeping your dog close enough that you can respond quickly if something happens. No guessing how much cord is out. No lock mechanisms to fail. Just you and your dog, connected.
The other thing I rely on is a traffic handle. This is a short second handle on the leash, positioned close to the collar, that lets you grab your dog and bring them right to your side in a split second. For a strong dog in a busy area, it is a complete game changer. The first time I used one with Benji near a busy street, I wondered how I had ever managed without it.
Safety is always my first priority with Benji. It was with Einy, and with every dog before him. They trust us completely to make the right choices for them. The least we can do is use a leash that actually keeps them safe. Einy would agree. Though he’d probably also remind me that my face plant was pretty spectacular. 
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