The more I thought about retractable dog leashes, the more I kept finding reasons why they were not the right leash for me. I enjoy having more control over my dog when we walk on a standard dog leash. In my opinion, it creates more of a bond to walk side by side, the dog respects you. He looks to you so you know hes paying attention to you, and he listens for praise or command. A standard leash is sturdier and has less of a chance of somehow malfunctioning !
The retractable leash gives your dog that extra freedom to run and roam to a degree & to be a dog in a lesser controlled situation. This is great for dogs who are in all day and have no safe or contained place to run free off leash. With that said, it can give your dog too much freedom! They can run way ahead of you & if your not paying attention, you could come across a number of potentially dangerous situations that could put your dog in harm's way!
There could be a dog walking ahead of you that enjoys his personal space, which is something your dog will surely be invading in seconds. The dog will most likely react, possibly even aggressively towards your dog. At this point, you could have a dangerous situation for your dog that you didn't see coming!
I guess there are pros and cons to each leash, one offers more freedom and one is more restrited. I know people that swear by both & wouldn't change one for the other. I guess It all comes down to what you as a dog owner feels safe and comfortable using !
Personally, I don't use one, and in my opinion, I probably wouldn't recommend a retractable dog leash to anyone, especially someone with a larger breed of dog. My pit bull broke his as a puppy and for a few brief moments he was on the loose, in that short amount of time, a number of things could have happened. He could have darted out onto the main road, got lost, hurt , found some kind of trouble or ate something poisonous! Luckily ,none of those things happened but after that experience, I never used a retractable leash again.
