Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Bogelbaum. Here. When you adopt a puppy
Speaker 1: or an older dog, there's a lot to look forward to.
Speaker 1: Fun days of playing with her and taking walks, feeding her,
Speaker 1: teaching her tricks and taking walks, cuddling on the couch
Speaker 1: with her, and yes, taking more walks. Dogs require a
Speaker 1: lot of walks. The obvious reason is that they have
Speaker 1: to go out to do their business, meaning urinate and defecate.
Speaker 1: The frequency depends on the breed, but if you live
Speaker 1: in an apartment or a house without a fenced yard
Speaker 1: where they can roam freely to take care of the
Speaker 1: call of nature. As the adult in the room, you
Speaker 1: are responsible for taking them out to a designated area
Speaker 1: where they can go and you can clean up after them.
Speaker 1: But there's more to it than that dogs need lots
Speaker 1: of exercise. They need to burn off energy and socialize
Speaker 1: with other dogs. Hello dog park. Walks are an important
Speaker 1: part of your dog's daily routine, and that means your
Speaker 1: pubs leash is a crucial canine accessory. But there are
Speaker 1: a dizzy and number of options, So we talked to
Speaker 1: an expert about her favorite leash and why she recommends it.
Speaker 1: Susie Agga is a nationally recognized dog trainer, an expert
Speaker 1: in dog behavior modification, and the founder of Atlanta Dog Trainer.
Speaker 1: She has decades of dog training experience and has clear
Speaker 1: preferences about leashes for starters. She never recommends a retractable leash.
Speaker 1: She explained, they're very popular leashes, but everyone hates them.
Speaker 1: It's irritating for the dogs on the leash, they've got
Speaker 1: constant tension on them, and it's irritating for humans in
Speaker 1: the community. Most pet owners don't reel in their dogs,
Speaker 1: they just let them wrap up whoever's walking by. Retractable
Speaker 1: leashes are dangerous to dogs and humans. How many times
Speaker 1: have you been strolling along in the park, minding your
Speaker 1: own business when suddenly there's a Doberman pincher staring at
Speaker 1: you a good twenty to thirty feet or sixty nine
Speaker 1: meters away from its owner. Also, retractable leads can hurt
Speaker 1: you the dog walker should you attempt to grab it
Speaker 1: in case of an emergency, it could give you a
Speaker 1: rope burn. And these leashes are infinite for snapping due
Speaker 1: to strain or mechanical failure. And whipping back with high
Speaker 1: force toward the walker's body and face. Aga also doesn't
Speaker 1: recommend the slip lead, which is basically a slip knot
Speaker 1: allowing you to slip your dog's head through the loop
Speaker 1: and pull to tighten. Think of those leashes you get
Speaker 1: at the vet, but they can be very dangerous, she said.
Speaker 1: I don't like them because it puts a lot of
Speaker 1: pressure on the dog's trachea. It can cause a lot
Speaker 1: of damage. Agga's leash recommendation is a basic six foot
Speaker 1: or approximately two meter braided leather leash with brass fittings.
Speaker 1: The clips onto the dog's collar or harness, whichever the
Speaker 1: dog wears when walking. Aga says six feet is plenty
Speaker 1: long for every breed of dog to get away to
Speaker 1: use the bathroom. The only time she doesn't recommend the
Speaker 1: brass fittings is for small dogs because the brass can
Speaker 1: be too heavy for those smaller dogs. Try stainless steel
Speaker 1: or aluminum fittings instead. Agga explained, a leather leashes last
Speaker 1: a really long time. I've got one leash that's fifteen
Speaker 1: years old. Most leashes available in the market are made
Speaker 1: of reinforced nylon or cloth. Webbing. Some even have carbon
Speaker 1: fiber woven into them. Others are made of nylon rope.
Speaker 1: AGAs says those are fine, but to be prepared to
Speaker 1: keep buying them. She said Nilon leashes, even the ones
Speaker 1: that are sturdy webbing, are fine, but they don't last
Speaker 1: as long as leather. Dogs can choose through them and
Speaker 1: then the owners end up tying them in knots. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff in the dog world designed to
Speaker 1: make you buy more. As a trainer, I want something
Speaker 1: that's going to last a long time. Aga says. All
Speaker 1: dogs should wear collars so that they always have tags
Speaker 1: on the leash clips onto the collar. Some dog breeds, though,
Speaker 1: benefit from wearing a harness when they go for walks,
Speaker 1: especially large breeds like huskies or Bernese mountain dogs and
Speaker 1: much smaller ones such as toy breeds or puppies. Harnesses
Speaker 1: are good for dogs who pull a lot too, Agga explained.
Speaker 1: Harnesses are designed so there's less pulling. Front clip harnesses
Speaker 1: seem to work best for that, and you don't want
Speaker 1: to put a lot of pressure on the trachea of
Speaker 1: a small bree ned, so a lot of toy breeds
Speaker 1: will use harnesses rather than a color because of how
Speaker 1: small they are. Today's episode was written by Patty res
Speaker 1: Musen and produced by Tyler Clain. Brain Stuff is production
Speaker 1: of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. For more in
Speaker 1: this and lots of other topics, visit our home planet,
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