Retractable leashes are popular primarily because they aren't as confining as regular leashes, allowing dogs more freedom to sniff and poke around on walks. But unfortunately, there are many downsides to this type of leash. A dog on a retractable leash is often able to run into the middle of the street, for example, or make uninvited contact with other dogs or people.
It's much easier to regain control of — or protect -- a dog at the end of a six-foot standard flat leash than it is if he's 20 or so feet away at the end of what amounts to a thin string. If a strong, good-sized dog takes off at full speed, the cord can snap. Inside, there was a white plastic wheel holding the length of the leash, the brake and lock, and that was it.
I had hoped that an obvious and fixable problem would immediately become apparent when I opened the case. Maybe there was a twist in the leash, or something needing lubrication, something other than "spring's fucked, buy a new leash". The leash remained functional with the case opened, so I was able to see the mechanisms and the action. I pulled out the tape and let it retract, during the pauses there was still something moving inside the wheel. Maybe the Death Spring was slipping? Clearly the next step was to remove the white wheel.
I had always envisioned the Death Spring as a huge coil, and I assumed it must be held between the wheel and the other side of the case. Convinced that the green peg in the center was all that contained the Death Spring, I trapped the leash in a vise while I pried the wheel loose.
To my great disappointment, there was no great burst of primal energy, and the other side of the wheel looked pretty much the same. There was still no obvious reason why the leash wouldn't retract smoothly. In the hole in the center of the ring though, I could now see a strip of metal with a big kink in the end. The inner part of the white wheel was clearly a separate part that could be removed.
This must be the lair of the Death Spring. By this point though, I was pretty sure that nothing was going to pop out at me. This spring probably wasn't even tightly wound anymore. I could spin the end of the metal strip around with a screwdriver, coiling it tighter until it popped back to its original position.
It looked similarly nonthreatening with the cover removed. Just a piece of wound up metal. It's difficult to tell from the picture, but this is a very long strip of very thin metal. The coils together looked a lot like a solid cylinder of solid silver material. I had been playing with the very end of this huge spring without realizing that the wheel around it was holding it in tension. As soon as I pulled it a tiny bit sideways, the whole thing shot out.
See that straight bit at the bottom? That part has lost its tension entirely. It's likely the reason why the leash would reel in very slowly at certain points.
Yet, horror stories abound as to what can happen if the cord breaks or malfunctions. A person can get facial cuts, broken teeth, eye injuries and broken bones.
They can also get caught up in the wire cord, resulting in a number of horrific injuries, including skin lacerations and even amputations. In , Consumer Reports and the Consumer Union analyzed dog leash injuries and found 16, people went to the hospital to get treated for injuries sustained with pet leashes, although the magazine did not define which types of leashes, though it did say about However, the U.
Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled , retractable leashes sold between and under the name SlyDog because the metal clasps connecting the leash to a dog's collar was susceptible to breaking while in use. This was the brand of leash year-old Dereka Williams was using when she was injured. And nearly a quarter of those leash injuries involved fingers. One woman lost a finger when her dog's retractable leash exploded after her pound 40 kilogram Labrador retriever bolted and the cord wrapped around her finger, essentially ripping it off.
Retractable leashes can be problematic for dogs, too. Because there is so much cord, dogs can walk into the road very quickly and get hit by a car before their owners can even react. The cord can also snap in two or get pulled out of the handle if a dog decides to chase something. In addition, dogs can hurt their necks if they run and hit the limit of the cord.
Not to mention, retractable leashes encourage dogs to pull because they learn over time that pulling rewards them with more leash.
0コメント