BUT, I think this only happened because I left it to soak in water and bleach for a while to try clean off all the dirt that had ingrained into it over the years. The thing you need to realise with flexi leads is that they should only be used under certain circumstances. Dogs love to play ball – and we have the perfect selection of dog balls to suit dogs of any size and breed. That includes probably hundreds of harsh mountain hikes (I live quite near the Yorkshire Dales) and countryside treks.

An improvement to this lead would be the addition of a fixed length of lead so that the dog is not walking under foot.It is also worth saying that not every dog walker is responsible and regretably some allow their dogs to run riot causing distress to some children and smaller dogs so the use of this long Flexi allows the dog total freedom until you want him back and you can prevent any unnecessary confrontations before they occur. I'm using this for our new rescue dog, a very energetic Harrier Hound and it's the perfect length to give him the freedom to sniff around, and to play with our German Shepherd.

The one really annoying thing is when the lead is at full stretch it sometimes flips over at the end attached to the handle, then when it reels in it causes a bump, making the rest of the lead not reel back in all the way.With the help of the integrated braking system, the dog is always under control and the length can be adjusted and locked in place if required with the locking button.