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Distance Work Gear Comparisons Questions


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I have chosen, thanks :D

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Measuring dog was hard so I hope the medium webmaster fits!

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Am struggling to choose as we slowly work on recall and offlead skills (so for both solo exercising, controlled playing with other dogs and eventually dabbling in tracking. So light enough she forgets it is there, but strong enough to not lose her?)

Never had a syn tek lead, are they as strong as advertised? Also not sure if the 10mm vs 16mm makes for notable difference? She's 35kg, doesn't usually pull hard but that may change with distance to build up speed.

Tossing up between the 10 metre 10mm (leaning to orange for visibility? and 10 metre 16mm (only in black??)

and a harness to go with, narrowed down to 3.

Leaning to this one with reflective strap. Would get the In Training and Do Not Pet patches

This one seems to be the same but with thicker straps? I don't like how they seem to be up in the armpit, she has no fur there so worried about rubbing.

This one seems new, I like the padded breast plate type of it.

Does anyone use stuff like this? Stuff i should look out for?

Edited by Thistle the dog
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I have the narrowest Syn Tek long lead, and I find it great! Only thing I have found is it is a bit slippery when wet but other than that it is great, feels lovely. My dog is only a Kelpie so not sure if the smallest is up to a larger dog, huski should be able to help there.

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I have 10m orange 16m and had a 10mm briefly. The 10mm was nice and light but was easy to burn the fingers if the dog was running and you needed to put the brakes on. The 16mm is friendlier to the fingers but heavier and a pain to control. The syntek itself is awesome, zero maintenance, gripping wet or dry. If I was buying again I would rather have the 10mm I think but I tend to use the 5m lead more nowadays

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I wouldn't use the 10mm for a 35kg dog - we use them most for pups and smaller dogs.

The Syn Tek lines are definitely super strong, we use them to restrain dogs in bite work etc, so we need to trust it is equipment that can't break. The thing I love most about it though is that unlike nylon lines they don't retain water and can easily wipe clean if they get dirty.

I personally prefer the style of the DT Fun harness, but the works is very popular for the large reflective strap which is great if you walk early morning or late evenings.

My favourite general use harness is the Webmaster harness by Ruffwear, it doesn't have velcro for patches but you can sew them/attach them on if you were that way inclined. The Webmaster isn't as easy to put on the dog as the DT harnesses though.

ETA: 10m is a very long line. It usually gives me the s**** if I use a 10m line for anything other than tracking, it is SO long and gets tangled and you end up with excess line 99% of the time. I find for most applications, 5m is plenty of length, though I guess it would also depend how far away from you the dog would be working - if you are the point where you are doing big distance control exercises though I don't see the need for a 10m line anyway. The 5m would just be there as insurance.

Edited by huski
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Definitely a webmaster harness over the DT harness if your harness inclined. The school of thought by some of the vets is that straps across a dogs chest can restrict range of motion and cause problems. The webmaster on the other hand gives full range of motion.

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....ETA: 10m is a very long line. It usually gives me the s**** if I use a 10m line for anything other than tracking, it is SO long and gets tangled and you end up with excess line 99% of the time. I find for most applications, 5m is plenty of length, though I guess it would also depend how far away from you the dog would be working - if you are the point where you are doing big distance control exercises though I don't see the need for a 10m line anyway. The 5m would just be there as insurance.

yep, 10 m is very long...IMO it doesn't make a big difference whether you train the recall while your dog is 5m or 10m away...I use a 5 m long leash and it works just fine (nothing fancy, I just check that they have a strong bolt snap hook...).

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Hmm maybe I will go pace out 5m to see what it feels like with pup. Start of with it is primarily for teaching her recall when mingling with other dogs cause right now they are much more interesting than me XD

Dilemma. I want her to be able to play (politely) with other dogs (chasies, it's always chasies!) and roam around sniffing so I thought 10m is best option but I'm not wanting anyone to get tangled including me. Does syn tek catch on things easy?

I do have a horse line, I forget the length, but it is heavy so I'm wanting something more easy to frolic with. Also it holds water like woah!

Am not wanting finger burn! Looking like 16mm is better length. I was thinking to tie strategic knots so I have some contact points

I'm not fussed about patches, just thought they were kind of neat. But I'm also getting pretty good at telling ppl to not bother us.

Darn I wish I could try these harnesses on her! I don't want to make the wrong purchase. Is why I was looking at the third one as it doesn't seem to go across the chest like the others?

I need to get home and measure too.

Edited by Thistle the dog
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A long line catches on everything and is good at bringing people down and burning their legs unless they right next to you and paying attention. Also good for tripping other dogs up. I wouldn't be using it for that at a dog park. I did that in the beginning with Jonah but I had to be on my toes all the time 10m is also a long way away if there is strife,

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dog on a long leash (no matter whether it is 5 or 10 meters) going nuts with another dog doesn't work ...results in one big knot = chaos :D . I recommend to train the recall before you respectively your dog reach the other dog - and therefore it doesn't have to be a 10 meter leash: if your dog is e.g. 3 meters away from the other dog, you are 5 meters from your dog controlling the distance to the other dog with the leash...that's perfectly fine for training the recall. If Thistle comes ...treat / reward and next time closer...and again and again...you can reward the dog allowing a brief sniff....once the dog responds reliable you can let them run free (without leash) and play for a few minutes in a fenced area, then try the recall again...

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Oh yeah all that makes sense, and I think what maybe dididog and I will be doing whenever we next meet. Well, after a nice walk and some butt sniffing. I'm not sure. Didi has great recall so I was hoping Didi's owner would be my teacher for that. But there would be a lead to lure her back/ensure she does come to me if no response after the first few seconds?

So my horse lunge is 10 metres so I'm gonna go half that and see how I feel...

ETA: Okay I see what you all mean XD 5 metres is pretty long. But also suspect any playing will get out of reach quickly.

Also forgot to say, she gets too excited during play so I need to be able to grab the lead and bring her back and calm her down until she relises calm play only...

Edited by Thistle the dog
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I am pretty decided on the ruffwear webmaster :) I really like all the padding for her furless parts (genetics?), the bright red visibility and the handle.

I am still leaning towards the 10 metre...thinking if it is a giant tangled pain I can just cut it to half, do some amendments then have a 5metre and a 4 metre (to account for new handle/clasp)

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Just shoot me an email to [email protected] with Thistles chest girth measurement and weight and I'll help size her up. I don't often get sizing wrong ;)

The webmasters are great as they have so much adjustment and points to fit it just right.

Syn tek is smooth so doesn't catch on things easily but any line can easily get tangled.

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