One of these leads has either snapped or been chewed through. The other has definitely snapped as there's no lead there any more!
Most of my regular clients know that I don't like extending leads and won't use them. If that's all a dog owner has, I'll bring my own, it's not a problem. I've recently read a couple of blogs where a dog trainer has done some research and compared them to guns (only in America!), and a blogger who works his terriers in the States also agrees they are dangerous.
My assistant once said "I know you don't like them", but that's not the case. I believe them to be dangerous - as do the manufactuers who have a very, very long safety notice on the product. Possibly the smallest injury could be cuts to your fingers, if you grab the lead - you can't reel the dog in without the dog's co-operation as they have to relax the pressure. If they don't, then you have to hold the lead to allow the mechanism to work. If the dog pulls at that time - cuts all over your fingers, which, like, paper cuts, may not be life-threatening or bleed, but are very, very painful! Finger amputation is apparently a real worry.
If you have a small dog. and he pulls it out of your hands - if it retracts while he's running and hits him in the back of the head it can cause a lot of damage, even death. If this is avoided, dogs have been known to be so scared by the noise of it dragging along behind them they've run away in panic, getting lost - if you've been walking your dog on the side of the road - he could run out into traffic (a danger when he's on the lead as well). Dog have also been known to jump obstacles, that chunky handle getting stuck, the dog can't reach the ground on the other side and slowly strangles.
If you use a flexi lead because your dog doesn't have a recall, please contact a good trainer in your area who can work with you to improve that for you.
They also encourage your dog to pull on the lead, something you may be dealing with for the 10-15 years of your dog's life.
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