Brittany
I don't have any children, I was just wondering what people thought about leashes for little ones. :)
Answer
I believe they are a valuable piece of safety equipment and training equipment. And that every child who is walking near a street or in a busy area should either be held, in a stroller, in a shopping cart, or have a leash, apron-string, piece of twine, or whatever in order to enforce holding the mother's hand until they are over 4 and more capable of controlling their impulses. And that until 7-8 children should not be allowed to cross the road without holding a hand and if they are not going to hold a hand then they should also be forced to wear a leash while holding the hand so if they let go mom has more of a chance of getting them under control without it ending in tragedy.
I believe they are about as degrading as a car seat, child safety gate, bike helmet, etc. And anyone who sees them as laughable or ridiculous need to grow up and do an Internet search on children hit in parking-lots or by cars under 4 years old that would have been avoided with a safety leash.
This isn't a sign of a lazy parent. There's a right and wrong way to use them yes, you don't just slap them on the kid and drag them around. This is a safety device. You have your child hold your hand and have the leash on them. If they decide to let go and run away from you, you don't have to dash and grab their hand (risking an injury to yourself, to the other child you may be carrying, or to them by grabbing their hand too hard) you simply hold the leash firmly then go and regain control. They can't get away so the frantic grab isn't an issue. And it tells you that they're not ready to be trusted to only hold your hand yet.
And this isn't a new phenomenon either. People have been using apron strings or twine to tie around their littlest ones to keep them close for so many years that it's even a saying "time to cut the apron string."
So here's some links to stories that could have been prevented by a leash. Deaths, injuries, etc. I never keep a running list, I actually just do a search whenever I see a question like this... there's always some easily found. Child hit in parking lot or toddler hit by car gives you examples every time.
"the mother of boy (aged 3) thought he was behind her as she left the store and walked to her vehicle, both hands full of items. When she turned around, she saw her sonâs head underneath the truck, Williams said. Williams said the boy reportedly ran behind the truck as it pulled out of a parking space." - 12/5/2010 link1
"The 21-month-old Richfield boy is in stable condition with non-life threatening injuries. The accident happened Thursday evening at the Menomonee Falls Home Depot. Police tell FOX6 News the boy simply darted away from his mother as she was loading items in her vehicle." - 1/7/2011 link2
".. stopped when a mother and her children stepped from behind parked cars into the public-vehicular access area in front of Wild Wood Forest Elementary School...The driver started moving forward again when she thought the whole family had passed, but Jaciel Gomez Hernandez, of Zebulon (aged 3), walked out from between the parked cars, the report says. The driver told police that she heard the boy's mother scream, then swerved to the left." 3/29/2010 (death) link3
"Corpus Christi police said a 3-year-old boy died after being struck while trying to run from the family's vehicle to the entrance of a Chuck E. Cheese theme restaurant." 5/28/2010 link4
"Police say 2-year-old Gabriel Johnson was with his mother and other children, possibly siblings, when he darted into traffic shortly before 7:30 p.m. An SUV driven by Robert C. Tausinger, 49, of Clearwater struck the boy. Tausinger was going west on Cleveland." 3/20/2010 link 5
"The boy's family said the boy was behind his father, who told the car to slow down. The driver of the first car, Alisha Ciancio, said she looked in her rearview mirror and saw Michael walk out and get hit by the car. "As it came across, it never stopped," Ciancio said. "The parents were running behind it trying to get it to stop. It came, hit the boy, went across him."" 7/17/2010 link 6
Add: My daughter has an Elmo harness and Elmo rides in front... like her brother rides in front of me. She wears the harness (with the leash off) as a toy around the house she loves it so much. Now convince me it's degrading.
Add: Voice, just an FYI, there are plenty of examples of children injured or killed who slipped their hand from their caretakers and within seconds ran into a road. I just don't consider holding their hands good enough unless you have a grip firm enough to pick them up by their hand if they start to pull away. I like the leash as a way of teaching to hold hands while keeping them safe.
I believe they are a valuable piece of safety equipment and training equipment. And that every child who is walking near a street or in a busy area should either be held, in a stroller, in a shopping cart, or have a leash, apron-string, piece of twine, or whatever in order to enforce holding the mother's hand until they are over 4 and more capable of controlling their impulses. And that until 7-8 children should not be allowed to cross the road without holding a hand and if they are not going to hold a hand then they should also be forced to wear a leash while holding the hand so if they let go mom has more of a chance of getting them under control without it ending in tragedy.
I believe they are about as degrading as a car seat, child safety gate, bike helmet, etc. And anyone who sees them as laughable or ridiculous need to grow up and do an Internet search on children hit in parking-lots or by cars under 4 years old that would have been avoided with a safety leash.
This isn't a sign of a lazy parent. There's a right and wrong way to use them yes, you don't just slap them on the kid and drag them around. This is a safety device. You have your child hold your hand and have the leash on them. If they decide to let go and run away from you, you don't have to dash and grab their hand (risking an injury to yourself, to the other child you may be carrying, or to them by grabbing their hand too hard) you simply hold the leash firmly then go and regain control. They can't get away so the frantic grab isn't an issue. And it tells you that they're not ready to be trusted to only hold your hand yet.
And this isn't a new phenomenon either. People have been using apron strings or twine to tie around their littlest ones to keep them close for so many years that it's even a saying "time to cut the apron string."
So here's some links to stories that could have been prevented by a leash. Deaths, injuries, etc. I never keep a running list, I actually just do a search whenever I see a question like this... there's always some easily found. Child hit in parking lot or toddler hit by car gives you examples every time.
"the mother of boy (aged 3) thought he was behind her as she left the store and walked to her vehicle, both hands full of items. When she turned around, she saw her sonâs head underneath the truck, Williams said. Williams said the boy reportedly ran behind the truck as it pulled out of a parking space." - 12/5/2010 link1
"The 21-month-old Richfield boy is in stable condition with non-life threatening injuries. The accident happened Thursday evening at the Menomonee Falls Home Depot. Police tell FOX6 News the boy simply darted away from his mother as she was loading items in her vehicle." - 1/7/2011 link2
".. stopped when a mother and her children stepped from behind parked cars into the public-vehicular access area in front of Wild Wood Forest Elementary School...The driver started moving forward again when she thought the whole family had passed, but Jaciel Gomez Hernandez, of Zebulon (aged 3), walked out from between the parked cars, the report says. The driver told police that she heard the boy's mother scream, then swerved to the left." 3/29/2010 (death) link3
"Corpus Christi police said a 3-year-old boy died after being struck while trying to run from the family's vehicle to the entrance of a Chuck E. Cheese theme restaurant." 5/28/2010 link4
"Police say 2-year-old Gabriel Johnson was with his mother and other children, possibly siblings, when he darted into traffic shortly before 7:30 p.m. An SUV driven by Robert C. Tausinger, 49, of Clearwater struck the boy. Tausinger was going west on Cleveland." 3/20/2010 link 5
"The boy's family said the boy was behind his father, who told the car to slow down. The driver of the first car, Alisha Ciancio, said she looked in her rearview mirror and saw Michael walk out and get hit by the car. "As it came across, it never stopped," Ciancio said. "The parents were running behind it trying to get it to stop. It came, hit the boy, went across him."" 7/17/2010 link 6
Add: My daughter has an Elmo harness and Elmo rides in front... like her brother rides in front of me. She wears the harness (with the leash off) as a toy around the house she loves it so much. Now convince me it's degrading.
Add: Voice, just an FYI, there are plenty of examples of children injured or killed who slipped their hand from their caretakers and within seconds ran into a road. I just don't consider holding their hands good enough unless you have a grip firm enough to pick them up by their hand if they start to pull away. I like the leash as a way of teaching to hold hands while keeping them safe.
The GREAT new Dog Sulky Cart?!?!?
Annie
I currently own a 2 yr old very energetic GSD and am curious about this new Sulky cart. For those who are not familiar, the dog sulky cart is a dorsal hitch instead of a "normal" dual shaft hitch (attachs above dog shoulders vs attached on both sides of shoulders). I am curious if anyone owns a dog sulky cart and if so, does your dog have any issues with back/shoulder problems due to the position of the hitch?
I have already trained my GSD to pull a sled and he frequently helps with my yard work (moving downed tree branches, collecting garden produce in wagon, etc). My main concern is that the sulky cart is not ergonomically correct for a GSD
Here is a website with the dog sulky : http://www.rjwalsh.com.au/mini/index.htm
Here is a website with the dog sulky : http://www.rjwalsh.com.au/mini/index.htm
Answer
Interesting question! I had never seen this sulky cart mechanism before. It looks to be an adaptation of the tag-along child bike. Knowing dog anatomy I would not use this harness.
A dogs greatest strength is in his neck and shoulders and his propulsion comes from hind-quarters. For that reason, the normal shaft hitch uses the dog's natural build to pull a load forward in a straight line with his body. Therefore, I believe this is the most energy efficient and comfortable (for the dog) method to use.
In this specific hitch it would appear that the dog would have to pull both downward and forward to move a load. Because of this unusual pull-angle, I would think that whatever energy a dog would expend to move a load forward in the traditional harness would be doubled to pull the same device forward in this sulky harness.
I too would have concerns. Doubling the energy needed to do the same work would most likely result in unnecessary injuries to a dog. I'm even more surprised to see this harness on the ponies! It should be obvious this design can potentially damage equine backs, knees and fetlocks.
It will be interesting what those with adequate experience with this harness say so I will continue to watch your answers.
Thank you very much for (1) training working dogs, as I believe all dogs thrive best with a 'job', and (2) for asking an intelligent question on DS - those are VERY rare here!
Have fun with your dogs!.
Interesting question! I had never seen this sulky cart mechanism before. It looks to be an adaptation of the tag-along child bike. Knowing dog anatomy I would not use this harness.
A dogs greatest strength is in his neck and shoulders and his propulsion comes from hind-quarters. For that reason, the normal shaft hitch uses the dog's natural build to pull a load forward in a straight line with his body. Therefore, I believe this is the most energy efficient and comfortable (for the dog) method to use.
In this specific hitch it would appear that the dog would have to pull both downward and forward to move a load. Because of this unusual pull-angle, I would think that whatever energy a dog would expend to move a load forward in the traditional harness would be doubled to pull the same device forward in this sulky harness.
I too would have concerns. Doubling the energy needed to do the same work would most likely result in unnecessary injuries to a dog. I'm even more surprised to see this harness on the ponies! It should be obvious this design can potentially damage equine backs, knees and fetlocks.
It will be interesting what those with adequate experience with this harness say so I will continue to watch your answers.
Thank you very much for (1) training working dogs, as I believe all dogs thrive best with a 'job', and (2) for asking an intelligent question on DS - those are VERY rare here!
Have fun with your dogs!.
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Title Post: What is your opinion on leashes for children?
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Rating: 94% based on 932 ratings. 4,1 user reviews.
Author: Unknown
Thanks For Coming To My Blog
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