A long line is the one piece of kit I would not train a big dog without. It is a lead, but long: five, ten, fifteen metres or more, so the dog can be far enough away to make a real choice and still be attached to you when the choice is wrong.

It is how I teach recall, coming back when called, to dogs who cannot yet be trusted off the lead. It is how I give an Akita the sniffing and space he needs without gambling the walk on his mood. And it is the thing Shango chewed clean through a fortnight ago, which is why this post exists.

No brands or shops here. Just what to look for and what to avoid, from a trainer who has had a lot of lines fail in his hands.

What it is for

Two jobs, and it helps to know which one you are buying for.

The first is training. Recall, staying close, leaving things alone. The line is there as a safety net, not to steer him: you let it trail or hold it loosely, the dog makes decisions, and you can step on it or gather it in if he decides badly.

The second is freedom for a dog who cannot be off lead. Some big dogs, and a lot of the guarding and spitz breeds I work with, will never be reliable enough off lead in public to be worth the risk. A long line gives that dog most of the walk he wants and keeps everyone else safe.

Biothane, webbing or rope

Biothane is a coated webbing, a flat strap with a slightly rubbery feel. It does not soak up water or smell after a week of fields, mud wipes off, and it is far harder for a dog to chew through than plain webbing. It is also the least likely to burn your hand. It is the line Shango goes on, and after last week it is the only one I will put him on. Its one downside: slippery when wet, which is where gloves come in.

Webbing is the cheap flat nylon most lines are made from. Light, everywhere, and fine for a small dog. For a big dog it burns when it runs through your hand, it is miserable to hold wet and muddy, and it chews. Shango went through a webbing line in the time it took me to notice it had gone slack.

Rope is strong, lovely in the hand, and heavy. It takes a sudden pull well, but ten metres of wet rope drags through every puddle. Good for a steady dog in the open, less good for a chewer.

Length

Longer is not better. The right length is the longest line you can manage without it tangling round your legs, the dog's legs or a tree.

Five metres for busy places, pavements, the park on a Saturday. Enough space to sniff, short enough to gather in fast.
Ten metres is the everyday line for a big dog, in my experience. Real distance for recall practice, still manageable by one person.
Fifteen to twenty metres for open fields and recall from a distance. Only once you are both used to a shorter one, and only where you can see what he is heading for.

Start shorter than you think. A twenty-metre line on a dog who bolts is twenty metres of run-up before it goes tight, and that is the jolt that pulls you over.

What a big dog does to cheap webbing

He hits the end of it at speed, and one of three things gives: the line, the clip or your shoulder.

The clip is the piece people forget. A thin trigger clip on a light line will bend or spring open when a big dog hits it hard. Look for a solid clip that feels heavy for its size, and an end that is stitched several times or riveted. If the dog can reach the line where it meets his harness, and he is a chewer, check it every walk. Shango is not the only Akita who has eaten his way loose.

Harness, never the collar

For a big dog, the long line clips to a harness. Not a flat collar, not a slip lead, not a head collar.

A dog hitting the end of ten metres at a run puts all of that force through whatever the line is attached to. On a collar, that is his neck. On a harness, it is spread across his chest and shoulders, and he stays on his feet. A back-clip harness with a strong ring is the right thing. If you also use lead pressure for training, that stays on a short lead and a collar.

Gloves, and how to hold a line

Wear gloves. Thin work gloves or cycling gloves with a grippy palm. A line burn from a big dog across bare fingers takes weeks to heal.

Holding a line is a skill of its own.

Never wrap it round your hand or wrist. If he goes, you go with him.
Hold it in loose loops, or let it trail and step on it. Your foot is a better brake than your grip.
Feed it out through an open hand, palm up, and let it slide. Closing your hand on a moving line is how you get burned.
Gather it back in hand over hand, never by pulling the dog toward you.
Keep it on the side away from your body.

Ten minutes on a quiet field practising the handling before a keen dog is on the other end will save you a fall.

Kit is not training

Nothing in the kit makes the training happen. A biothane line and good gloves just mean that when the dog makes the wrong choice, nobody gets hurt and nothing snaps, so you can reset and try again. The recall itself is built in short sessions, on good days and bad, and that is what the app keeps track of. There is a full recall guide in the app if you are starting from scratch.

I am replacing the fabric line with a second biothane one, so there is no wrong line to clip on in a hurry.

What line are you using now, and has it ever let you down?