Followers

Thursday, 10 October 2013

Wrestling with a Leather Leash


The leash is sometimes the most important thing between a dog and its  owner. Not that Molly needs a leash, she is well behaved and listens good. But in the Park it is required to have ones dog leashed. So.
The cuprit
Yesterday when Molly suddenly lunged after a squirrel, the leash broke.
Usually the leashes are sewn with a strong thread, like this shown below.
But our particularly one is not. It is only one single long piece of hide.

Nonetheless there is a clip or hook on one end and a loop for the hand on the other. All attached without the use of any thread or rivets.

Why not buy a new one, you could argue?
I am inclined to recycle and the leather is still fairly good higher up. It would be a waste not to give it a try.

I fixed that leash once before, about 7 years ago, but today I had a hard time recalling what I did then. Old age is creeping up on me :))
So this posting about the repair of the leash shall be a reminder "how to".
First I cut off the frazzled end, then I straightened the leather out on both ends.
With a carpet knife and two new incisions were made into the leather at the end where it had broken. The end where the clip is located has 3 incisions close to each other. The end with the handle loop has 2 aligned and one further out.
Now it was just to twist and bend the leather around the hook and itself, and through the holes several times until it looked right. Easy peasy. It is not complicated once you know how.
Well, it took me about an hour to figure it out.
But, I did it!
Molly is 11 years,  if the leash holds for another 7.... 
My guess is that I don't need to buy another one.
Molly dozing off while I was working on the leash.

I hope I didn't tire you out! :))
Posted by at
Labels: , ,

4 comments:

  1. Barb10 October 2013 at 22:23

    Each time you make a repair, you're losing some of the length. I guess it must have been long enough, though, or you wouldn't have bothered. Good for you for figuring out how to do the repair. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bea11 October 2013 at 09:27

      I didn't loose too much of the length. Just about 2 inches each time. That leaves still enough for a good leash. :))

      Delete
  2. Wanderin'10 October 2013 at 23:44

    We used to say that Duchess wouldn't chase cats or squirrels but then one day she hit ten years of age. I think she felt her youth coming back. She chased her first cat and even caused a squirrel to race up a tree. Of course, she's getting older but we certainly don't want her to chase something she shouldn't be. She's had the same leash for several years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bea11 October 2013 at 09:32

      The leash came with the dog and I never saw a similar one. The other leather leash is sewn and that didn't hold as long at all. After a year of use the thread holding the clip was already giving way. That was when I tried to repair in the non-thread fashion. I have that leash as a reserve, but it is more suitable for a bigger dog, like a Labrador, as our Boomer was.

      Delete

I love getting a comment from you now and then. Be patient, they will appear, I just have to see first if they are OK to publish. No anonymous any more. I am getting too much spam.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)