In this episode, you'll learn about two products, each invented by a woman. The first is something you've probably encountered:  the retractable leash. The second is a new brand of treats called Shameless Pets, which makes yummy stuff for dogs from pre-consumer food waste.  The former can be quite dangerous, but Annie suggests a way to make it safer; the latter is a successful version of a Seinfeld-esque business plan that Annie's neighbor came up with in the 1990s.  In between tips about using a retractable leash and the story of Shameless Pets, you'll hear a hilarious piece of standup by comedian Drew Lynch.  

Drew Lynch on retractable leashes - Mary Delaney's patent - Shameless Pet Treats - Free guide to house training

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Partial Transcription:

Annie:

Do you need some help teaching your dog where you want him to pee or poop, and when?  If so, I hope you’ll check out our brand new totally free house training guide. You can find it at schoolforthedogs.com/house. It’s filled with lots of really good tips on how to train a dog to potty in the right spot. But it also is going to explain to you how to teach your dog to do it on cue. So go check it out.  Schoolforthedogs.com/house.

[Intro music]

Hi, thanks for being here, humans. There are two parts to this episode. One part is about retractable leashes and the other part is a conversation I had with Alex Waite, who is one of the founders of Shameless, which is a really cool brand of treats that you’re going to learn a lot about. They’re doing things differently in a very interesting way.

Just a reminder that if you liked this podcast, please go to iTunes and leave a review and support us by shopping in our online store storeforthedogs.com. I think we have the greatest stuff in the world there, for people who love their dogs.  Enjoy.

So here’s something you might not know if you’ve never worked with a dog trainer or you don’t hang out with dog trainers.  Most dog trainers, at least the ones that I know, don’t like retractable leashes. And there are a bunch of reasons for this. For one, we want our dogs to ideally be walking on a loose leash. I always say a leash should be there the same way a seatbelt is in a car.  You don’t wear the seatbelt and then feel like, okay, now I can drive like a madman. It’s there in case of an emergency.

Ideally your dog should be able to walk in a vicinity that is acceptable, but the leash should be there in case of an emergency. And if you have a leash that is always taut, your dog can get used to feeling that the leash has to have some kind of pull on him at all times.  So often dogs on retractable leashes are dogs who have learned to pull.

Another reason is that the cord that attaches the class to the plastic chunky part of the retractable leash is very thin. And if you, if you get it wound around a finger or your leg or a dog, it can really do some damage. Actually, if you go to Google and you start typing in retractable leash, at least on my computer, the first suggested thing that comes up for you to be Googling is retractable leash injuries. Thanks to the magic of Google images, you can see what retractable leash injuries look like, and they’re pretty awful.

Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcast

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