What's a check cord? I found its a more official name for a long lead. Dog supplies often have many names and aren't all that standardized. So I was looking for a long leash to work on my pups recall I was finding a lot of different options. A lot of the options via amazon were flat cotton web leashes that went for $10 bucks. I have a 20ft one, and it's kind of stiff, heavy, and well... just kind of dull.
So, when I started refining my query to find something bright, durable, and light I found out about these check cords. I guess these are used a lot in training gun dogs (which is why they come in orange or camo).... These can run any where from $15 to $30 bucks depending on length, material, and brand. I thought it was cool, but one of the retail products looked like it could very easily be home brewed. It was just rope with a trigger snap and a bowline knot. I can make that! so I did see above.
So after finding a brass snap with a 90lb weight rating (Harper is 60lbs) so I wanted some margin... and the robe is rated to 500+lbs, but gets derated with knots... but I believe the 90lbs on the trigger is still the limiting factor.
Field Testing with Harper! :
My 2 year old rescue pup helped field test the check cord
Harper approves of the check cord.
A great tool to work on recall with. You still have complete control of the dog and able to corrected and call. I practiced down stays and come when called with Harper and he loved it!
Some clips of Harper showing off his come when called skills.
So the bottom line, this is a very easy and cheap homebrew. The only thing I have learned is to investigate the weight of the clip for hte end of the rope. Harper being a big dog he can handle the weight of the brass clip I got, but for a smaller dog, I'd go with a smaller clip so there wasn't as much pressure on the neck from the 'drag'.
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