Dog Training Drag Lines & Why They Are Used

Drag lines are just what their name says – a training line that you drag on the ground between you and the dog while training. Drag lines take a little getting used to in how to handle the line so you don’t become entangled with it. Once you get used to the drag line, it can be a great tool for training. Drag lines come in different materials, widths, and lengths. The Cotton Drag Lines, 207082C, come in twelve to twenty feet lengths. The narrower tubular nylon drag lines come in 10 to 15 feet, 208100. Drag lines do not have handles on the end of them; some have a fold or knot at the end. They are designed so that while training the line easily slips through the handlers hand and you can drop it on the ground without getting caught on a looped handle.

Drag lines are designed to be training lines that can be used loosely and still have a line attached to the dog. For example you are training the ‘down stay’ you can put the dog down in the stay position and step backwards while stringing out the drag line through your hand. When you get back away to where you want you drop the drag line and can step on the line should the dog get up. It is long enough to give you some distance between you and the dog while still having a line/leash on the dog. When I am training the stay out of motion I also use this drag line. I have the drag line snapped to the dog and hold it a few inches from the dog. As I start to work the dog I slowly let out the drag line, the tail of the line is dragging on the ground in-between us. As I work the dog the line becomes loose in my hand and I can drop it when I am ready to ask the dog to stay. Another exercise is lunging the dog over the hurdle in the beginning stages. It is a line that can be used giving you more and more distance between you and the dog as the exercise progresses.

I also use a drag line when I am camping with my dog and am staying in a campground because then when we go to do its business, the drag line gives them a little room to find that perfect spot. One of my favorite training leashes I use to start off lead work is the drag leash, 407310L. It is lightweight and easy to handle in my hand. The drag leash is only 4 feet long, made of ½” leather and functions like a drag line without the length. It is light enough that the dog forgets they even have it on. It works for things I am training that I want a quick response to. The drag leash does not have the length that the drag lines do but both drag lines and the drag leash are useful training tools they just function a little differently because of their lengths.