The Peerless Pet Retractable Dog Leash was purchased at a local superstore for around $10. It was a quick replacement for a leash that had failed the day before, so we didn’t do a whole lot of research prior to purchasing it. It did mention that it had a 15′ cord as well as a weight limit of 40lbs, so it seemed a good candidate for Bailey since she weighs in at right about 38lbs.

The first day it worked great, the construction seemed good and it featured a nice, rubberized handle. It uses a 2-stage button to lock the belt in place; press the button down and the secondary button forward and the belt is locked. To unlock, simply pull the secondary button towards you.

The second day is when the issues started. Bailey spotted a whitetail deer roaming around the common area and made a bee-line for it. I was able to ‘lock’ the button to limit her advance, but when all was clear I couldn’t unlock the leash. There was also the familiar sounds of pieces rattling around inside the leash.

Day 3 saw me using the leash in its now 5′ ‘locked’ form, an inconvenience since there was snow on the ground and both dogs enjoy going well more than 5′ into it. This inconvenience also limited their time to a short 10 minute walk as it became difficult to manage 2 dogs that have different length leashes.

During their afternoon walk prep on day 3 I accidentally dropped the Peerless Pet leash, causing whatever it was jamming the leash to jar loose. This was great, but now created another problem. While the leash now retracted as designed, it would intermittently jam at different length intervals, causing me to yank on it to free it up. This happened quite frequently (probably caused by the pieces floating around inside) and was becoming a major pain, so we decided to scrap it…again, this was only day 3.

Aside from the weak internals, 2 other items to note were the handle and the retractable belt opening. If you’re someone with slightly large hands, you might find the handle a bit uncomfortable. I don’t have massive hands, but I had a hard time getting all 4 fingers it. Since it’s cold here right now in the NorthEast, gloves are almost mandatory…this made it impossible to fit all 4 fingers.

The retractable belt opening is also flat. Should the belt get twisted when extended, this flat design will allow it to retract inside in its twisted form, causing a bind in the retracting system. This bind can also be a failure point.

Recommendation-

Save yourself the trouble and spend the $5-$7 more on a good retractable belt leash. This might be a decent back-up if you’re in a bind or have a lightweight dog (even though it states it can handle a 40lb dog), but the fact that it’s got the flat-retractable belt opening and is not comfortable for medium/large-sized hands are two major negative areas.

Specs-

Product Name: Peerless Pet Retractable Dog Leash
Price: $10.00
Warranty: While I could send it back (or return it to the superstore), chances are I’d be getting the same item as a replacement. No thanks.

Features-

Belt or Cord: Belt
Length: 15′
Supports: 40lbs
Handle Construction: Rubberized Grip
Lock and Release Button: 2-Stage Locking Button
Belt/Cord Slot: Flat
Other Features: None
Additional Items Included in the Packaging: None