Field Guide · Glossary
Long line
EquipmentA leash of roughly fifteen to thirty feet, used to let a dog move and sniff freely while staying attached to the handler.
How it works
It occupies the space between a six-foot leash and no leash at all: the dog chooses where to go within a wide radius, and the handler keeps a physical connection the whole time. That makes it the standard tool for decompression walks and for recall training, where a dog needs to be able to make the wrong choice without the consequence of actually leaving. Length is chosen for the space rather than for the dog, because a long line in a tight area is mostly a tangle.
What it looks like
A dog on a fifteen-foot line in an open field is allowed to pick the route for twenty minutes. They stop to sniff for long stretches, double back twice, and cover a fraction of the ground a brisk on-leash walk would have covered in the same time.
Commonly confused with
- Decompression walk
- A decompression walk is the activity: a long, unhurried walk where the dog picks the route and sets the pace. A long line is one piece of equipment that makes that activity possible in most places.
Related terms
Gear that helps
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15ft training long line
What makes a decompression walk possible: freedom to sniff and move with a safety net still in your hand. We reach for one constantly in recall and reactive work.