Leather Jaeger Lead - Chestnut

I just received my Mendota Jaeger Lead and was not satisfied with the level of Quality Control and Construction as I have been with my other Mendota products I have used over the years. I realize leather is a natural product and the variables that come with that. However the leather thickness varied 40% (From 3mm to 5mm) and the thinner area could be heard physically 'popping' when pulled by hand. The leather overlap areas at the 'Dee' rings are very short; and the 'skived' areas were riveted through the thinned 'skived' portion. This creates a skewed rivet angle on the thinned skived area material and may well lead to failure. In addition, the overlap areas are so short that they had minimal stitching due to mechanical limitations (reach) of the sewing machine. The backside of the thin leather area (~ 8" long) is very rough and very open and pliable which would lead to inevitable and excessive stretching; thus leading to possible (probable) future failure. Others have noted in the revues that the mid 'Dee' ring is placed backwards which leads to over-shoulder twisting. This is a valid observation. I do not see a reason why this ring could not be reversed and eliminate this problem. This is a manufacturing procedural item or specification that should be addressed. The name alone of the item "Jaeger" lead should tell you that this item is probably going to be used on high prey drive hunting dogs that will test the limits of this equipment in varied field conditions and should be carefully constructed to eliminate as many failure points in the field as possible during the use of this product. On the upside: The hardware is first rate and the leather finish is nice in a beautiful chestnut finish. This is not a condemnation of Mendota products; in fact I hope they will replace mine with an acceptable "tweak" of the same product I will be able to enjoy for many years to come. Order # 38796

I bought this hands free leash on Amazon and happy with it, because of high quality material and construction. After a month of use I have only one issue - when use over the shoulder the face side twists at mid connection. It seems to me that the middle brass loop should be in opposite side of the leash. With this change the face side to be straight and not twisted when use over the shoulder.

The Leather Jaeger Lead is a fine quality leash. The snaps at either end attach to one of three 'D' rings or a floating 'O' ring. One small issue is that in use, when snapping to the 'D' rings, the orientation of the 'D' rings turn the resulting loops wrong-side-out. Not a functional problem, but perhaps an aesthetic oversight. The 'D' rings should be mounted facing the other way around. I might also add another 'D' ring closer to a snap end to create a smaller loop handle. Would love to see this leash offered in a smaller scale, maybe 1/2" wide with lighter weight hardware for smaller dogs. Overall a great leash, but not quite perfect.

I got the Jaeger Lead for use with my service dog. She's a 65 lb lab and it is a pain to maneuver together holding her leash, especially if I need to carry or do anything else. The leather is high quality and the construction is excellent. It deserves 5 stars, but it falls short of perfect to me for 2 reasons. First, I wish it had one more ring, close to the end, so you can form a handle for times when you don't want to wear the lead. When we're in the woods, and she could use a little more slack in the lead, it could be helpful to have that shorter handle loop. Second, from all of the pictures and descriptions I could find, I believed the lead to be one continuous piece of leather. It isn't. It's two pieces, stitched and riveted together at the middle where the d ring is located. A friend had given me a different leash that ended up falling apart at the seam between two pieces of leather, so the single piece construction appearance was a big draw to me. It is a much higher quality of craftsmanship, so I have full confidence that it will perform well and last, but I wish that description or the pictures would have been clearer. It has been a great tool for me, it looks great, and I'm happy that it was made in the USA!

This is the 2nd lead I have purchased. I bought this one for my wife after I have used one for two years. The leather is initially a bit stiff, but softens very soon. We have two standard poodles and these leads are awesome! They are high quality and functional and worth the price if you like these aspects and have a dog that is well mannered.