I LOVE it when a news story proves correct my previously held, ill-informed and hastily made bias. It’s happened again. Experts have been looking at the cause of an increase in serious brain injuries and they blame extendable dog leads.

I’ve always hated them. The whole point of having a dog is to get the exercise of taking it for a walk but someone managed to find a way to move less while letting the dog run all over the place. It’s man’s best friend, not a kite.

Effectively these leads can become a trip wire. The dog can’t understand that it’s creating a hazard and the owner is invariably on their mobile phone and therefore not looking.

Can you tell that I have been tripped up by dog leads quite a lot while out running? I’m not naturally athletic so I don’t need a reason to have to jump or dash out of the way. I’m too busy panting and trying to avoid joggers’ nipple.

The experts looked at the reasons dog walkers needed medical help and head injuries were number two on the list behind broken fingers. At least those dog walkers who break their fingers won’t be on their smartphone the next time they’re walking the dog.

The broke fingers occur when the long lead gets tangled round the dog walker’s finger and then gets pulled tight. It sounds like a medieval form of torture.

Dog walkers also suffer from shoulder injuries. This is because with a 20-foot extender lead the dog has time to get up some momentum. When they run out of lead they suddenly pull the owner. This leads to some enjoyable videos on YouTube but it also causes injury.

It always struck me that you don’t have much control over your dog while they’re on a long lead, you simply limit the radius around you in which your dog can go wild.

OK, if the dog is very small and the lead has a strong spring in the handle you could pull the dog back. Who wouldn’t want to watch a chihuahua take flight back towards its owner? In general the dogs do better in the battle of will then the owners and it looks like the dog is taking the human for a walk.

Experts now suggest a lead should be only two-metres long and if your dog wants to walk to sniff at some trees or a bin you should walk over there with it.

Owning a dog was always linked to health benefits but thanks to these leads you’re also getting sprained shoulders, a broken finger and a big bang on the head.