My dog Kochi's favorite movie is “Up.” He identifies with the talking dogs when they see a “Squirrel!” In fact, just last week, he caught a “Squirrel!” by the foot. Fortunately, it got away, and since then every time I let Kochi out into the yard, that squirrel chatters scoldingly at him. It would be an understatement to say that Kochi is obsessive about chasing small furry things. He is definitely a hunter — most likely a combination of his genetics and the survival skills he honed as a street dog in Japan before being rescued and brought to New Hampshire.

Kochi's obsession with squirrels triggered this week's column when we were out for a walk a few days ago. Returning home along the edge of a busy road, we were walking facing toward on-coming cars. Kochi was on my left on the inside, trotting along on a nice, loose leash. Suddenly my left arm was jerked back behind me, turning me toward the road. Kochi had spotted a squirrel behind us that had scampered from our side of the road to head across the street, and Kochi was raring to go after it. Fortunately, I was holding the leash reasonably short, which stopped him from running into the road — at the exact moment a car was passing us at about 35 miles an hour. Had I not had a grip on the leash, Kochi would have been instantly run over.

This near-miss reminded me of another near-miss I saw about three years ago. That event was the catalyst for a column on the dangers of retractable leashes. I am very happy that I don't use one and was able to save Kochi from himself — our responsibility as dog owners. My opinion about retractable leashes has not changed. Here's the story:

I was driving down a busy street when I saw a dog almost get run over when it ran into the road directly in front of the car ahead of me. You might be picturing a dog off-leash. It wasn't. It was on-leash — and its owner was holding the other end of it.

The woman was walking her small dog, holding the handle of a retractable leash in one hand and using the other hand to talk on her cellphone. Her dog suddenly ran into the street, right in front of the moving car. The dog's owner pulled back on the leash to try to stop her dog, but the leash kept extending, and the dog kept going. As she attempted unsuccessfully to pull her dog out of the road, the driver in front of me instinctively swerved over the double yellow line. Fortunately, there was no on-coming traffic, so the driver was able to avoid hitting the dog and a head-on crash.

As I drove past, the woman had managed to get her dog out of the road without missing a beat talking on the phone. I wonder if she was aware of how close her dog had come to getting run over or causing an accident. This wouldn't have happened had the dog not been on a retractable leash.

Not only are they a danger to dogs, but they are dangerous to people, too. They've garroted fingers to the point of amputation. They've caused deep leg cuts, lacerations and scarring. One of our All Dogs Gym staff was injured when a dog she was walking ran out to the end of the leash, building so much speed and momentum before hitting the end of the leash that she was literally pulled off her feet, fell and broke her nose. This event was the last straw for us. Since then, we put up a sign and don't allow them on dogs in our building. If a dog comes in on one, we'll simply switch to one of our own leashes and give the retractable to the owner.

There's no question in my mind that if Kochi had been on a retractable leash last week, I would be writing a very different column. Fortunately as I write this, he's sleeping peacefully on the couch next to me.

Free movie screening

All Dogs Gym will be showing the movie “Tough Love: A Meditation on Dominance and Dogs” from 7 to 8 p.m. Friday. Directly after the movie, Chad Montrie, the director and cinematographer, will be available for questions.

This screening is free, but space is limited. To reserve a seat, please call All Dogs Gym at 669-4644 or email info@alldogsgym.com. Please specify how many people will be coming.

Gail Fisher, author of “The Thinking Dog,” runs All Dogs Gym & Inn in Manchester. If you would like a topic addressed in this column, email gail@alldogsgym.com or write c/o All Dogs Gym & Inn, 505 Sheffield Road, Manchester, NH 03103. You'll find past columns on her website.