On a much too tight leash

Perhaps you will remember that Aschiuta received a brand new extensible leash around last New Year.

The handle was green and it said Benny on it (which was rather curious) and it seemed really nice at first: very silent and could be retracted all the way in. The old one's cord had (finally) broken, after faithfully serving us for over three years.

I'm sad to say the new green leash has met its early end today. After breaking down little by little (Aschiuta tugs and pulls like no other), today the blocker button failed at the worst possible time.

I was out with Aschiuta when a Chow Chow (or an equally jolly orange teddy bear) sneaked up on us from behind. Aschiuta bolted after him and, knowing she has been a bit vicious with other dogs lately, I tried to restrain her and bring her back closer. How is this done? Usually, it is block-pull-unblock-wind-block and repeat until Aschiuta is close enough to be appeased.
 

Unfortunately, when I tried to pull, I hadn't realised that the block hadn't worked, so I carelessly grabbed the leash with my free hand. Bad idea, very bad. The leash slipped on my hand with the speed of a mad Aschiuta sprinting (and trust me, the only dog faster than her has been a greyhound) and I couldn't let go of it fast enough. First degree burns, ouchies!
 

I finally got to my senses and wrapped the leash around my arm (it wasn't retracting anymore either) and apologised to the owner of the dog and we went back home with the tails between our legs. The new leash was kaput! Scorpio tried to fix it, but the mechanism had broken inside, so there was no saving it.
 

We will have a brief moment of silence... and now to celebrate a new acquisition: the old leash! ^^ (Wait, what?!)

Oh, sorry, not the old leash, but an identical brand-new one. I must say I am very happy and Aschiuta too gave it an approving sniff (or was she just happy to go out after drinking too much water?). If the first leash of this kind lasted over three years, I hope this one outlives it.
 

The old, the fancy and the new

  

Plus, it's red and pink, poochie's colours. Well, you know. Her first harness was pink, her first leash, the short one, was red (monogrammed, thanks to Scorpio's stitching skills), then she got the first red and pink extensible leash, then a red studded leather collar. Let's not forget her first vest was made from one of my old red sweatshirts, her winter coat is red... even her first undies were red (very sexy, hehe).

So, here we are! Out with the old, in with the new. Now we will go christen the leash by watering the flowers.