Thread: Training Maine coons on a leash?

Originally Posted by Roy Snell

"Walking an indoor cat on a leash outdoors may make the cat less afraid of the outdoors and more likely to escape through an open door, then get lost, hit by a car, or attacked by a feral cat or other animals"

The above warning was listed at the bottom of the WikiHow page (see link below) and I posted it for no reason other than I thought it to be of interest. Whilst it suggests that Fear is a coons best defense and leashing may, on an unescorted adventure into the unknown, give the cat a false sense of security, I do in essence agree with you NCarver in your suggestion that it "overlooks the positives" after all, we leash our children and our dogs so why not a Maine Coon. In an ideal world, we do not own our cats and dogs any more than we can own our children. At best we are custodians and share something of our lives together. In his youth, my Bearded Collie Hope and I, needed to learn how best to walk and cross roads. To this end we used a leash and eventually, we learned the way. Mostly from there on, we could enjoy a walk together without the leash. Be it true or otherwise, I read that Maine Coons are similar to dogs, in that they are intelligent and like to be with their carers most of the time. In our togetherness, I like to think of a leash not as a shackle, but as a learning aid, and when the lesson is learned our Coons stay with us in the house or garden, because they want to*Roy

WikiHowlinkedHow to Leash Train a Cat - wikiHow

My own feeling in regard to Ownership verses Custodianship are here challenged by the CFA http://www.cfa.org/ezine/legislation.html#article