Frog clip against a bolt snap

How each one works

A bolt snap has a sliding gate you push back with your thumb, hold open, hook onto the ring, then release. Three separate things your hand has to do while the dog moves. A trigger hook is the same idea with a lever instead of a slider.

A frog clip has a sprung jaw that opens when you press the clip against the collar ring. You push, it snaps shut, the dog is attached. Your thumb never holds anything open, which is the whole difference in a January doorway with gloves on.

Where each one gives up

Bolt snaps jam. Grit gets into the slider channel, the spring loses its snap, and eventually you get the one that opens halfway and sticks. Because the moving part is a long thin bolt, a hard sideways yank is the load it likes least.

Frog clips are bulkier. On a very small dog the weight of the clip hangs off the collar and you notice it. They also need the collar ring to be wide enough for the jaw to seat properly, which is rarely a problem on a normal D-ring and can be one on a thin decorative collar.

What GEIT uses

Anodised aluminium alloy, rated by the maker to hold under a 700 lb pull, with a swivel between the clip and the rope. Alloy rather than moulded plastic, because plastic gates go brittle after a couple of winters and fail without warning. The anodising is the layer that stops the alloy pitting when the clip spends its life wet.

The swivel deserves its own sentence. A dog that walks a circle around you twists the rope, and rope holds twist. One full turn of swivel undoes it without you doing anything.

Check it every few months

Press the jaw closed and pull. It should not move. Rinse the clip after beach or road salt walks, dry it, and if you want, put a drop of light oil on the spring. That is the whole maintenance schedule.

If a clip closes slowly or feels gritty, replace the leash. Hardware that is going to fail usually says so first.

All five guides