Patent ID: 8151736

Claim:
An animal restraint apparatus, comprising: a housing having an opening; a dispenser in said housing, operable to retractably dispense a flexible tension link through said opening, said flexible tension link being operable to be connected to the animal, said dispenser comprising: a spool rotatably mounted in said housing, and a spring urging said spool to retract said flexible tension link; a brake operable to selectively interfere with rotation of said spool, said brake having an engaged position for interfering with rotation of said spool and a disengaged position for not interfering with rotation of said spool, said brake being urged into said engaged position; and a control in said housing for selectively setting a desired maximum extension length of said flexible tension link from among at least two possible extension lengths, said control comprising a control actuator accessible from outside the housing, each possible extension length being associated with a respective position of said control actuator, said control being operably configured to cause said brake to assume said engaged position when said desired maximum extension length is reached; and an actuator on said housing, coupled to said brake and operable to cause said brake to assume said engaged position.