As he’s following the French, get leads for the animals (7)

I believe the answer is:

leashes

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'leads for the animals' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'as he's following the french' is the wordplay.
'following' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'as'+'hes'='ashes'
'ashes' put after 'le' is 'LEASHES'.

'get' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for leashes that I've seen before include "Restraints for animals" , "Animal controls" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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