What type of collar do you prefer?

    • Gold Top Dog

    What type of collar do you prefer?

    What kind of collars do your pups wear?  I like the strength of a buckle collar, but I had a very bad experience a few years ago that has made me a snap/safety collar user for life.  I had a husky/shepherd mix and a lab/rottie mix at the time and they were rough housing in the yard while I was making breakfast and watching them out the kitchen window.  All this was their normal everyday routine until I heard one of them screaming and thought that their play had escalated into a fight, so I ran outside to break them up. 

     Turns out the rottie mix, Jetta, had been pulling the other pup. Storm, around by the collar and got her play pinned to the ground.  She spun around somehow and ended up with Storm's collar wrapped tightly around her lower jaw.  She couldn't get loose and Storm was literally choking to death.  I had nothing to try and cut the collar away with, so my only choice was to try to get the collar off.  Of course, with a buckle collar, it has to be pulled tighter to undo the buckle and when I pulled I was able to get Storm free but ended up being bitten on the forearm in the process.  I ended up in the ER who was forced to report the bite to Animal Control and Storm had to be "confined" for 10 days.  Thankfully they were very understanding of the situation and after meeting her realized that she was in no way vicious or a threat to anyone, so they let me keep her at home, I just wasn't allowed to let her out of the house or her kennel unattended.  The whole thing was a freak accident, but it could totally have been avoided if I'd had my pups in snap collars instead of buckles. 

    • Gold Top Dog

    I'm sorry bout your incident had to be terrible!

    I dont like the snap collar because I witnessed a dog hit the end of a leash and break it, resulting in getting hit by a car. :(

    My dogs are always out with me, either near busy roads or running hundreds of acres. I depend on their training to keep them close but also depend on a collar to hold if close to speeding traffic! I never witnessed a buckle collar fail and have been around high energy working dogs my whole 23 years. So I always get a buckle collar, preferably leather.

    That said, I did go out and buy a snap collar by BuckleDown that is built somewhat like a seatbelt buckle. If I'm going by heavy traffic I'm still going to revert to my leather buckle collars because I wont risk it!

    Beware of the snap buckles that are painted metallic but are still plastic underneath! Ive seen that too and its misleading, I think they do it for looks but it gives the impression the snap its metal.

    For an average house dog who isn't near traffic I dont see any harm in using safety snaps tho. Just watch for degrading of the plastic if that collar is used for years. Good luck in your collar hunting!!! Its fun and so addicting!!

    • Gold Top Dog

    Depends on what I'm doing .My dogs don't wear collars at home.I have Buckle collars for APDT,C-wags rally,Check chains for training.Prong collars for training.Snake chains for showing..

    • Gold Top Dog

    I prefer a martingale-style collar for everyday wear. My dogs don't wear their collars 24/7, so I like something that I can easily slip on/off three dogs. I love the martingales and must admit to being a convert.

    I will never again use a snap collar after having Gaci break hers. Thankfully I could control her but I don't wish to take that risk. The buckle collars are too much work to put on/take off. And I don't use prong or slip collars.

    • Gold Top Dog

    None of mine wear a collar unless they leave my property.They play way to rough and tumble and I would be afraid of just such an incident.They have the plastic safety clips on the collars they wear for trips.Those collars have a full set of ID tags in case of an auto accident .I could see how a powerful dog might break this type of clip though.

    Tena

    • Gold Top Dog

    I use maringale collars when they are out. They never wear collars in the house, or out in the yard.

    • Gold Top Dog

     I have all kinds and change them all the time. I don't like buckle collars, and prefer the snap kind because I change collars so often. I have harnesses too - the dogs hate those ;p


    • Gold Top Dog

    I have all kinds, but for everyday wear I prefer breakaway collars.  The new house has floor vents so I just bought some nice breakaway collars on Etsy - they were cat collars but the seller custom sized them so that the dogs can wear them.  They hold ID no problem, but are thin so there are no fur marks *and* if they get caught they release (plus they are pretty!).  Just tonight Maggie and Kes were playing and Kes grabbed Maggie's collar and it broke away just like it's supposed to.

    For walks we use martingale collars for safety. Smile

    • Gold Top Dog

    I suppose that "Whatever is cute" isn't really the right answer. Tongue Tied

    Brutus is the only dog who wears a collar full time.  He is a liability, & I need to make sure that I can grab him if need be.  Everyone else goes nekkid at home.

    The boxers, & Brinxx wear collars with snap buckles, or martingales.

    The doxies are usually harnessed.  Although they do a have a large selection of collars as well.

    Angel wears a thin rolled leather collar.  It's the only thing that doesn't get tangled in her mop.

    Bevo is always harnessed.  He wears collars only as neck candy.  Any time that he is wearing a collar & no harness, it means that we were somewhere, in public, without a leash.  We do this frequently.

    Then there is Cher.  She wears a little of everything.  She trains in a choke chain, fursaver, or harness.  If we are just hanging out somewhere, she wears something with a snap buckle.  For crowded areas she wears a martingale.  (She knows that she can slip normal collars, & she likes to remind me that she can do so.  Usually at the worst moments.)  We are also in the early stages of using an ecollar, so she usually wears her ecollar for 6-8 hours a day.

     

    • Gold Top Dog
    Sadie wears a collar 24/7, in case she somehow slips out of the house which has happened a couple of times (deck gate was opened somehow, etc). She wears a buckle collar. I prefer the buckle collars. When we are out walking/hiking she still wears the collar with her tags on it, but also a harness, she much prefers walking in a harness.

    Timmy is nekkid in the house. Collars mess up his pretty fur. When we go out he wears a buckle collar with his tags, and sometimes he also wears a harness. He will sometimes wear a prong collar if our parents are looking after him and taking him out walking, they don't ever use it, it is just there because he instantly behave like an angel with it on, so it makes him easier to walk for our parents. He's a very intelligent/protective dog and unless he's aware that you are in charge, not him, he will be more than happy to take charge himself.

    • Gold Top Dog

     Hmm I'm not sure. I'll be honest, my last dog had a chain collar so I was used to that. With Simba he has quite a few different ones and it looks like he'll need a new one soon, he's getting big. :P We have a snap collar, which is sort of annoying because it takes a few tries to actually snap, we have a couple of buckle ones, leather and fabric and then the one we have for training class which needs to be changed as well.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Oh my. I haven't bought a collar in like 5 years. LOL. Neither dogs wear collars. When we first adopted Penny, she had a collar, but it made the fur around her neck bald. She has verryyy thin and sparse fur around her neck line to begin with and the rubbing of a collar made it even thinner. So now she just goes naked around the house. We just never bothered with a collar for Daisy- she's far too small to be walked on one. So we just use harnesses with tags on them when we go out.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Ever since Harry broke a snap collar trying to chase a cat, we've used buckle collars.  Both boys currently wear Dublin collars, but only when going out on walks or anywhere out of the house.  At home, they're nekked. Cool

    I don't keep lots of collars around; just their current ones and a few backups.  I guess I'm just not a collar-hoe (not that there's anything wrong with that Stick out tongue)

    • Gold Top Dog

     What a scary story!!  For all of you!

     I use a martingale (webbed) for my Dane after she broke her snap collar, for around the house use.  Would love to go without, but too often she needs to be controlled (although, with daily training I see improvements -- sometimes she forgets all her training and charges the fence-line -- ugh!! -- and I have rein her in). 

    Most will frown Super Angry on this but, unfortunately, she needs a prong collar for walking.  It's a bummer, and I have tried on numerous occasions to put her on only, at most, a choke during walks -- but with over 120 pounds of sheer muscle and a ton of will power -- without the prong in an emergency situation, I am afraid it would be disaster waiting to happen.  All my previous Danes were on a prong until they learned to walk politely on their walks -- usually by 6 months I would never need it again.  This gal, unfortunately, even though she appears to have mastered the polite walking (thanks to a lot of you guys on this forum with your great tips), under emergency situations I would be concerned that I would not have total control and would not want to take a chance; as long as she is on a loose leash with the prong I know it is no different than any collar -- but am ready to pull her back if something just way too tempting causes her to forget her training!   

    • Gold Top Dog

    A prong is not a bad thing, as long as it is used properly - which it sounds like you are doing.