What kind of collar does your little one have?
 

I have had the hardest time finding a collar I like that is small enough. I want something girly, pink or purple. But that comes in XS and is comfortable. What kind does your little one have?

Bentley has a collar for his tags and a harness for when we go on walks. I love the harness he has now. We got it at Petco. I don't remember what the brand is. Sometimes harnesses look stupid on him, but this one is very small and not very noticeable.

For collars, we have cotton ones that are easy to wash, and are breakaway for when he spazzes and gets caught on something he won't choke. I love anything cotton really. It's always the most soft and comfortable thing you can wear. I've seen them in a bunch of different colors. My friend and I bought multi packs. She kept all thr girl collars, I kept all the boy ones. Except for one brown one with pink flowers. It is too cute!! I'm saving that one of I ever get a little girl. :)

Our collars are from an Etsy store that normally makes cat collars but makes dog collars custom. She has a variety of colors and patterns including some very cute girly ones.

Sweet Pickles' Designs by sweetpicklesdesigns on Etsy

Ibought some velvet kitten collars when I got the girls. Now they are just about out of these so will be looking for soft kid leather. Im from Scotland there is a website called Holly and lol who handmake real soft leather. Are expensive but worth it.

Mine all only wear harnesses.

Many people here have luck with kitten break away collars though.

My two wear "Lil Pals" by coastal pet products, they are very narrow, silky,and soft at the stitching. They come in two sizes (I buy the 8-12", my pups are 7lbs) and are not expensive. I also buy the bells from the same line- they stay shiny.

What kind of collar DOESN'T he have?!? LoL... I have a bit of a collar obsession.

He's got his nylons, his fabrics, his leathers. Now I need a good swimming collar that won't get too messed up from chlorine.

For leather: Ella's Lead - Home and Custom Leather Dog Collars - Paco Collars are our favorites.

I like etsy sellers too... Cali Girl Collars has amazing customer service, RetroAnimals, etc...

I used to put collars on the girls just for looks but, I got worried that they would get hooked on something when I wasn't home and strangle themselves so...no more collars...I NEVER use a collar for walking,,...have used harnesses since day one..But as others have said here...maybe a kitten break away collar would work

Mine wear harnesses and breakaway cat collars collars for their tags when I take them for walks or out. Otherwise I don't put collars on them. I have posted may times about how we almost lost Adie due to a collar situation so I won't go in to it but collars are simply not safe enough to risk it.

Only use harness vest with yorkies. I learned this from a friend of mines little guy had a tracheal collapse from a neck collar she used to walk him with. The neck collars can cause your little one to hyperextended his neck. Some yorkie also have genetic conditions that make them more susceptible to a collapsed trachea. I have there tags hooked to their vest I also have them microchiped.

Sami girl,

Lots of opinions about Collars, some say yes, others no. I use the Nylon Slide Lock for both of my guys, mainly because of what we do, rather than how it looks.

I have a little different slant on raising a Dog than many others here. I really try to "let them be Dogs", and daily take them hunting along the Bayou, near the house. They jump in to the Water, catching and eating Frogs and Snakes, and the Nylon works best for us. I keep mine clipped fairly short, because of our activities, and everything drys out about the same time. :rolleyes:

I have more than one set of Collars for them...
Their usual "wear" is a simple strap, with Bells on it. I have different sized bells on the Collars, where I can locate them quickly, and, hear which animal is where.
When we go out and about (Pet Store/Vet/Groomer) they wear their "full" collars, which have their Inoculation Tags and ID, including notification about their Microchips.

I never use the Collars for attachment...
We always use Harness' when going anywhere. I have the retractable reels or standard 4' Nylon Leash's, depending on the activity. Using the Harness also is very handy to attach to the restraint for them when riding in the Truck, which I always insist being used when we're going somewhere.

Proper fit is the key to safely using a Collar (IMHO) ;)
As stated, I keep mine clipped rather short, never attach a Leash to them and that allows the Collars to be adjusted where there isn't a lot of slack. This limits the possibility of them hanging their Collars on something, where they might be choked. Additionally, a thorough visual inspection of the environment, gives me additional confidence about that.

So, functionality and convenience is my approach.

harness
 

Leia has a harness... velcro around the neck and behind her front legs... she loves it... and it's made of a light weight breatheable fabric... she knows it's walk time when it comes out.

Carlene

No collars, too risky
Buddy belt or step in for walking and in the car seat. Cali also does all of her obedience training in harness. In the obedience ring I use a martingale ( cuz have to use a collar in the ring per AKC ) .

My two don't wear a collar, all their tags are on their buddy belts, I don't want them to get caught on anything and get choked so no collars

I have a little different slant on raising a Dog than many others here. I really try to "let them be Dogs", and daily take them hunting along the Bayou, near the house. They jump in to the Water, catching and eating Frogs and Snakes, and the Nylon works best for us. I keep mine clipped fairly short, because of our activities, and everything drys out about the same time. :rolleyes:


I love that you do this, is there a worry about gators or anything for you

Sounds a lot like Jackson, LOL - he would love to come live with you.

I am looking for that perfect outdoor collar still.

Nylon gets stinky fairly quickly (maybe it's the chlorine doing it though) and begins to fade super fast.

Good leather seems to hold up pretty well to dirt, mud, and even some water. But I won't let him swim in the pool with it on, don't want to ruin it.

Currently, am looking into the Dublin Dog Collar or the EzyDog Neo Collar for our "get messy" collars.

How is a harness any safer in terms of getting caught up on things? I am just curious...

I feel like they both have the potential to get caught on something, if left on the dog.

The whole purpose of me leaving a collar on Jackson while I'm gone is if he gets out when I am not home - I want him have an ID on. But I won't leave a harness on him when I leave because I feel like it'd be uncomfortable. He does get "naked" at night.

Collars for looks...harness for walking
 

Collars are like shoes...you can never have too many! Collars are pretty but not very safe for walking...we use collars for looks but harnesses for walking.

Love these leather bling collars and soft harnesses ....can personalize and Personalized is always in style
Pets With Style Boutique

My girl wears a "lil pals" collar from all pets emporium. Its the smallest size 6-8 "

But I always use a step in harness for walks.

They only wear the harness on walks. They are both microchipped

My girls all use the step ins. I mentioned earlier I want use collars to walk for fear of tracheal collapse. I have found xxs and xs at Petco in a ton of cute colors and prints. I wanted to also recommend a two snap system. This has Velcro as well as two top clips cord extra protection.

I think we've danced this dance before Brit. Some will agree with collars others won't.

There is only one true way to go wrong with a collar, and that is to use it to hook a leash. Otherwise, it's a matter of preference. A microchip is helpful, and might get you your dog back in a day or 2. (waiting for that someone who has found your dog to have the free time to make a trip to the vet) Tags on a collar, with current information can get your dog back to you within hours. All it takes is for the person to reach for their cell phone and give you a quick call. I'm personally impatient, and while I can claim to the moon and back that Kaji is trained to never walk out the door, and I would never leave the door open for him to escape, I live with at least 2 other people. I might not make a mistake, but they might. (and they have in the past) I fear him getting caught too, which is why I prefer kitten break away collars. I've seen them work on him as well, so I feel as though I can trust these collars. He can have them on 24/7 for months on end, but when he gets spazzy, and has in the past, it will fall off; which I've also seen it do. We were out once and he freaked out when he saw a bike. He somehow managed to hang himself on my hand break. (car was stopped, I was parked, and we were ready to get out of the car) The collar fell off, and Kaji was and is 100% fine. But really, this is my preference, and how I choose to do things. If others prefer to have no ID and solely rely on microchipping that's fine too. That's their preference. :)

This is how we do it as well, Brit. Collars with an ID tag that they wear all of the time and the harness (several of them) for when they go for a walk. I think they would chew the harness off if it were left on them all of the time. They have tons of collars, I'm a sucker for collars. I take their collars off when they swim but as soon as they are dry, they go back on.

I have colars with tags on them when we are out. I don't keep them on in the house mine try to chew them off each other. When we go in walks I always us a harness with Velcro closure a a second clip on the top I have tags on those as well. I use these due to personal experience. My little Billie had a collapsed trachea I had to see two doctors. It was awful it sounded like he was gasping gor air. He had his treatment and recovered he passed due to renal failure. The two specialist told me to never walk my little ones with as neck leash colars and always use harmeds vest to walk to avoid staring or pulling on the neck when the walk and pull the harness really keeps from pulling on the neck and IMO the dogs like them better because the are less restraining

I was gonna say etsy as well. I'm now on a crazy collar hunt from my other collar thread. :rolleyes:

I'm gonna go check out this shop now too. :D

You let them eat frogs and snakes??? :eek:

this is what I do and that's my thinking too. I also think that with Uni's longish hair, the harness has more area to mat her hair than a collar.

Once we had a very windy day, and I thought I closed the front door. A big gust of wind came and blew the door back open when I totally thought I had closed it all the way. If that gust of wind had come a few minutes later when I was long gone and didn't see it, the front door would have been wide open with the dogs inside and no one at home. Now I OCD check the door if it's locked, but this is a perfect example of why I leave collars on mine.

Princess got her harness stuck on her kennel when she was a pup she was hung by the neck part but the way a harness works the pressure was on her shoulders.

Thankfully I dont beleive on collars or she wouldnt be here...

That the difference Ive seen it. My dogs are chipped and their tags are on the D ring of their harnesses.

We use the Kong collars and harnesses for our pups but they are larger yorkies. I have two lil escape artists that I need to keep some sort of ID on at all times. They are both micro chipped but 9 times out of 10 the person who finds the dog won't get them checked but will look at an id tag.

I LOVE the kong set since mine like to chew on each others' gear and they haven't been able to chew through these. I also LOVE that they are reflective on the stitching so that I can see them when we go out at night. It helps cars and other people see the pups as well if they ever get out.

I can't even begin to tell you how many times my two have jumped up just right and let themselves out the door when we were in Germany so that they could go to the playground with the kids. German doors have lever style handles btw and it is easy to tap them and open the door. The collars with tags and reflective stuff helped them get back to me a few times even with a language barrier. I don't think I could ever not use a collar on them.