(183) Stylin Dog Collars

My sister just sewed a two inch wide dog collar for her granddog Squiggles. Squiggles is the cute Italian Greyhound owned by her son Eric and Chelsey. The reason Juli sewed a dog collar for Squiggles is that Greyhounds need a collar with a wide band due to their small and sensitive necks. It needs to be soft and gentle. For the most part, dogs’ necks are the strongest part of their bodies. They can pull on their collars even to the point that they can hurt themselves, straining to keep pulling. That is also why many trainers suggest the gentle leader type of lead. It goes around the dog’s nose and so when the walker pulls on the leash, the dog’s nose turns and they aren’t using their necks. With some breeds like the Italian greyhound, whose neck is traditionally larger than their head and so if they get pulled at the neck they can choke, or the collar can slip off their head.


We now use a martingale type of collar for both Max and Beeker. This is a collar that has a double loop that makes a sort of loop at the top for tightening if needed but also is loose around the neck at other times. I say we “now” use this type of collar because we haven’t always. When we first got Maxie, we had a chain collar and then got a pinch collar when he would strain in the chain collar. Then When I tried to walk him down our lane (Before Beeker) he would still pull me and even pulled me down when he got excited about approaching people. After that episode we took him to a dog trainer where Max immediately broke the pinch collar trying to get to the trainer to smell her. Now I have to say, there never was and still is not a single mean bone in Max’s body, he was just highly excitable. But we learned quickly that the martingale type of collar and gentle leader really helped Max’s brain stay engaged.

Truth is that there are many different types of collars for dogs. The type and style of collar say as much about the owner as it does about the dog type/breed. Max has a black collar to go with his black fur/hair. Beeker sports a blue collar with dog bones sewn all over it. Fitting for a colorful chewer don’t you think? Some dogs have multiple collars for multiple activities such as a dress collar of leather or a pink elastic collar for a small poodle. What type of collar does your dog wear and how did you come by choosing it? A collar is like an accessory and reflects the dog’s and owner’s personality. Bling it up I say! Male or female dogs need to walk with confidence in their stylin collars.