What do you like in a collar?

[AmandaNola]

All this collar talk! So why not add more?

What do you like in a collar as far as material, style, hardware, width, ect?

I like leather best, but cotton and some nylon is okay. Either metal quick release buckles (not a fan of plastic), or regular buckle. Occasionally a martingale. Silver hardware all the way! I like anything from 1/2" to 1" on her, but 5/8" and 3/4" are my favorite.

 

[mfan]

For every day use, Baxter wears a Ruffwear Headwater collar (some kind of rubber material) and the girls wear plastic collars from Gun Dog Supply. We go hiking/swimming every day and need collars that are waterproof and stinkproof. Nylon collars start looking and smelling really gross quickly. I do have nice Paco Collars but at this point, they rarely wear them.

 

[~Jessie~]

I've gotten to a point where I only like leather collars. I haven't put a cloth or nylon collar on my dogs in years, except for Rory's nylon Collarmania martingale with his name on it.

I prefer silver hardware, but I like brass as well depending on the collar and the dog. If I use a collar with brass hardware, I also need to coordinate it with a brass tag (all my dogs have each have at least one brass Fetching Tag and at least one aluminum one).

I'm not a fan of super wide collars. I limit my chihuahuas to 3/4" (Emma is limited to 3/8"), and Rory's widest collar is 1 1/4".

 

[sassafras]

If I could only use one style of collar for the rest of my life, it would be the limited slip. Although I love them in their leather collars, too, and will never not have some fancy leather styes the limited slips are my go-to for the youngsters.

The limited slips I get from Alpine Outfitters for mushing are like $5 or something ridiculously inexpensive, and you can get their name and your phone number embroidered right on the collar so no need to worry about tags. And I found a nice shop on etsy that makes them in wider sizes when I want something cuter.

Pip is usually in his leather or vegan leather. He is too much of a gentleman to ever worry about him backing out of a collar.

 

[ruffiangirl]

I'm a leather girl as well. We have Pacos for all the dogs. They are tag collars only though, Diesel and Gage max out at 1' and Bristol I prefer 3/4 or less.

I walk the little dogs on harnesses and Gage on a martingale.

 

[Toller_08]

Leather is my favourite for buckle collars, nylon is my favourite for martingales. I'm not a fan of fabric collars. Some prints are pretty, but they just seem to stain easily and not stay looking nice. Sme with hemp. I like that it's soft, but it looks ild and worn really quickly, so not my favourite. I like biothane collars a lot too just because I don't worry about them getting wet or gross at all.

I prefer brass over silver. The only thing I don't like about brass is that it can stain white coats if the collar is always worn, but so can silver hardware depending on what it is.

I like 1" collars on Ripley usually no matter what type of collar it is. I like 1" leather (or biothane) buckle collars on Keira tapered to 3/4" at the buckle, but I also like 3/4" collars on her. Same as Keira for Journey. Dance I prefer 3/4" on, but like 1" leather/biothane buckle collars as well as long as it's tapered to 3/4" at the buckle. All of my girls can wear a 1" nylon collar well too with no tapering. I prefer plastic buckles for those types - any metal one I've had just comes undone randomly. Three of my dogs don't pull either, so I don't worry about anything breaking, and the one dog that does pull is walked on a slip lead most of the time anyway (as are the others for that matter).

I have quite a variety of collars though just for when I get bored or want a certain collar for certain situations haha.

I have a Paco each for them, a Mesamis (kind of like the White Pine collars it looks like to me. They're thin, they're soft, and they don't create collar lines or break coat) for each, a Nearly Naked Neckwear buckle martingale for each, one Karma collar, three biothane collars, three nylon embroidered ID collars and three Quillin Leather rolled collars. Plus a bunch of random martingales and regular nylon buckles that never get touched.

I like them all pretty equally for different reasons. I think my Quillin rolled collars and my Mesamis collars are my favourites though. Just because they are so simple and oddly I get bored less easily with simple. I like my Paco collars a lot too though, and my NNN get a lot of use also. My biothane ones are awesome for swimming. My leather collars are all fine for swimming too, but I feel better having them stay out of the water as much as possible.

The most important thing about a collar to me is that I can fit one of Boomerang's collar tags onto it lol. I can't stand jingling, so no matter how nice a collar is, if there is only room for a jingly tag, I won't use it.

 

[sassafras]

Great. Now I'm perusing cute limited slips. D*MN YOU PEOPLE.

 

[BostonBanker]

I don't like limited slip or quick release buckles; my dogs generally just live in nylon collars with plastic buckles (the horror!). I haven't (yet) found leather collars I like on them, because they are always too bulky and heavy.

I like both my dogs best in 3/4" collars. Meg has had 1" collars, which are okay as long as they are lightweight, but I find I change them out pretty quickly to 3/4". Neither of my dogs is big, and they don't spend a ton of time on leash, so "sturdy" isn't such an issue. Comfort is.

Gusto really only has one collar (poor guy came along after my collar obsession was over); a Spiffy Dog mesh collar. Meg has a million collars, and tends to wear one for a while until I take it off at agility and stuff it in a bag and forget about it. Then she changes to a different one. She's currently using a Lupine.

 

[LostAndConfused]

I like both my dogs best in 3/4" collars. Meg has had 1" collars, which are okay as long as they are lightweight, but I find I change them out pretty quickly to 3/4". Neither of my dogs is big, and they don't spend a ton of time on leash, so "sturdy" isn't such an issue. Comfort is.

Same here. I have him in a 1 inch but they just don't make me happy.



I really like my biothane. I don't have a leather collar but would like to get a rolled leather at some point. I have a limited slip, but mostly I just use that when I have some one else watching him and I don't trust them.

 

[meepitsmeagan]

1.5" nylon with fancy ribbon for Harlow. Martingale's with quick release buckles all around for outings. Thin slip tag collars for at home. Lucy's sporting a rolled leather which I like on her, but didn't care for on Rider. No thicker than 1" for the cattle dogs.

I like leather a lot, but I haven't found a leather martingale that isn't super heavy and I don't know what I think about the chain ones.

Harlow's Collar by DJetzel, on Flickr

 

[Torch]

I like wider, sturdier collars for my guys. Can't wait until Rhys is big enough for a big boy collar. I like Paco, Ella's Lead, and Stillwater. Mostly I prefer leather collars, although I do have some nylon and biothane. Even though Henry isn't a big dog, I like him in 1.25-1.5inch collars.

 

[sassafras]

I like how light plastic hardware is, but years ago I learned the hard way that (plastic + freezing temperatures + leash pressure) can = shattered plastic.

 

[Red.Apricot]

Rolled leather is my favorite material.

Otherwise I like collars to be sturdy and attractive, although what that means exactly varies a lot.

 

[Laurelin]

We have super cheap buckle collars that they live in. They're super super thin (not sure what size). Plastic buckle. That's about all we need.

 

[JacksonsMom]

I really think leather is my favorite. Ever since he's had a nice leather collar, I just don't LIKE him as much in nylon or fabric collars. But they do still have their place so I like to have a few. I'm not really as into patterns as much though.

When we spend multiple days at my dads house in the summer, with the pool, etc, he wears either his Kong nylon collars or GunDogSupply biothane collar since he's always in/out of water, rolling in nastiness, and just being all around gross terrier.

In the fall and winter though, he's in his Paco nearly every day.

With leather, I like him in 3/4" the best. But always pretty much taper the buckle. I like brass hardware on him -- yorkies just look good in brass, I think. Tan leather is my favorite but I think he pulls off black too.

With nylon or fabric, I also like 3/4" BUT I'm very picky about the buckles. If they seem too bulky or big, I just don't like them on him.

But yeah I would say I have a need for different types for different occasions.

 

[Flyinsbt]

I don't like limited slip or quick release buckles; my dogs generally just live in nylon collars with plastic buckles (the horror!). I haven't (yet) found leather collars I like on them, because they are always too bulky and heavy.
.

Someone makes a plastic buckle that isn't a quick release? I've never seen such a thing. Not that I'd put one on my dogs, anyway.

I have one collar with a quick release plastic buckle for Pirate, but I use that mainly when I'm planning to have him off-leash, I don't entirely trust it. Though it's a fairly wide collar, and large buckle, so maybe it would stand up. Most of my collars are either metal buckle, or limited slip. I prefer brass hardware, with their coloring, though I have silver too. Fastening an actual buckle with Pirate can be a PITA, he doesn't hold still very well for it, so his most recent collar is a limited slip, and I'll probably stay with those for him.

I like their collars from 1 1/4" to 1 1/2". Mostly buy fabric wrapped collars these days, for the decorative fun. They don't actually wear collars all that much. I have one plain nylon collar, embroidered with Tess' name & my phone number.

I bought that for a trip (from The Collar Shop, she gave me a discount price as she'd just got the embroidery machine and did it for practice). It's a little fancier than the nylon ID collars I found when I looked, it's 1 1/2" wide, and has the classy looking buckle. I actually really like it, and it's one I use for off-leash play when I think the collar might get dirty.

We have the good AE leather collars, the one Tess is wearing is a daily collar (1 1/4"), the chain martingale that Pi is wearing is mostly a show collar. Both were originally bought for Tess, but will be used as long as I have the breed. They mostly only wear these on dressy occasions.

And their newest fabric wrapped collars, 1 1/2", brass buckle with badgers for Tess, limited slip with sharks for Pirate:

We have a couple more of those. Because they're fun, I tend to use those for just bopping around.

 

[Hillside]

Had I answered this a year or so ago, I would have said that I prefer leather. Now that I have two dogs, neither one of them ever wears a collar inside. They each have a black leather/brass Ella's lead collar. Saga's was custom made for her and Nico's is one that Becca made for Saga as a gift, but suits him better. Nine times out of ten, if I take Nico anywhere, he is on his brass fursaver. I prefer black leather and brass on both my dogs, and prefer brass fittings on any other collars they wear.

 

[AmberH]

For the two pit bulls, 1.5" nylon buckle Stillwater show collars are my favorite. They can't destroy them (unless chewed and they don't do that). They swim in them and they dry fine. I've never had one start to smell or fall apart. My first is now over five years old and used all the time for a "get dirty, rough housing, play" collar. It's still in top notch condition with the exception of some staining.

For Bayleigh, I like 1" and 3/4" widths on her. She has a pretty black leather collar from Cali Girl Collars that I adore. When she was younger, she chewed the end and now it doesn't stay buckled well. My other favorite on her is a rolled leather collar. Nothing too fancy.

I pretty much only like buckle and martingale collars. If I had to pick just one, the buckle. I will not use quick release collars for anything other than a pretty necklace. Not even my little dog. I do not trust them and I can remember many times when our dogs got out of them when I was younger.

 

[StillandSilent]

Fabric martingale and pretty. I like Gambit in patterns. 1.5 inch is best on him.

I have a cute martingale at the ready for my whippet, though that's looking to be about a year out. Or next week, but I'm not o sure about that one...

 

[Saeleofu]

Leather, and both my dogs look great in 1.25" tapered to 1". Hardware color depends - Logan's has brass and silver decorations with brass chigago screws and silver martingale chain. I love the mixed metals in his. Gavroche's is silver everything.

Logan's is TARDIS-blue. It's bridle leather, so a bit stiffer, but I think I like that in a martingale like he has..

Gavroche's is black super thick leather that's buttery soft. I LOVE this leather. If I could afford it, I'd spring for a custom multi-leash in the same leather (from Ella's Lead).

I don't like fabric/nylon collars with only a couple exceptions. I'm going to try a round nylon design for Gavroche (tubular nylon with a hose inside for form) and see how I like it - it'll be a chain martingale with a quick release buckle. Martingales MUST be chain - I don't like anything else for a martingale.

I got custom buckle chain martingales from Collar Mania a couple years ago. I figured custom, I ought to like them. But I don't. The chain is too short, and the thread feels like fishing line. That's not acceptable when my dog is naked and has super sensitive skin. So I have them, but I never used them (Logan outgrew his, but it also had a too-short chain). I also had a pretty terrible experience.

I DO have a ribbon/nylon martingale from Fraggle Rock Collars. I love it because it's Doctor Who. It's one of the better nylon martingales I've used - but I still have to adjust it way down for Gavroche's neck, and way up for his head (which is why I prefer a buckle on him), so I use it most on Logan whenI want to change things up (Logan's head and neck are virtually the same size, so no adjusting needed).