Dog Collars:
Fun and Functional

All dogs should wear dog collars. They are a quick easy way for you to grab your dog to keep him out of trouble or discipline him, they hold his ID so he can be returned to you if he gets lost, and they can really create a fashion statement if your dog is of the mind to care about his appearance!

Some dogs may not like wearing collars at first but if you keep one on your pet consistently, he will soon forget it is there and it will cease to bother him.

There are a few different types of collars you should consider having in your inventory of dog collars. Different collars are appropriate for different situations.

Everyday Dog Collars

A good rule of thumb to test whether your dog's collar is sized correctly, is to see if you can fit two fingers between your dog's neck and the collar. If so, good, it's not too tight. If you can fit more than two fingers, consider tightening up the collar. A collar that is too slack can get caught on things (sticks/branches/fences when he's outdoors; cabinets, children's limb's, furniture, etc. when he's indoors) and can slide off your dog's head.

In some breeds, notably those with very narrow heads like collies and greyhounds, a typical buckle collar may slide off too easily even if it is sized correctly. For these types of dogs, you may want to consider a head collar or chest harness as a neck collar alternative.

If this is not the case and your dog can wiggle out of his collar, chances are it's too loose. Ratchet down the buckle to a tighter setting or look into a small dog collar made especially for puppies or smaller breeds.

Collars can also cause problems with the beautiful fur of some long-coated dogs. If your dog's fur breaks or is discolored by his collar, consider a natural rolled leather collar which will be much easier on his coat.

You can take your dog's collar off when he's inside at night, but he should always wear a collar with his license and ID tags in case he slips out accidentally.

Training Collars for Dogs

There are many types of training collars for dogs available on the market today. Many such collars are known as "slip collars" or "choke collars" and these are great for teaching your dog basic obedience. These slip on over your dog's head and should be about 2 inches longer than the distance around the widest part of your dog's head (typically around his ears and neck).

If your dog is aggressive, dominant, or very big and strong, you might consider having him wear a prong collar for your training sessions. These will make sure that every correction you issue is effective and gets his attention. Used properly, these collars are very humane. I believe that when you are giving a dog a correction, it's better to train him with a few strong corrections, than a string of soft "nagging" corrections that he will learn to ignore. You never want your dog ignoring your corrections when you are trying to communicate with him or correct him.

Another type of "slip" collar is a nylon choke collar. Much like a chain-link slip collar, the nylon collars slide up and down, lengthening and tightening. The nice thing about these nylon collars is that they can be adjusted so they fit your dog very well.

Besides these tightening dog collars which correct your pup by giving him a jerk around the neck, you can also look into electric dog collars or citronella dog collars. Citronella collars are very effective in correcting dog barking problems. Electric collars can be great for training dogs to work off the leash.

Dog handling systems that are not dog collars

In addition or instead of wearing a dog collar, there are a number of other pet-restraint systems which can be appropriate in certain circumstances.

The Head Harness

Commonly known as a Haltie or Gentle Leader, is a head collar, essentially, which slips over the dog's muzzle and fastens behind his head. This type of collar can be effective in walking hard-to-control dog's and preventing them from being able to pull you. They are great for a dog that is stronger than the handler, or a dog who is working in a very distracting setting.

However, using this type of head collar may not teach the dog how to walk on a loose leash without the head harness on.

Chest Harness

The chest harness fits around the front torso of your dog, slipping over his legs and under his head.

The leash attaches to this harness along the dog's back, similar to wear a normal collar and leash would attach. The difference is, when you pull on the leash, the pull is being absorbed by the dog's whole front body. This can be great if you have a little dog and you are afraid of pulling him to hard.

If you have a large dog that likes to pull, a Husky for example, get out your sled because you are going for a ride!

Watch out though, if you pull in the wrong direction (as though you were dragging the dog to come along with you), you can actually pull this type of harness right off over the dog's head!