How to Pick the Right Dog Collar

Most of us unfortunately do not give an enough thought to the practical function of a dog collar when we buy them. A run of the mill leather or cloth collar with the required tags is all that most dogs need.

There are other choices to be made.

1. Dress collars with rhinestones for a female dog. These can be nylon or leather. Leather is a bit more expensive but is less likely to fray in the long run.

2. If you have a miniature breed that rarely spends time outside you could use dog jewelry with consisting of things such a pearls and crystals. Still for practical everyday use such collars are not a good idea. Also if you have other pets in the house or children these kinds of collars can present a choking hazard if chewed by another dog or toddler. Also such collars should be not used in crates as the lack of width and smooth surface makes them more likely to become entrapped in the cage posing another choking risk.

3. Another sometimes needed collar is the training collar. They are also called pinch or prong collars. These collars may look menacing, but they are really about teaching control. They simply remind the dog to pay attention to the command. It is the firm command that actually is the most effective tool when training your dog. Various types of shock collars are used for these purposes as well. These are a more controversial type of training collar and you should do a lot of research before choosing this type of collar.

It is very important to size a collar right. If you can go to one of the many pet stores that allow you to bring your dog you can take all of the guess work out of sizing the collar. If your can not take your dog along there are a few basic tips.

1. The collar needs to fit over your dogs head and ears. Measure the biggest part of your dogs head to determine the maximum size of the collar.

2. The collar needs to be able to cinch up around your dog’s neck when the dog is pulling, measure close to the dogs fur line on the neck to make sure the collar you choose has the size range to cinch the collar. You will need to deduct room if the dog has long or thick fur. It will look as if the collar is cinched when there may be too much wiggle room.

3. The collar should hang squarely on the middle of your dog’s neck in order not to become a choking hazard. You should measure for width of the collar from the middle of your dogs’ neck.