Dog Collars - How to Choose the Right One for Your Pet

A leather collar is the strongest, most practical, and most comfortable. It should be round for long coats, in order to avoid breaking the hair, and flat for short coats, in order to avoid leaving a mark. Both round and flat should be as narrow and light as possible within the limits of security. Braided leather, the sturdiest of all is recommended for large and powerful breeds, but do not buy too heavy a collar for a new puppy. Washable nylon cord or canvas webbing are lightweight and strong enough.

You may enjoy dressing up your pet in fancy jeweled collars, and there is nothing wrong with this, but you should avoid dangling ornaments that can gat caught, trapping the animal and possibly causing injury. A properly fitting collar is tight enough so that cannot slip over the dogs head, but loose enough to offer no constriction. You should be able to slip two fingers between the collar and neck of an adult dog. A puppy grows so fast that his first collar must allow plenty of room for expansion. Get one with several holes, start with the last one, and adjust it comfortably each time you put it on him.

An essential safety feature of the dog collar is the identity tag it bears. The safest kind is an engraved name and address plaque permanently attached to the collar. Very small collars do not have room for this, so small pets have to wear a round engraved medal attached to the collar. The pets name and the owner抯 phone number should be on the tag, and many areas require that immunization tags be worn with current records engraved. Above all else, a collar should be chosen for its comfort first and foremost, with style and look considered secondary.

Please feel free to check out our collars and leash section at http://joncopets.com/dog_collars.asp