Collars and Leads etc.

[gaddylovesdogs]

What do you prefer?

Here are my opinions.

Collars My dogs each have nylon collars (two clip, one buckle). They're strong and give me control over my dogs while being comfortable for the girls. We also own a choke collar, which we'll occasionally use for training. We always make sure never to leave it on afterwards and use it correctly.

Leads We use nylon leashes. Two are 4' long one is 6'. I prefer the 4' over the 6' because it's less likely for it to get under my girls' legs and things like that. We also have a Flexi retractable leash which we use when we're in an unfenced area where we want the dog to have freedom yet be completely in control and we are far away from any dangers.

Harnesses If I had small dogs I'd definitely use a harness. It's easier to injure a small dog than it is to injure a large dog, however I am getting my girls harnesses.

Training Collars etc. If they are used correctly and work well I'm fine with them. We have a choke collar and a head halter, and we are not only careful with them but use them correctly and they work well. But just because a prong collar may work on, say, your friend's GSD doesn't mean it's going to work on your Lab.

[Pugdawg1]

For my pugs, I only use harnesses. Winston & Oscar use a normal ole harness, Bentley has been using one of the 'no-pull' harnesses.. I love it. He's doing so well, he used to be a puller.. so much energy, wants to go go go. But now.. very nice to have him walk alongside, with my other two pugs.
I'm not comfortable with just a collar on my pugs. I feel more secure with a harness, it's harder to slip out of.
Also, if some strange dog comes running up aggressively at us (yup, it's happened a couple times), and they happen to be off to the side or in front, sniffing, yadda yadda, I can jerk them very close to me, behind me, etc, without worrying about so much about damaging their throats.

[Purr]

Gaddy, I agree with you. My dogs all have nylon collars, and nylon leashes (in coordinating colors, of course!!). I don't like Flexi-leads, because I don't feel like I have as much control over the dog that way...I prefer to have my dogs next to me.

Collars should only be used on larger dogs; small dogs are more prone to tracheal damage, and harnesses are much safer for them.

As far as training collars go, I'm not a big fan, because I've seen people using them incorrectly waaaay to much...I don't think that they should sell chokes in any place that has a pet isle, where any "uneducated" (to put it nicely) person will see it, buy it, and leave it on their dog 24/7...but that's not what this threads about! I've never actually used a choke myself.

So, that's the way I see it...

[Pugdawg1]

Should add, I use 6' leads. I do have retractables, that sometimes I use when we walk along the river. Very few people down there, rarely dogs.. the pugs like to wade in there sometimes, so they have more room to move, but I can reel 'em in if they get to deep LOL. I do NOT use retractables when just going for a walk around cars, on sidewalks, with people, other dogs, etc.

[Rip's Girl]

Collars: I use nylon buckle collars. Ripley has a collar on all the time. I won't risk it with him, since he would run off at any given chance, and you never know if someone was going to be dumb and leave a door open, not close it fast enough, let him slip between their legs, etc. Dakota has his collar on when he's going for walks, or when he's outside the backyard.

Leads: I use a 6ft leather leash with Dakota on ALL walks, whether they are for training purposes or not. I usually wind up letting him offlead on our walks in the desert. With Ripley, if I am walking him to exercise him, I use a flexi lead. If I am just going to be carrying him, he has a very small, lightweight 4ft nylon leash that is attached to him at all times, whether he's in my purse or in my arms.

Harnesses: I need to get one of these for Ripley. I feel awkward with Rip on a collar, because I could so easily snap his little neck if I had to yank him back in an emergency. I don't see a need for a harness for Dakota, unless we start tracking work. All I can see a harness doing to him is damaging his coat. He isn't in danger of being injured by a buckle collar, so I don't really need to spend the money on a harness for him right now.

Training collars: They have their place, but certainly not on Dakota. He works just fine on a flat collar or on a check chain. (Or with NO collar!)
Training collars work well for Ripley, though. I have yet to find something that is more effective, although I HATE correcting him.. (Therefore I rarely train with Ripley anymore. It's just too frustrating, since I have not been able to find a suitable motivator for him.. All I have left to do is give empty praise. It's just not fun for either of us. He's the pampered little house dog.)

[elegy]

both of my dogs wear flat collars all the time. mushroom's is leather, luce's is hemp. they both have 6 foot hemp leashes.

i use prong collars on walks because they both get out of control when they see dogs behind fences, and i can't control 100 pounds of pit bull strength and determination on a flat collar.

for training i use flat collars. for luce's obedience classes i use a slip collar because she does on occasion pull out of her flat collar when she gets over-excited.

they wear harnesses for car-riding.

[doberkim]

i dont really like nylon and by far prefer leather.

i also probably have the world largest collection (second only to sizzledog-- come on leah, share that pic!) of collars, etc.

i have a bunch of nylon theme collars for the holidays - bowie wears them for show.

i have a variety of collars, leads, and harnesses in my training bag:

Sensation Harness - bowies typical harness. VERy easy to put on, supposedly stops from pulling but not enough but it rubs his chest

Leather agitation harness - fits lovely, comfy like a glove, but heavier. fleece padding on chest

traditional premier harness - mya wears this when we go on hikes. nothing special.

cetacean harness - bowie is wearing his now. different distribution of the contact spots, but focused on the chest and not the neck area. harder to get him to step into it.

in terms of collars:
rolled leather collar - bowies training and trialing collar. most of the time nothing attached to it.

upcountry collars (www.upcountryinc.com) - the cutests collars on earth. mya has one, bowie has (ok ill admit it) like 4. i put their licenses on here, they wear them when needed. cute and the only thing i can deem making them wear.

herm sprenger fur saver - training collar when needed.

prong - havent used in ages, but its a medium, herm sprenger. i really need to get a microprong though. i use them on bowie for proofing.

martingales - i have about 3-4 different ones. useful for mya.

leather collars- i have 2 1-inch leather collars, one with studs. bowie likes them. and he looks kick-***.


leashes (my pride and joy): - all my leather leads are burgundy (as is bowies rolled leather collar)

2 foot latigo traffic lead - for heeling. i can clip him to my belt and go hands free.

4 foot ultra soft bull hide lead-- my baby. softest leather on earth. so supple. our trial lead.

6 foot latigo lead - training, useful for taking dogs places. very soft, palms well. bowies alternate lead.

6 foot bridle leather lead with padded handle - the other walking leash. i dont use it as much anymore.

i also have random nylon leads that i hate - a TUSVM one, a halloween one, etc. i dont use them. the Tufts one stays in the car for emergencies.

i have 2 20 foot leads for hikes, walks, etc. they are nylon.
i have 1 15 foot nylon lead, same use.
i also have a 16 foot heavy duty flexi that i rarely use.





what i still want to buy:
another leather tab, since I lose the last one.
a german police lead, for training. but i hae to have one in latigo, not bridle leather.
a 3-4 foot lead with a brass ring at the end.
50 foot nylon lead
and more leather

bowie actually DOES need a new leather harness. i want a custom made one for him though.

i love leather leads - couldnt live without one.

[sheltiepups]

Collars: I have lather round collars, I don’t have to worry about them killing the fur around the shelties neck. This said, I also have flat “dress” collars for them.

Leads: I have 6’ and 4’ leads; I have about nine leads in all but use the 4’ more. I also have a retraceable leash but only use it when they are running around the yard, or at the park.

Harnesses: I have one of these and love it! I use it on Lexie most of the time and it give me a ton of control!

Training collars: I love the prong collar! It works great. It just gives me a little edge over Joker when I use it. I also have a choke chain, but I like the prong better.

[IceyBlueSibes]

Collars: We have the nylon chokers for Denali and Sheiba. They cannot wear the regular, flat nylon collars because they slip right off of their thick coat, and the metal choke chain tarnishes and stains their coat if they get wet. We never use the nylon chokes for walking (only a short distance, such as from the house to the car). Sarge has a flat Nylon snap collar with his nick name "Bubby" stitched on it. Lilly has the Nylon flat collar that buckles like a belt.

Leads: We use 4'-6' leashes on them. 7 are nylon, one is a chain (Sheiba's previous owners had this for her. We also have about a 10 foot nylon lead that Lilly was walked on, which I use for her occasionally. I do not like the retractables anymore, and ever since learning that it can sometimes teach the dog it has freedom while walking (leading to pulling), I prefer not to use them (not only that, the back of my knees have plenty of scars!). The 4-6' leads allow me to have more control over my dogs. Such as if they see a squirrel or Sarge sees a bike... I don't have to worry about the little string snapping or the button happening to not work.
I also have a short 1' lead that I used to use with Sarge when he was really bad about growling and barking at strangers. This kept him close to me at all times, and I had better control.

Harnesses: I have harnesses for all 4. I will soon be purchasing two X-back harnesses for the girl, which is a sledding style harness meant for pulling. Sarge has the one that he puts his legs in, it comes up over his back, and snaps on top. We also have a training harness that was supposed to keep dogs from pulling (as they pull, the harness became tighter, but released as the dog stopped pulling). Doesn't really work like they say for my 3 before.

Training Collars: I use the prong collar on Denali, as she is so strong and this helps to deter her from pulling. We of course have two nylon choke collars, but we prefer not to use them so we don't hurt them. Sarge has a metal choke that I use sometimes just to put on him. If I cannot find his other collars, it's always my back up collar.

[oc_spirit]

People tell me i have way too many collars and leads and such but after reading Kim's post my collection looks tiny! LOL

Collars

1 Double, flat nylon collar - our daily walking collar with his ID and registration and rabies tags on

1 Leather flat buckle collar - used for when taking him places that I want him to be pretty (Husky demos, schools, retirement homes, etc)

2 Racing collars - they're double flat nylon but they're thicker than normal, they adjust only, no actual buckle, and the ring is big so it's easy to find and you can put 2-3 fingers into it when leading a dog from tie-up spot to sled, and it's VERY thick so they can't snap it.

1 nylon slip collar - for grooming or if I just have to get a collar on him quickly for w/e reason since he never wearsa collar while at home

I'm planning on getting a rolled leather collar, but that won't come for a couple weeks or so...

Harnesses

1 seatbelt harness - I only actually use it when we go to watch soccer games so that when I have him tied up if he strains againt the leash for w/e reason, the pressure isn't on his neck

2 racing harness - used only for pulling, planning on getting more eventually as you can never have enough! LOL

Leashes

1 nylon 2ft leash - for walking in very crowded areas and for training

2 nylon 6ft leashes - daily walking, one for hiking, one for city walking

1flexi - only use it in the summer because it's a thick one so it doesn't retract quickly and in the winter it freezes

1leather 8ft leash - this is my baby, it's got a clip on each end and 3 brass rings. basically very useful! LOL the only problem is it's quite heavy as it's double-layer

1 single-dog gangline - supposed to be used for pulling put it's durable and VERY lightweight so it doubles as a leash sometimes

Training Collars

For all the dogs I've trained I've NEVER had to use one and plan to keep it that way. Personally I don't believe in using them except as a very last resort and only if you yourself get trained on howto properly use them. Although I do admit to owning a halti but that is only because it was given to me, I have never used it on OC.

Cheers!

[nor'eastr]

Collars I prefer rolled leather but I do have a couple nylon collars for special occasions. lol I just bought Zoey a Patriots collar. All she needs now is a Red Sox one.

LeashI always use a 6 foot lead...also leather.

Harness I used to use a harness when I took Zoey swimming. Call me crazy but it was on just in case I needed to grab her quickly out of the water. Haven't used one in a couple years though.

[GSD]

Collars: Fur saver, prong for walks and some training (proofing) and 2 inch leather (actually a cut down calf collar) for agitation work. also an e-collar for walks in the woods ( just in case the recall doesn't work on a deer or something), or when out playing on the school grounds. again just in case another dog happens upon the scene and her attention doesn't come back to me quick enough instead of the dog.

Leads: nothing to fancy, a heavy duty retractable, a 5 foot leather drag line, and a 15 foot cotton drag line. Also a 30 foot tracking line

[doberkim]

i forgot, thanks for the reminder GSD - bowie also has a tritronics sport50 electronic collar.

somwhere...

[SizzleDog]

i also probably have the world largest collection (second only to sizzledog-- come on leah, share that pic!) of collars, etc.

Heeere's new new, improved collar collection...



Personally, I prefer leather. It's softer, suppler, gentler on the dog's neck, doesn't get dirty as quickly, stronger, and just plain prettier!

As leashes go, I refuse to own a nylon leash - it's 100% leather for me! I prefer leather because it wears nicer, no burning, more supple, easier to work with, more durable, and stays cleaner for longer. Here's my list of leashes:
~ rolled leather 4' leash (gawd it's soft...)
~ 6' LDS bullhide leash (if there was a single leash made in heaven, this would be the one!)
~ 6' oiled latigo leash from SignatureK9 (my favorite leash)
~ 2' latigo traffic leash
~ braided kangaroo leather leash (I use it on the cat now - it's a bit too small for Ilsa!)
~ a few cotton long lines
~ two Flexis - one belt, one cord

[elegy]

*looks at sizzledog's collection in awe*