My collar saga continues
At this point, I own three collars for Lucy and she has gone through another one.
The first collar I bought her I got before I picked her up. It was the cheapest thing I could find because everyone told me that dogs destroy their first collar. Well, it turns out that at 7 months old, that wasn't an issue. She did, however, break it by stopping short one day and having the snap come open. It never stayed closed after that so I got her a new one.
Given that she was always getting confused for a boy, I thought I would get her a purple collar and leash. So I did. I got a cheap purple nylon collar from pet smart. I used that for a while, but it got the point where she could pull out of it. On top of that, even though it was purple, people still called her a boy. Grrrrr.
Thus, I decided to buy her a martingale. I got one I really liked from ruff wear that is half chain, half nylon with a matching leash. It is purple with yellow and red daisies on it. Yay! Yet people still called her a boy. Grrr. Damn it people, its got flowers on it! I thought my problems were over but I was mistaken. The metal part of the collar started staining the white fur on the bottom of her neck. Very frustrating.
To combat this problem, I thought I would only use the ruff wear collar for walks and buy her a rolled leather collar that is much narrower to use for her tags whenever we leave the house. Problem solved? I don't think so. The staining of her fur not only continues from the martingale, but she now gets stains from the leather collar on the side of her neck as well. WTF? And, she can EASILY pull out of it. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
So now what the heck do I do? I guess what I need a fairly narrow, all nylon, martingale. Ideally one that matches her ruff wear leash (cause I love that thing). I see that lupine makes one, but it isn't clear if they make a 1/2" one. I suppose I could get a 3/4" collar for Lucy, but 1/2" would be nicer.
Sorry, just venting a bit.
Comments
Hey there,
When I got Rudi I had picked up this very expensive leather collar. It was so cute and even though I knew he would grow out of it really fast the thought of having it as a "baby momento" was alluring. Needless to say, he hated it, he did everything in his power to pull out of it when the leash was attached. He fought it like it was killing him and even played like his legs were broken or hurt. LOL It was then that I decided that he needed a harness. He only has to be in it when he leaves the house on a leash so otherwise runs around naked as the day he was born, but I no longer have to fight him in the restraint process. He is almost ready for his next size harness so in four months we will have used three pieces.
My only concern when purchasing was that it could not be "Made in China". I refuse to buy another thing that is made in China. That nation has no process in place to protect our little ones (human or pet) from harm. I even check the rawhides because surprisingly they may be packaged in the U.S., but they are still made in China....uggh.
Anyways, I found this company Lupine that has a leash and collar Guarantee that covers them for free replacement for life even if the dog chews through it. They have a blast of colors and styles. http://www.lupinepet.com/
Check them out, I think you will find what you are looking for and the colors do not stain the pet.
Goodluck, ....Ron
I've used Circle T 'tan' rolled leather collars on my Malamutes and Shibas and never had a problem with them staining their whites. Is Lucy able to chew on the collar while it's on her, so that the wet leather is able to stain her whites?
I've just tried a new harness for Harlow that seems to work well for walks: http://bowsawowsa.com/product_info.php?products_id=112
The harness has to be adjusted to fit snugly but not tight. Re Lucy getting collars off at home-that's a tough one. You do want the home collar to be loose enough for her to get out of if she gets it caught in something but maybe you can try adjusting it a little tighter.
Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I was a little fed up this morning. With all of things one has to think about when owning a dog, it seems like collars should be last on the list. The fact that I've been struggling for weeks over this just pissed me off.
I called around and did some research on the internet. I decided to go with a silverfoot "soft training collar" because it had what I needed and I could get it today at a local pet store near my office. And, as a bonus, it comes pretty close to matching the leash I have for Lucy which I really like!
Unless this collar has catastrophic failure, I'm sticking with it no matter what. I'm done with buying collars for Lucy. Of course with Joey on the way I'll be doing this all over again.
I still don't have a collar situation that I am totally happy with. But side note. EVERYONE tells me what a handsome BOY Piglet is. With her PINK swirly sparkly collar.
When I was a kid everyone told my mom what a cute son she had.
Moral of the story... People are dumb. Or at least not very observant.
Everyone thinks Tojo is a girl and Rakka is a boy. When Isaac was really little, people always thought he was a girl because he had big eyes. As if male children can't have big eyes or something.
Anyway, a note on rolled leather collars... Tojo's used to leave marks on his neck but once it was worn in, it stopped leaving marks. If I take his collar off and brush him, you can't even tell he wears a collar.
So, the saga continues yet again....
I emailed ruffwear customer support for two reasons. 1) To let them know that the collar stained Lucy's fur; and 2) To find out if they planned to make a chain-less version. Their response was to thank me for the suggestion and to let me know the collar was being discontinued. I of course was curious why it was being discontinued, so I asked. Their response: because the chain was oxidizing and staining fur. Well shit. Wouldn't good customer service dictate that you would be forthcoming with that information and, ya know, maybe offer to compensate an upset customer? Ruffwear is kinda on my list right now.
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In related news, the OCD side of me wasn't happy with a leash and collar that didn't match. A man (or in this case his dog) has gotta have matched gear ya know. So I took it upon myself to modify the ruffwear collar. I got some nylon climbing webbing from REI, cannibalized a d-ring from an old collar (turns out its really hard to find a d-ring), and commadered my friend's sewing machine and her expertise. Now Lucy has a matched leash and collar that doesn't stain her fur. Wooo Hoooo!!!!!
Nice collar tuning !!
Big companies and their strange policies, whohoo! If you have the patience for it, annoy the living daylights out of them to give you some compensation. The things is they might try to take you in one of those customer support whirlpools of death, until you just give up...
i use the chain loop martingales and they stain my poor cream
shiba's neck black! but she is a puller and can easily slip out of any
other collar and i hate having her harnessed all the time.
i tried an all fabric martingale but she wears out the fabric mighty fast - like in two months time.
i get mine from furrybabyfashions.com (my shiba's even are on the guestbook page 3!)
but I think I need another solution too.
So far so good. It works like a charm. It isn't the prettiest thing I've ever seen since the sewing machine had some trouble getting through the tough nylon webbing. The bobbin (???) part on the bottom is all bunched up, but it works just fine. It seems, at least so far, to be Shiba strength. I would be hesitant to try it on an Akita though. I plan to do the same for Joey once he's big enough for a full sized collar.
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tsukitsune, have you tried Silverfoot collars. I got one for Lucy that seemed very sturdy, but I wasn't happy with the unmatched leash and collar. If I wasn't emotionally tied to Lucy's leash, I would have happily switched her over to Silverfoot products completely.
You're right Dave, it is a pretty collar and leash combo. I'm so jealous, I want a girl Shiba just so I can get that flower collar
Pam, I'm not the lightest of people (225) but I don't believe that 20 pounds of Ryu will topple you over even if you're only 100 pounds. I probably have a significantly larger girth than you so Lucy only has about a foot of slack in the leash, but even if he has two feet he won't be able to get up too much speed. You can practice with a regular six foot leash if you want to test it out before you go. Just loop it through the handle and put it around your waist. The more he pulls, the tighter it will get.
Have you tried the but tap method to stop him from pulling?
Yea, I think I'm just used to him yanking the 6 foot leash (and my arm out of socket). Maybe if he only had 1 foot of slack, he won't pull as much.... Sometimes, when I'm not paying attention, he'll walk pretty slow (so that he's behind me) and then make a run for it because he knows he'll have more slack in the leash
Oh! I started that yesterday! It definitely got his attention. But I couldn't do it when he was pulling because he would be so far in front of me. I'll try it this afternoon with the leash around my waist.... I think we waited a little long on the walking rules so he's used to getting whatever he wants :-(
Have you tried one of these?
http://www.petexpertise.com/item--Easy-Walk-No-Pull-Harness--easy_walk_harness.html
Jessica: I'm looking into that easy walk harness... our trainer sells the Gentle Leader products and they have a similar harness. Thanks for the suggestion
Dave: WOW! I took Ryu out this morning with the leash around my waist and he did awesome!! Even when I stopped, he just sat down and waited for me start walking again. You are a GENIUS :P
That's great Pam! I knew Ryu had it in him.
I was actually thinking about this on my walk today. The physics of it would dictate that, given the same point of attachment to your body (your waist in this case), a shorter leash would make it more difficult to pull you over. I forget the exact math behind it, but the idea is that the shorter leash will cause any force Ryu exerts to be directed more down than away from you. With a longer leash, the force will be directed less downward and more away giving you the feeling that you are being pulled somewhere. Since your legs are some of the strongest muscles in your body, you shouldn't have a problem at all!
Keep it up!
Dave, Just thought you'd like to see the result of our new leash situation... he's all tuckered out! (We went for a run today and he did great!) I didn't even have time to take his harness off HAHA
that's cute - a sleepy puppy is a happy puppy! :c)
I love his little feet.