Dave - a tip about your bobbin thread bunching up: make sure your needle is brand new (and therefore extremely sharp) and use a denim needle. I had a similar problem when I made Rakka's sledding harness and Tojo's nylon slip collar, but found that with a fresh, heavy needle, the problem was greatly reduced.
Pam, that is awesome! I'm so glad its working out for you. And poor little Ryu looks like he doesn't know what hit him. ;-) Are you gonna buy him a roughwear leash now?
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Thanks for the tip Heidi. I'm going to be making Joey a collar too in a few months so I'll make sure to try that.
Well, I thought we finally had this situation sorted. I guess I was wrong. :-(
After seeing how Lucy's modified collar wore, I decided to go with silverfoot leashes and collars. I got the soft training collars. Well, today I noticed that Joey's was about to come apart completely. Luckily I noticed it when I was putting it on him to go out for a potty break and it didn't happen while on our morning walk. So, yet again, I'm searching for another collar solution. :-/ Perhaps I need to suck it up and get one from ldsleather like I've been wanting.
Do you have an objection to a harness? I only use a collar as an ID tag -- name and number embroidered. I started off with a roman style harness, but recently switched to a step-in type sold by Cetacea, when Koji began to outgrow the original harness. I like it a lot.
Virtually all leather will bleed some, at least initially. The collars I ordered from LDS were lined with undyed calfskin. This diminished bleeding from the leather, but didn't prevent discoloration from the chain portion of the martingale. (My three all have white necks.) I will take discoloration ANY DAY over loose dogs and so we have sacrificed cosmesis for safety. I find that it is fairly easily removed during a bathing session with some dawn dish soap.
Herm Sprenger (German Company) makes a fur-saver choke chain made of CUROGAN. This is a primarily copper alloy without any nickel to avoid discoloration or allergic reaction. In retrospect, I should have inquired if LDS could have used this type of chain for the martingales...Oh well.
FYI: A very small percentage of dogs will still react to Curogan with discoloration.
There are many martingale style collars that have a nylon loop instead of a chain.
Surely you could find something suitably 'girly' here:
http://www.collargirl.com/martingale.html
http://www.trixieandpeanut.com/product-112536-Nylon-Martingale-Collection
Another good option is the limited slip collar. These are very popular amongst husky owners. Here are some examples.
http://www.spiffydog.com/product.php?productid=16158&cat=253&page=1
http://www.pawlickers.com/products/gear/collars/limited-slip-collar
http://www.pawlickers.com/products/gear/collars/mr-limited-slip-collar
Robert: I have no objections to harnesses at all. In fact, I have four of them. I use them for car rides and hiking and I would also use them for our daily walks but neither Lucy nor Joey likes having one on. Every time I've tried to make the harness part of our daily routine they both play the catch me if you can game. I don't have the patience for it. Even if I did, I don't have a fenced area attached to my house so potty time is on leash. I need something that goes on and off quickly and easily but is still secure (hence the martingale collars).
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Sarah: Thanks for the suggestions! My obsessive side needs for all of my gear to match. I don't have the girly problem with Lucy anymore because Joey is usually with us and he is so much larger everyone just assumes she's a girl. Still, I have a purple leash and collar for her and a red one for Joey. Ideally, I would like both dogs to have the same brand of gear but in different colors. This is the setup I have/had now with silverfoot leashes and collars. Both collars have nylon rather than chain, but that is the exactly the problem. With Joey's pulling habits he has undone the seam in the nylon (it's literally held on by A thread right now). I know LDS said they would replace the chain with leather in their buckle martingale. Since you have one, do you think it would be soft enough to function well and still be durable so it will last me more than four months?
Well, we chatted about this online - but I figured I would express my SHOCK that a Silverfoot collar crapped out on you. We have a lot of those collars and we have never had any issues!
*Dave and I did figure out that we have the version with the chain and Dave had the "soft" version - so that makes me think the chain version must hold up better.
Yeah, customer service was surprised a 25 pound puppy would break it too. They offered to replace it for free (yay for good customer service!). I'm hoping they'll let me "trade up" to the chain version. If not, I may have to figure out a new collar situation. I'm not comfortable with a collar that goes from no apparent wear to near catastrophic failure in the course of a 40 minute walk.
Dave
Regarding the LDS collars: I cannot speak for the martingale with the leather insert since all mine have chains. My thought was that the leather might "stick" and sort of jam up in their thick ruff hair. I theorized that the chain might have smoother action and keep any coat damage to a minimum.
The collars in general are quite sturdy. They have held up to daily use and abuse for over 2 years though the dogs don't wear them in the house. Believe me, the tensile strength has been put to the test more than once with all the wildlife! I had to replace one rivet on Triepak's name plate but there is not a stitch out of place otherwise! They are really nice now that they are broken in. I can see no evidence of abnormal wear at dee ring stress points.
I think a rolled harness leather insert would hold up admirably. If not, it would be easy to replace with a chain and you would still have your nice leather collar!
Glad to hear that Silverfoot is sending you a chain version to try. :)
Thanks Sarah! Its still in my long term plans to get leather collars for my pups, but I need to recover the finances a bit after Lucy's surgery before I take the plunge. Its easy to spend a LOT of money on LDS stuff. :-)
Comments
Pam, that is awesome! I'm so glad its working out for you. And poor little Ryu looks like he doesn't know what hit him. ;-) Are you gonna buy him a roughwear leash now?
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Thanks for the tip Heidi. I'm going to be making Joey a collar too in a few months so I'll make sure to try that.
Yep! I've ordered the red flat-out leash... can't wait 'til it comes! (Even though the shipping costs more than the leash!!
After seeing how Lucy's modified collar wore, I decided to go with silverfoot leashes and collars. I got the soft training collars. Well, today I noticed that Joey's was about to come apart completely. Luckily I noticed it when I was putting it on him to go out for a potty break and it didn't happen while on our morning walk. So, yet again, I'm searching for another collar solution. :-/ Perhaps I need to suck it up and get one from ldsleather like I've been wanting.
Do you have an objection to a harness? I only use a collar as an ID tag -- name and number embroidered. I started off with a roman style harness, but recently switched to a step-in type sold by Cetacea, when Koji began to outgrow the original harness. I like it a lot.
http://www.dogsupplies.com/store/mcart.php?ID=800
Herm Sprenger (German Company) makes a fur-saver choke chain made of CUROGAN. This is a primarily copper alloy without any nickel to avoid discoloration or allergic reaction. In retrospect, I should have inquired if LDS could have used this type of chain for the martingales...Oh well.
FYI: A very small percentage of dogs will still react to Curogan with discoloration.
There are many martingale style collars that have a nylon loop instead of a chain.
Surely you could find something suitably 'girly' here:
http://www.collargirl.com/martingale.html
http://www.trixieandpeanut.com/product-112536-Nylon-Martingale-Collection
Another good option is the limited slip collar. These are very popular amongst husky owners. Here are some examples.
http://www.spiffydog.com/product.php?productid=16158&cat=253&page=1
http://www.pawlickers.com/products/gear/collars/limited-slip-collar
http://www.pawlickers.com/products/gear/collars/mr-limited-slip-collar
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Sarah: Thanks for the suggestions! My obsessive side needs for all of my gear to match. I don't have the girly problem with Lucy anymore because Joey is usually with us and he is so much larger everyone just assumes she's a girl. Still, I have a purple leash and collar for her and a red one for Joey. Ideally, I would like both dogs to have the same brand of gear but in different colors. This is the setup I have/had now with silverfoot leashes and collars. Both collars have nylon rather than chain, but that is the exactly the problem. With Joey's pulling habits he has undone the seam in the nylon (it's literally held on by A thread right now). I know LDS said they would replace the chain with leather in their buckle martingale. Since you have one, do you think it would be soft enough to function well and still be durable so it will last me more than four months?
*Dave and I did figure out that we have the version with the chain and Dave had the "soft" version - so that makes me think the chain version must hold up better.
----
Good customer service is very much a rarity these days
Regarding the LDS collars: I cannot speak for the martingale with the leather insert since all mine have chains. My thought was that the leather might "stick" and sort of jam up in their thick ruff hair. I theorized that the chain might have smoother action and keep any coat damage to a minimum.
The collars in general are quite sturdy. They have held up to daily use and abuse for over 2 years though the dogs don't wear them in the house. Believe me, the tensile strength has been put to the test more than once with all the wildlife! I had to replace one rivet on Triepak's name plate but there is not a stitch out of place otherwise! They are really nice now that they are broken in. I can see no evidence of abnormal wear at dee ring stress points.
I think a rolled harness leather insert would hold up admirably. If not, it would be easy to replace with a chain and you would still have your nice leather collar!
Glad to hear that Silverfoot is sending you a chain version to try. :)