Having met a woman at the microchipping event who was struggling with her exuberant staffy, and Jediwarrior having recommended she try a collar like Brude's (half check), and reading so many threads here about how people struggle to control dogs out on walks, I was wondering - what kind of collar does your dog wear?

does it 'work', and have you tried anything else that you weren't so keen on?


btw - the poll is multi choice so you can select everything you use and it's a visible one. People can see what you vote

Molly wears an Ezy Dog collar 24/7 (except when it's in the washing machine) which is used for attaching the lead in non-stressful situations for her. She's a camo dog at the moment ;)

We also have a Dogmatics head collar for situations when we know that she's going to need to pay particular attention or which are particularly stressful for her. It eliminates all pulling, but she really hates it and throws herself on the floor complete with comedy whine to try to avoid wearing it, so the threat of using it is often as good at putting it on her. She also finds it hard to chase her ball properly with it on and sometimes gets it caught up on things whilst running or gets bits of it caught on her lower teeth, which is obviously not great so she can't really wear it all the time that we're out.

She also wears an Ezy Dog harness harness when we're out too. Mostly this is just to attach to the seat belt in the car for keeping her from bouncing about while we're out in the car, but the loop is also very conveniently exactly at hand height for me when we're both stood up, so if ever I need to restrain her if she gets frightened of another dog or spooked in a situation I've got her by two points- lead/collar and harness loop.

When we got Molly she had apparently been living with someone who hung on for grim death using a half check collar when she reared up and barked at other dogs (which she did at even 100 yards when we first got her). We found that not only was she scared of the noise that the collar made, but she was able to slip out of it worryingly easily when she was frightened and trying to get away from other dogs (she seems to have shared rather a lot of Houdini genes somewhere along the line). Because of this we thought it was safer to get her into a solid collar that she couldn't slip out of and to work on the barking and fear in other ways.

It's been a year now and she's still not comfortable around dogs that she doesn't know, but she's getting to be a much more polite girl and we've now learned that by choice she would prefer not to get too close to most other dogs and so we coach her in sitting calmly a little way from the path while other dogs pass rather than trying to make her interact with the other dog.

All of mine wear fabric collars with the safety catch, and a tag with my address and phone number on.

When out walking the older dogs just have their leads clipped to their collar, but when I walk them all together the pups each wear a walkeezy harness, Kira has also wore a halti with some success but she unexpectedly took it off in the street one day :o so I scrapped that idea.

If the pups go out by themselves and are in a reasonably sensible mood I just use a soft fleece harness and lead for them.

My dog has two collars, a brown leather one with a tag on that is worn all the time, and a canny collar when out and about.

The canny is good as he can wear it under his muzzel so I still have great control over him when he tries to go for another dog (thank goodness) , and the leather collar to hold him back if I want to keep him reallly close.

We did try a haltie for walking but it just got into his eyes all the time. One problem with the canny is that because he walks so nicely to heel that it can slip off the end of his nose as he does like to have his head down following a scent, one any smaller will not fit around his neck.

mine all wear my martingale collars, thankfully they are all ok in these. anna.x.

Badgerwears a rolled leather collar complete with name tags, scan me tag, and a flashing light so we can see him at night. Mojo has the same.
The cats have the flashing lights too!

Barney (cavalier) wears an ordinary collar with cavaliers stitched onto it! Boo and charlie both wear ordinary collars and all three use the canny head collars and ID tags, as well as being microchipped

I noticed that a few use the Canny head collars, can they get them off easily like the Halti? Kira was great in the Halti and she took to it right away without all of the usual cafuffle involved, which suprised me....but obviously she was just giving me a false sense of security as she just slipped out of it like houdini a week later and twice on the trot at that just to prove how easy it was :suspect:

Dogmatic head harness- the only one I'd trust with my bouncy escapologist dobermutt- every other brand I've tried has snapped or she's managed to loosen it. The head harness makes her easier to steer and control, so even if another dog gets a little too close, I can steer Ailsa out of harm's way and feel confident walking with her in busy streets. have tried body harnesses, choke chains and lord knows what else and would only ever reccommend this brand and type of dog control gizmo. Made to last, sturdy, reliable and attractive. Google dogmatic and you'll find them on the web.

She also wears a Big Dog neoprene padded neck collar with 3 tags on it with all her details including her microchip number - in case she loses any of the others)

None of mine wear collars. When we walk they are on the "looped" cord leads.

tia has a leather collar and a ezy dog harness and khole has a fabric collar and a normal harness till she is fully grown then she will get an ezy dog

My Spottie has a lovely matching pink lead and collar with little hearts all over it. It looks very pretty against her nearly all white fur.
Jack has a Leather Collar and a choke (Check) chain when we go out to try and keep him in line. Would love to get him a Bling collar but my O/H says no.
He used to have a harness but find we have more control on a Check Chain.
Dodgie has a material collar and matching lead but he is so good we rarely walk him on the lead.

Blade has a fabric collar he wears all the time, with his ID disc and his micro-chip disc thing on, and when we're out he wears a "gentle leader" head collar. He's totally mental without it, and such hard work when the kids are out with us as he pulls to get to them - I think he's scared of losing half his "pack" when the kids go off in front :loopy:

She has a small pink fabric collar with an engraved silver tag with a little paw print on it. We use a nice padded harness to walk her though.

Porscha has a half check. As Strix said, it was recommended to me at her K9 class simply because she is a strong and exhuberant staffy :D

95% of the time it works a dream.

Did they show you how to position it correctly fox? high up the throat and behind the ears. If they're worn low they can damage the wind pipe (as a normal collar can too)

Brude once had a full choke chain we'd been given, but we binned it after an episode whereby he pulled and it locked up in a choke position! He was choking and struggling in the dark, and I had to restrain him and yank it quickly tighter in the hope it would release and not lock in a worse position

Bloody horrid things - they should be outlawed :mad:

We've had half checks since as they can't lock up, and his show collars are now of a different link design so they slide cross themselves and can't lock up

Yes we were shown. She walks so much better on it. Hardly pulls at all :D

I can't understand why more staffies aren't wearing them - especially when you see some of them powering down the street on harnesses fit to pull sleds :hihi:

All mine wear a harness and a disc with they details on, i feel much safer with the harness then a collar.

But my boy is shocking on the lead, he needs to go to training,

TBH putting a staffy on a harness is saying, go on then, pull as hard as you can :hihi:

I don't quite get the idea of harness collars; it appears to me that the dog would be able to get more leverage as it can use its body weight also to pull you along?

I'm guessing maybe some dogs that wear them have them because halti/canny/ gentle leaders don't fit too well over the shorter noses of some breeds.

Does anyone know where you can buy custom made (or nicer) basket muzzles? I'm guessing greyhounds have them made for racing? Something not too Hannibal Lecture like and easy to pant through, they aren’t half ugly things! I've decided now that it is the safest option for all concerned and he's happy to wear the cheap one I bought to try out.

our staffie is on a harness as she choked her self out on the half coke she is so good and easy to control on the harness she is a nightmare if you try to walk her with out it on the lead

Does anyone know where you can buy custom made (or nicer) basket muzzles? I'm guessing greyhounds have them made for racing? Something not too Hannibal Lecture like and easy to pant through, they aren’t half ugly things! I've decided now that it is the safest option for all concerned and he's happy to wear the cheap one I bought to try out.Greyhounds tend to wear the baskerville ones Evie - not terribly attractive at all :(

I'll have a rummage and see if I can dig anything up though :thumbsup:

Edit: is there anything here that you like the look of?
http://www.fordogtrainers.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=206

Is this what you had in mind Evie?
http://www.sighthoundgear.com/muzzles.htm#Halemar

though it does say they're not suitable for dogs with muzzles wider than greyhounds and whippets

Perhaps you could have one hand made?

Ooooo - I know somewhere that hand makes handbags and dog leads in a wide range of very nice colours and saddle quality leathers (though I've no idea what sort of price we'd be talking)

I could have a handbag to match the muzzle :lol: Would be interesting to see if they do muzzles though. In the end I don't mind paying to get a good one as I have a feeling it is going to be something he always has to wear around dogs due to the level of agression, dispite my best training efforts!

His nose is wider than a greyhounds so I don't think they would be suitable, but they do look a little nicer! His nose is labrador width I'd guess. There is some interesting ones on that page, it's horrible having to buy something you don't like, bit like paying for injections to go on holiday :)

ooo- I've been known to inadvertently turn up to a party in red boots to match my dog's red collar and lead set :blush:

Takara wears a flat fabric collar all the time (apart from bedtime) with her tag on and occasionally we walk on it just to make sure she still remembers she needs to walk nice on a collar.

Usually she wears a trail harness for walking (seen modelled here: http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b10/Lottiepics/DSCF1506.jpg there is also a strap down the back) which I've voted as 'normal harness' but wasn't sure if you meant trail style of H Style (the type cats and rabbits generally wear) http://wickedgoodpets.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/media/lupine/5_harness_h-style.jpg these don't have the V neck and the chest strap like the trail style.

If we're going somewhere busy, somewhere she'll have to stay on the lead, if I'm walking more than my two dogs or if I'm not feeling good, I'll put a walkezee on her as this stops any pulling.

In general she's very good on a trail harness - which don't actually encourage pulling like people say they do but they discourage pulling only because they're more comfortable (dogs pull to get away from things making them feel uncomfortable) so if she's too excited, a walkezee works better.

Eddy tends to walk on an ordinary flat collar because he stops to scratch ever two steps on a harness. When we got him he'd been walked on a slip rope but pulled no end on it. He walks much better on a collar.

I found the trail style encouraged more relaxed walking and a more relaxed manner when meeting other dogs whilst on the lead because she wasn't having her movement restricted (ie. a collar may pull the head up) so could interact normally.

I have used a canny collar and often recommend them for dogs that lunge as they don't pull their head to the side, but instead pull their mouth shut and their nose down (meaning they don't hurt their neck and if they were about to take a chunk out of another dog or person, they can't!)

I'm much happier with a walkezee nowadays as these don't restrict them really, they take the shock out of a pull forward, are not uncomfortable in any way and allow for training to take place.

I've just taken a border collie off a halti and onto a walkezee for the two weeks I'm looking after her and the difference is amazing!

I would NEVER again use a lupi style... it rubbed all the hair from under Takara's front legs and is a nightmare when meeting other dogs because if the dog pulls it lifts the front end of the dog up so when a dog is pulling to greet another dog and they end up on their back legs with their front paws paddling, it can really upset the other dog!

Sorry for the long reply... :blush:

that long reply was very valuable though Lotti! Not many people have tried as many different products as you have with your dogs :thumbsup:

She always a collar with plastic clip fastener, I have a plastic ID disc with the usual details on.

When we're walking she wears these: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-WAY-EASY-WEAR-MESH-PET-HARNESS-LEAD-Dog-Cat-BLUE-4_W0QQitemZ220257797859QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item220 257797859&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318 - its different from normal harnesses as she can't escape. With normal designs if she pulls it goes tight and she can get out, this one tightens (like a non-abrasive choke chain).

that long reply was very valuable though Lotti! Not many people have tried as many different products as you have with your dogs :thumbsup:

:lol: Yup - lots of products, but I guess when you're advising on what to use you have to try these things out :lol:

that long reply was very valuable though Lotti! Not many people have tried as many different products as you have with your dogs :thumbsup:

I've tried so many body harness/head harnesses and collars since getting Ailsa, I've lost count of them all and dread to think what they all cost. I wouldn't go back to a leather collar for a dobermutt who loves to roll and paddle- too labour intensive trying to keep the leather clean and supple. A padded collar is handy if you ever need to hold your dog back or say if you lost your lead and had to hold onto your dog for any amount of time, because you dont get welts on your fingers

I tried the Mikki body harness when Ailsa was a pup - much better than the lupi or canac because it has rubber sleeving on the cord straps so it doesnt rub so much under the dog's chest or where the legs meet the body. Having tried the Gentle Leader, the Halti, the Lupi version and one or two others, I still come back to the Dogmatic every time. The Big Dog and Ezydog range are also well worth the money and look pretty fab too - black with coloured piping and shock absorbing too (bungee rope type design on the lead takes most of the strain if a dog chooses to lunge forward)