A couple of weeks ago, I bought both of my Siberian huskies leather collars. I always used to use nylon collars but decided I would give the pretty leather a shot. I will never use a leather collar again and I will be out later today to replace both dogs' collars with nylon.

This morning, my mother woke me up and said that Houdini, my 8 month old Sibe male, was standing around at the back door. He had gotten off of his chain somehow. I went to the back door and indeed, Houdini was standing looking through the window, waiting to be let inside. I let him in and went to his chain. Still attached was the D-ring and his ID tags. I then went back inside and looked at Houdini's collar. The material keeping the D-ring attached had simply snapped in half, nice and clean like. I went back outside and brought Kieron inside as she too has a leather collar and she is less trust worthy while off her leash. They are both inside now waiting for me to go out and get them their new collars.

I am just so relieved that Houdini, a very happy-go Siberian husky boy, decided to come inside rather than run away like most Siberians might do. He never has really showed any want to run from me yet, but then again he is still very young and probably hasn't discovered yet that he can make his own choices if he really wanted to. I'm not that interesting after all! :) Anyways, I am just very proud of Houdini right now. Had it been Kieron off her chain, she wouldn't be back for a couple of hours.

Has anything like this ever happened to you all?

-Tara, Kieron, and Houdini

I have always used english bridle leather collars designed to hold horses and never had one snap on me.  I am still using a collar I originally bought 8 years ago.....................................

I would never use cheap thin leather collars you can buy in pet shops.

What material had snapped? My dogs' leather collars (I won't use nylon!) have the D-ring secured between two pieces of leather and are integral with the collar.

Houdini's D-ring too is in between two pieces of leather. I guess he decided to run after a cat or something and gave the ring too big of a tug and snapped it where the pressure would be the greatest. May I ask a question? What is it about nylon that you do not prefer? Just curious! :)

I've found when I used nylon collars (and leads) in the past that they stretch and get very thin, almost like a garotte. My dogs' hair gets into the weave and never comes out, so after about 2 weeks they look really manky, dirty and horrible. And the leads cut into your hand and really hurt if the dog lunges.

But what swings the balance completely in favour of leather is the very reason you don't like it! If the dog gets caught up on something by its collar (running through undergrowth etc), the collar will snap before the dog strangles ...

Why do you keep them on chains??

I too prefer the leather collars...Taz has had his for 10 1/2 years now, its getting worn but can still hold him. I just went out and bought one for my boston's, gonna go out and get another one tomorrow. Mine have the tree top spikes, I just like them, they are more for looks and I find they don't grab each others necks or collars when they are playing, at least they don't become a tug toy.

Ya I do like the leather ones better and even leather leashes much nicer on the hands :)

Well, knowing that you all trust leather better than nylon, maybe I should go and get a nicer leather collar for each dog. The leather that snapped was bought at Wal-Mart. I live in the US and so would have to buy a better collar at PetSmart as it is the only store besides Wal-Mart that carries good pet supplies.

I do hate the way the nylon collars get so dirty and yucky, though. Kieron has always worn pale pink and Houdini has always worn bright red as it shows up nicely against his black fur. But within a week or two, both are covered in dirt and there isn't any way to clean them off as the dirt refuses to come off.

Is there a special leather brand that I might look into? I trust you all with my heart and so will give leather another chance, but only if I know it is safe. I do believe that Houdini's collar was just a cheap thing and I didn't realize it. So, if you all could offer any special leather brands that you use, I'd much appreciate it!

I had a leather lead snap on me when my (then) young dog panicked when some noisy motorbikes went past. He dived behind me (fortunately away from the road)  & the lead just snapped in half. It wasn't even the stitching that gave way, but the lead itself. True, it wasn't a very expensive lead, but I've never used leather leads since.

Hi,

Stores like Wallmart and pet superstores usually only carry a small range of collars.  There are lots of specialty companies that sell very sturdy leather collars, if you can get to a dog show there will surely be trade stands.  I've seen collars that are so sturdy I'm sure you could use them as a hitch to haul a Winnebago from LA to NYC :-)   Really though, they do make tough specialty collars for big and strong dogs.

You can also try the big pet supply wholesalers, like Cherrybrook (which has a web site).   Or just do a web search for pet supplies or dog collars and see what turns up, I bet you will find lots.

Stacey

Hi Siberluver

If your nylon collars and leads are the webbing type you can put them in the washing machine!  Just pop them into an old pillow cover and tie a knot in the top of it.  Put the machine on a normal wash cycle - we put ours in with the dog towels or bedding when we are doing them - and they come out nice and clean!

Hope this helps

Lesley

The last time I used a nylon collar I had my 5mth old gsd in the park on an extending lead. She chased after another dog but on reaching the end of the line I was left holding the extending lead plus collar but no dog. The plastic clip had somehow popped open.

I have gone through 3 nylon collars in the past 3 weeks, the plastic catch keeps breaking if my dog pulls at all, so I will be going back to the old fashioned type of collar, if I can find any !!!! most have this plastic fastening.

I'm not too worried about the nylon collar clips coming unfastened because everything on the collars I use is metal. I also don't use the type where you can just snap the collar together, I use the buckle type that is hard to fasten when the dog is too excited to listen and sit down. :)

Lesley- Thanks for that idea! I never once thought of actually washing the collars. I do believe the type I use will be able to be put in the wash. Thanks again so much for that idea, that'll save me buying another collar when the older nylon is perfectly fine, just dirty. =)

I have an update on Houdini, if anyone is interested...

This morning my dad found Houdini laying by a bottle of Round Up weed killer! The bottle was chewed but wasn't missing very much liquid. Houdini seemed to be acting just fine so instead of telling me the moment he found him, he waited until about two hours later to let me know. I started freaking out and went to check on Houdini outside. The pup was doing simply great, just perfectly normal. I immediately cleared his path of anything else he might be able to chew. (My dad didn't have the common sense to move this stuff himself) I still wasn't feeling all that great about the whole idea, so I called my vet and told them everything I knew. The vet said not to worry as the pup didn't consume very much of the weed killer. But he said that if I wanted to feel better, I could give Houdini 10-15 cc's of Hydrogen Peroxide and make him vomit. So I did just that. I only gave Houdini 9 cc's of peroxide and he vomited twice, and a good amount each time. I cleared the vomit away so he would re-eat it. So far everything is great. I just hope I was right in thinking that Houdini didn't drink very much of the weed killer. My crazy dad said that if he had been poisoned, he would have been showing signs already. Thank goodness. :)

-Tara

Hope Houdini is ok :)  I would think though if your vet wasn't worried then it should be fine - isn't Roundup one of the ones that are advertised as safe to use when there are children or animals around?  Don't know what you can do though to get your Dad better trained :D  Hope the collar washing tip works for you too; we HAVE to wash our collars because Spike is a dirt magnet and his collar gets filthy in next to no time - if we couldn't wash it, we'd be buying a new one every second week!!!!

Lesley

PS Our dogs have a name in common!  One of mine (Cadmus) has Harry Houdini as his KC name :)

That's cool! Is Houdini in your dog's name for a reason? My Houdini was called this because he was a genuine[sp?] escape artist as a puppy. At three months old he was already climbing over three foot high fencing, digging holes under it when we blocked off the top of the fencing, and getting out of the pen without even leaving a trace of how he got out. Some of those times we never figured out. And the whole time, his six litter mates sat and watched him, not one of them tried to follow him. Houdini was a real Houdini, so he really earned his name!

:D at your Houdini!  Mine came from a litter who were given KC names that were H H ones.  The breeder gave me a choice of some and I liked Harry Houdini best!  Mind you, at his first Champ Show he spent most of his time trying to wriggle off the bench and the person next to us said "blimey, he's well named!"  But apart from that one occasion, he hasn't really lived up to his name, thank goodness ;) 

Lesley