Any advice on which type of collars to identify puppies from birth?  I have looked at the tabbed ones and the "proper" mini puppy collars.  I'm always worried about ribbons and that type of thing becoming either too loose or too tight.  I know some breeders clip hair or use nailvarnish but I'm not too keen on those ideas either.  Any other ideas?

I used different coloured Ric Rac braid. It stays on really well, ties securely, but can be untied and loosened as required.

where do you get  Ric Rac braid from never heard of them? xx

I use the paper collars for the first two weeks then put cat collars on them.  Never had any problems doing this.  I bought a bulk load of them on ebay last year. 

There are lots of cheap copies advertised, which I wouldn't touch with a bargepole.

I will only use the original TabBands.  They started in the states, in hospitals (human type), but soon became such a success that veterinary practises started using them.

I use them on very tiny pups with no problems, ever!  All size dogs are catered for.  there are only a couple of places that have the genuine originals over here, but for anyone that would like to read about them, I found my original information on this site about 6 years ago.  Haven't used anything else since.

Can recommend.  :-)

http://www.tabband.com/item.asp?iid=16

I didnt use collars I bought a marker pen and wrote the numbers on them as they were born the collars were black or white. i got it off my vet so dont know where you can get it! they stay on pretty well but do were off after about 5 days. dont worry they werent normal marker pens! haha

I am in Australia, but you should be able to get it from regular sewing supply shops. It's been around for years. It is great for collars.

I use a strand of wool knotted leaving a two inch or whatever tag.  These are changed every week when they are being weighed, and once they are running bout as and when needed.  I put two fingers under and that seems to be about right, doesn't get caught up, and doesn't come off, allowing for growing room.

You can see what I am saying here: http://brainless64.multiply.com/photos/album/8/PuppyMother_Love#photo=1 and older: http://brainless64.multiply.com/photos/album/19/Barbelka_P_Litter_-_6_12_weeks_old_-_19th_June_10

Hi I have bought these collars and have to say they are excellent, you also get thinner bits of almost foam to use until they fit the collars which is easily stretched as the puppies grow and the actual collars are excellent quality http://www.pup-id.co.uk/

Jilhal - I have also used these collars and found them to be excellent.  I haven't used the foam ones yet as I tend to use the paper ones initially which are also very good.

Thank you all for your replies, I will look them all up and go from there.

id be worried about playing pups getting their legs caught in each others collars......I prefer paper that breaks easily under pressure.

That was my worry two, especially I thought in the nest, but with using the two finger spacing for tightness it has not proved an issue at all.  I have only been doing it since the last 4 litters after speaking to breeders here and abroad who had used wool etc on pups for generations of litters.

By the time our are at the running stage a single strand of wool will break easily enough. 

It does help that my breed have deep coats, so the strand tends to lie within the fur and only the couple of inches of tag show.

i too thought that it would be a problem with a litter of 10 rough dobermanns, but didn't once have an issue as the pup-id collars are fully adjustable so not loose enough to catch legs etc I didn't  start using till 2-3 weeks. I can  highly recommend them and they wash up lovely too