Muttropolis - A utopia for pets and their parents

Breakaway collars

Perhaps you are familiar with the problem of dogs sometimes getting their collars caught on things - o even other dogs! - with disastrous results. I have purchased a breakaway collar in the past (Tazlab) and have looked at another (Premier Keepsafe), but I am not really satisfied with either. The Tazlab is pretty good, but has 2 hard plastic loops for attaching a leash that stick up and are annoying. Both of these brands have some kind of loop or ring that still could get caught on something and cause problems.

My dogs have regular collars now, but sometimes I remove them, because my dogs like to wrestle and play a lot and I am afraid they could get their teeth caught on the collars. Collar-less dogs do pose problems when the doorbell rings or at other times when I need to grab them quickly.

What I would really like is a kind of "home" collar that dogs could wear just around the house. I was thinking of just a stretchy, elastic-type band with the dog's name and the home phone imprinted on it in case the dog should get loose while the owner is gone. It would be almost like lounging clothes for doggies. :-) It would still give you something to grab onto when necessary, but, of course, would not be an appropriate collar for walking, etc.

I am extremely untalented when it comes to crafts, but if anyone has any ideas how I might construct such a thing (or wants to make some and sell me 2!), I would love to hear from you.

Tags: collars, safety

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Permalink Reply by Griswold and Coop on December 14, 2009 at 3:32pm: I found this website that tells you how to make a dog collar. I know you said you're not crafty, but what you can do is just eliminate a lot of the steps (like the ribbon attached to the webbing and the buttons if you just wanted a plain dog collar). Not sure if you have access to a sewing machine or know someone who might... I would be a little leery sewing webbing by hand, not only because it's extremely tough (and you'd probably stab yourself pushing the needle through), but because you would want it to be somewhat durable (if you grab the dog by the collar if they try to get out). You would want to eliminate the D ring, since you wouldn't want it to catch on anything. As far as getting your information on there, I'm not sure about iron-on t-shirt transfer sheets on the webbing. It might work if you put a thin cloth or piece of paper over it, just so you don't make any direct contact between the iron and the webbing - or else you'll have a hot melted nylon mess and a destroyed iron. You don't have to use nylon webbing, they have canvas ribbon at craft stores (by the webbing) that you could use that you could easily iron on to. Good luck!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Dog Grandma on December 14, 2009 at 4:21pm: Thanks. I appreciate the information. I may be able to use these steps to fashion what I have in mind, which is something very stretchy but strong. I want to be able to grab my dogs to hold them back, but I want the material to be stretchy so that the collar will pull off over their heads if they get tangled up or caught. You have given me a place to start.; ▶ Reply to This