Each person that has a dog has different preferences on what kind of collar they prefer for their pets. So how do you choose between a nylon collar or a leather collar for your dogs? What works best for your pets? It’s all in personal preferences, honestly. Leather can be more expensive, but it lasts longer. Nylon is less expensive, and can also last. The quality however, determines how long each will last.
Not long ago, I wrote a post about the Bestia Maximus Leather Collar that I purchased for Atlas and how much I love it on her. I also mentioned that I have a nylon dog collar for my older dog Annie and that’s lasted her well over 6 years.
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How do you know what collar is best for your pet’s needs? Small dogs are going to vary from large dog’s because their needs are different. Small dogs aren’t going to have the strength to pull you around when you take them for walks. Large dogs obviously will have the strength to pull you in any direction they choose; not all collars are created equally either.
The Different Styles Of Collars.
As mentioned before, there are a wide variety of collars out there. You have the standard collars that go around your dogs neck, some people prefer harnesses, others want collars that are the breakaway style if they don’t take their dogs for walks, but their dog gets caught easily on objects and can hurt them self. There are thin collars, thick collars, all colors schemes imaginable..basically, if you can think of it, it’s been created.
What kind of collar do you prefer personally?
Your Dogs Temperament Will Determine Their Needs.
What I mean by their temperament, is, what does your dog like to do? When you take them outside, do they listen to you? When you put them on a leash and try to walk them, do they pull? How big is your dog? These are some questions that you should have the answers to before purchasing a collar that will suite your dogs needs.
If you have a very large dog that pulls you when you try to walk them, then you might want to look into my review on the Holt Dog Walking Leash Trainer. This will teach your large dog not to pull you around. Trust me, it’s a life saver for walking your dog!
If you have a medium-sized dog that doesn’t really pull, just is happy to be outside with you, then a nylon dog collar may be right for you. You won’t need special accessories if you can manage your dog easily while on a walk, and so the nylon and standard leash could be your go to.
If you have a small dog and they like to attempt to pull, but hurt their necks in the process, then a harness may be your best friend. Since small dogs are convinced they’re actually very large dogs, they have a tendency to hurt themselves and you don’t want that.
I’ve Never Taken My Dog For A Walk; What Option Is Best?
In order to know how your dog will act, you have to first take them out. Buying a standard collar, even from a retail store like Walmart will allow you to see how your dog will react. There’s always going to be a need to leash train your dog, so be sure you start this training around the 4-6 month old range so that they get used to it.
No matter the size of your dog, you must see how they act when they go on their first walk outside. You don’t need to spend an arm and a leg either, just look for something in the $10 range and go from there.
Once you go out for the first time, pay attention to the dog’s reaction to the collar and leash. Are they choking themselves? Does your dog pull? Or maybe they sit down and refuse to walk? Do you have to pull them yourself?
Now You’ve Walked, Where To Now?
Now that you’ve taken your dog on a walk, how did it go? Personally, I have dog’s that range in size. My large dog always pulls. Because of that, I’ve been forced to get them the trainer in order to prevent them from pulling me down to the ground. Of my two smaller dog’s, one hates the leash and collar. He needs a harness so that I don’t hurt his throat on accident. My smallest dog loves her collar and leash, but she has a hard time keeping up sometimes.
I have two nylon dog collars, one for my oldest big dog and a very small one for my smallest dog. My big dog has put some work on hers and my small dog’s still would look brand new if Atlas didn’t try to chew on it time to time. Basically, my small dog doesn’t have the gumption to pull me and even if she tried, she weighs a whopping 2.5 lbs. But, I don’t have to pull her so she gets a standard collar; she walks side by side with me. However, if you want the cute bow tie style collar I do have for her, check it out here!
It’s All About What Your Dogs Likes/Needs.
Now that you’ve gone your walks, shopped around for a style of collar you like and possibly have decided on the nylon dog collar, now you can finally take Fido for a walk that you both enjoy. Fido doesn’t pull, doesn’t choke himself out, walks side by side with his owner and pants and wags his tail – everyone’s happy.
After trying these simple tools, what did you decide works best? I’d love to hear about your walks with Fido and how they went and how he reacted. What style did you end up going with? Did he pull during the walk, or was he happy as a clam?
I would love to hear from my readers and share your success stories with others out there! Now that I’ve shared what works for Annie, Atlas, Buttons & Harry – drop me a comment of your furry friends! I’d love to see them happy looking while walking outside!
If you’d like to see which collar I love best for my large dog Atlas, click this link! I stand by this brand 100%.
Fun post. I have a little yorkshire terrier. No need for anything heavy duty as he certainly does not pull that hard even though he thinks he does. lol. I have a little nylon collar for him. It is actually camouflage which is kind of funny on the little guy, little in body, but big in his head. Cheers
Robb,
Yes, my two little Chihuahuas don’t pull either. They certainly try to, but no to avail! So I have little collars for them both that didn’t cost me much, they don’t need the same as Atlas. Thanks for checking out my article!
Katrina
I haven’t had a dog in a few years and I don’t know what the trends are today. But when we had a dog, we had a Maltese, and we had a leather collar and a leash. Which served us very well through the many walks.
It really depends on the size of the dog, its character and upbringing, on what material and purpose of durability the collar is recommended to buy.
I wish you all the best
Nina
Very true Nina. Some dogs don’t need big collars, like my small Chihuahuas. They have tiny little collars that they try to pull us by, but they’re so small, their feet just come off the ground. Then you have Atlas, my big dog that can pull your arm out of your socket, so she has a HUGE leather collar that’s padded even. I bought a good quality collar for her not long ago that’s her forever collar. She needed something durable and thick that she can’t break. She doesn’t pull often, she was trained really well, but when she sees a dog, she’ll sometimes pull to try to say hi.
Thanks for checking this out!
Katrina
Hi
Thanks for sharing this. I learned some interesting things about dog collars that I wish we had known a few months ago. We got our first dog about four months ago now. She is a rather feisty mini Labradoodle. So far we have bought two regular collars one nylon and one leather each with a different kind of fastener. I have no doubt that my wife will find more reasons to buy more collars every now and then. Whichever collar we use has all the ID tags on it. For walks, we use a harness. She is currently 17 pounds and will get up to about 20. She definitely pulls too hard and we very quickly found she will easily choke herself if we just use a collar. As regards the collar material we would probably prefer leather just as a material but the fastener is actually very important. We have found with certain kinds that her hair easily gets caught in the mechanism. So finding a system that we can put on without trapping and tugging on her hair is key. If you have any suggestion what would be the best kind of fastener that would be helpful.
Thanks again and best regards
Andy
Andy,
I’ve been looking into a collar specifically for your dog since seeing this comment. What I’ve come across so far are collars that have a canvas material that covers the fastener. There’s not a lot of places that I’ve been able to find them at so far, hence the delay in responding. I could see the dilemma you’ve had in trying to keep your dogs fur out of the collar. I’d imagine that’s painful for your baby when they’re walking and attempting to pull on the collar. For Atlas, I found a padded one just for this reason, but she’s short fur and it doesn’t get caught in the clasp.
My long haired Chihuahua works best with the very skinny collars that have the metal belt buckle- like fasteners. Her fur typically doesn’t get caught in those, but her fur is straight and not curly like Labradoodles.
I have found some other blogs where people have spoken about collars for dogs with sensitive skin. This is what I found so far: https://www.thelessen.com/eco-friendly-products/eco-friendly-pet-products/collars-for-dogs-with-sensitive-skin/
You can see the material on some pictures where the canvas goes over the clasp and to me, this sounds the most ideal.
Also, as for the pulling when walking, I highly, highly recommend the Gentle Leader leash trainer. It is THE ONLY no pulling product I will ever tell my friends and family about. I’ve trained so many dogs, both large and small on this trainer. What it does, is it’s like a horses girdle – it attaches around the dogs muzzle and it allows you to walk them without hurting them at all. Wherever their nose goes, they go. At first, your dog will HATE it. So what I do, is I put it on them in the house – have lots of treats handy – and only for just a couple of minutes. They’re going to paw at their nose and try to get it off. All dogs do this. But, after only a couple/few times, they get used to it. It is the only thing that has trained my dogs to not pull and actually “walk” with their leash in a safe way.
I will swear by this thing until I’m 90 years old. I found it back in Oregon when I had a super stubborn dog that would lunge at dogs. I didn’t want to choker, she’d hurt herself. I refused to get the spiky choker everyone swore by – I found that dogs can paralyze themselves with this thing when they lunge, and nothing else worked on her. Then some Pet store guy showed me the Gentle Leader and I was hooked from there. I’ve given a few away to my friends with really big dogs when they hate walking them and they’ve practically been in tears after giving them and showing them how to use it. A dog simply can’t pull with this on.
I wrote more about it here: https://katrinaspetapparel.com/top-paw-holt-walking-dog-collar-review-how-i-leash-trained-my-dog/
Anyway, hope this helps! I’ll keep looking for the a good collar for you!
Thanks!
Katrina