# Best collar to avoid fur breakage



## Jennifer Coulter

My malinois has a pretty tight and brittle coat. Her fur breaks very easily. I can't stand the look of broken rings around her neck from collar wear.

She does not wear a collar all the time. Just for training, walks and so on (spend a fair amount of time doing these things). In her kennel/dog yard, in the truck and so on, she is collar free.

I had an e-collar that was on a nylon fastex collar. I think I figured out that that caused way more breakage than the vinyl coated webbing that comes with the e-collar, so I have gone back to that for the e-collar.

For regular collars, I feel like I have every kind of collar and it causes damage. I have a HS Curogan mid weight collar, all matter of nylon collars, martingales, biothane and so on...

Anyone have a dog with fur like this and find something that doesn't cause any damage?


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## Billie Fletcher

My friend's dogs that are coated, and shown, can wear any of the below without suffering too much coat damage. 

Rolled leather? 









Or a soft lined collar? 









Or a fur-saver type chain? (wide links, not necessarily a check chain)


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## Bob Scott

I've had good luck with the rolled leather collar on long coated dogs. I would think it would work on a shorter coat but not for training. 
If I were concerned about coat I'd use a pinch collar.


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## susan tuck

I don't know, but I just got new collars for my 3 GSDs from here:

http://www.survivalstraps.com/pets/dog-tag-paracord-dog-collar.html

I REALLY like them! I don't like the dents collars leave in the hair around dogs necks, these seem like they won't leave dents.

They're hand made/braided out of military paracord. You can pick any 2 colors you want from their extensive selection. I prefer the narrower collars, the company had no problem making them longer than what they offer on their webstite, and at no extra cost. I just use these collars to hang the dog tags, I don't use them for training. 

I chose gold & black for Arkane, camo pink & black for Inka and green & gold for Ino.

They arrived pretty quickly too.


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## Jennifer Coulter

Thanks.

I was wondering about rolled leather, but seems to me the seam should be on the outside and the rolled leather against the fur, but that is not how they seem to be made. Seems like a seem against the fur would cause more abrasion?

Never thought of the fleece lined thing. She would look silly to me, but if it works, I would get over it

I have a midsize link fursaver, the large links would look silly on her so might not go there.

Bob I use a pinch for winter work at the ski resort and city walking, but don't put it on her for day to day training or walks in the woods and so on...But good point that it probably causes the least damage to the coat.


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## Billie Fletcher

Something like this isn't too girly or silly looking 

http://www.bigdogboutique.com/productcart/pc/Fleece-Lined-Cozy-Dog-Collar-p19987.htm


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## Laura Bollschweiler

I used rolled leather as a daily collar for my tervs and it didn't break hair. 

Laura


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## Matt Vandart

Sali Mali has this problem, I think I might look into a rolled leather one.
Conversely see that fleece lined type collar, that nearly rubbed my dobes necks bald when I left them on them.


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## Daniel Lybbert

I took all my collars off. My fursavers were wearing out and coloring their hair.


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## rick smith

- for most dogs it doesn't matter ... 
but if it does ...

- i don't know why fleece would not create friction and catch fur too, regardless of how light or heavy the fleece is...it's softer than it is smooth 
- i suspect the same might apply to braided parachord...metal links are smoother than nylon links but metal can still grab fur
- actually, tubular nylon has a much smoother edge and is often smoother than webbing, especially compared to a double layer "heavy duty" web collar. i use 3/4 and one inch tubular nylon with an eye as a slip collar for many dogs with no buckle at all

- and with any collar, a lot also depends on how tight the collar is
- latigo is oiled and soft, but it will create friction too. 
- harness leather can be made MUCH smoother
- the wider the collar the more friction ... duh  ... but not always considered since collars seem to be "matched" (bought) in "standard" widths and the bigger the dog the bigger, etc....and imo, in terms of working loads, if you have a well trained dog it probably would never actually "need" a one inch wide collar 
- nor would it need a milspec buckle that is "load rated" to a thousand pounds

- the way most collars are made is so the smooth side of the leather is on the outside and the naked side is inside (for looks to the leash holder) rather than on the side that rotates and creates friction on neck fur. edges are usually ruff too and not really smoothed, and that surface will catch fur also
- just as RARE to get leather that has had both sides and edges burnished and polished smooth and used for dog collars
- same goes for the stitching knots, rivets, flat vs curved buckles and other hardware...looks great to the handler...form over function
- and it has already been pointed out how some rolled collars are rolled/stitched to look better from the handler's view...but there are diff ways to stitch them tho

- i went to a thinner (but still thick) well polished harness leather with the naked side out that had really smoothed edges and it helped
- a few years ago i had mine made to eliminate as much friction as possible...get the right maker and it is very doable

yep, more details than most people would be interested in regarding collars ... but if a problem requires it, it might be worthwhile to reconsider a few factors ?


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## Meg O'Donovan

I switch collars depending on what the dog is doing. Her default collar is the deerskin-lined collar from Leather Brothers. It is very soft on the inside, but also very durable (oiled leather outside). Take a look:

http://www.leatherbrothers.com/collars/Leather/DeerClr.htm

I bought mine from the local pet store. The collars,maybe all of their items,l are made in the U.S.


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## Karen M Wood

My question is why the dog in question has what i would term a "poor" coat? Why is her hair brittle and breaking? Because no matter what you put around her neck, if the coat is having trouble it's going to get broken. What is the dog being fed? Is she indoors or outside dog? Is her coat suffering from too much sun? Is this thyroid? 
My own dogs wear their collars 24-7 and i usually just use a standard nylon pet store collar. Nothing fancy and my dogs don't suffer any coat problems. And my bulldog probably had a longer and thicker coat then the mal in question. When my male was alive he wore a 2" collar because a regular 1" looked really stupid on him. Might as well of tied a ribbon around his neck.
Hope we can help.
K


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## Jennifer Coulter

Karen M Wood said:


> My question is why the dog in question has what i would term a "poor" coat? Why is her hair brittle and breaking? Because no matter what you put around her neck, if the coat is having trouble it's going to get broken. What is the dog being fed? Is she indoors or outside dog? Is her coat suffering from too much sun? Is this thyroid?
> My own dogs wear their collars 24-7 and i usually just use a standard nylon pet store collar. Nothing fancy and my dogs don't suffer any coat problems. And my bulldog probably had a longer and thicker coat then the mal in question. When my male was alive he wore a 2" collar because a regular 1" looked really stupid on him. Might as well of tied a ribbon around his neck.
> Hope we can help.
> K


Good questions. I have two dogs. Both are fed the same diet, one has longer fur (Duck Toller) he can wear any collar. My Malinois is the issue.

She is fed a raw diet with rotating protein sources, fish, chicken, turkey, beef, buffalo for the most part. Veg, trace minerals, organ meat and so on is included. I supplement extra fat in the winter for the malinois, and they both get fish oil.

The malinois is an outdoor kennel dog, but there is no chance she is getting too much sun. Her kennel area is covered, and it is not even sunny in this mountain town too often.

It is possible she has an underlying thyroid issue, but haven't found a vet that will listen yet. Bloodwork shows nothing, but I haven't had a thyroid test yet. Whatever it is, it is not typical. For Hypothyroid she is young, she is a good weight, has lots of energy and can handle the cold.

What she DOES have is some minor bi-lateral hair loss, that it non itchy. Specialist derm vet still wants to tell me it is allergy related, but can't tell me to what, it is not seasonal, we have done elimination diets and so on, and antihistamines don't do anything...

Hyperthyroid seems more of a possibility, though it is rare in dogs and those symptoms don't quite fit either.

She looks like a healthy dog for the most part. Really only me that would notice the minor symptoms.....

Thyroid testing is on the horizon.....


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