Have you ever wondered why greyhound, whippets and lurchers often wear wide leather collars and what makes these collars especially suited for sighthounds?
Sighthound breeds, such as Greyhounds, Whippets, Salukis, Lurchers, Afghan hounds and Italian Greyhounds, have long graceful necks. These breeds hunt prey by sight, being able to see the smallest of movements from far away over vast landscapes.
As domestic pets they can be quite animated and lunge on their leads when seeing small animals moving at speed in the distance. This is their natural instinct and they will more often than not, want to give chase.
It is no surprise that these special dogs need special collars to protect their neck and throat, which can be damaged when a dog pulls wearing a narrow collar. The wide part of sighthound collar will fit under the dog’s throat and any pulling on the lead will not cut off his breath and arterial blood flow, or damage his windpipe.
Greyhound collars are typically made of leather and have variable width being wider in the middle narrowing down at both ends to accommodate the buckle and usually padded for protection and comfort.
Many of the sighthound breeds have short and delicate coats that can wear out from constant contact with dog collars. The added benefit of wearing a wider than normal hound collar is that is spreads out the pressure on the dog’s neck preventing damage to the coat and hairless patches on your dog’s neck.
Relative to their necks, all sighthounds have fine narrow heads and can easily back out of and slip their collars. Therefore, it is important, that the collar is worn correctly just below the ears, which is much higher on the neck than is normal for other breeds. It should fit very snugly on the neck so the collar can not be shaken loose, but you should be able to squeeze two fingers in-between the collar and your dog’s neck.
The Rudy and Lou greyhound collars range from plain leather to fully lined and padded models to Swarovski crystal and studded designs. Available in sizes small to large and all with coordinating leads and poo bag holders for the fashion conscious owner!
To see our full Range of Italian Leather Greyhound collars CLICK HERE
