Martingale Collars

The day that I saw a frightened German shepherd back out of her collar in a pet store, run at full speed to the front of the store, and fly out through the automatic doors straight into a busy parking lot - that was the day I started recommending martingale collars.

A martingale is comfortable for your puppy while keeping him secure on leash. It is made with two loops. The large loop goes over your puppy's head and onto his neck. Then the puppy's leash attaches to the ring on the small loop. When the martingale is fitted properly, your puppy will not be able to back out of it. The tension on the leash pulls the small loop tight, which makes the large loop smaller and tighter (but not too tight) on the neck. The following image shows how the two loops on a martingale collar work.

For a standard buckle collar to be tight enough so it can't slip over a puppy's  ears, it may well have to be uncomfortably tight on puppy 's neck. The martingale collar allows your puppy to wear a collar that is only tight when it needs to be.

Should you leave a martingale collar on  your puppy all the time? No. All collars can be potentially dangerous because of the risk of the puppy getting hung up on something and choking. Plus, puppies have been known to chew a martingale off. I recommend a break-away buckle collar your puppy at all times except when he is crated or kenneled. When the leash comes out, the martingale goes on. In fact, my dog's martingale stays attached to his leash all the time.

May all your outings with your puppy be fun and safe!

 Google "martingale collars" or pick one up at the nearest pet store.

Do you have a story about your puppy and his martingale collar? A picture of him wearing one? Send it along so we can share it with our readers. Woof!