Dog collars

[BlackDragon]

I made a couple dog collars for my nephew's Belgian Malinois. 

Mäts collar is a working collar. I made it a mahogany brown with black edges and has a control handle. The handle is two stacked 10oz wrapped with 5oz.

Josies' collar is a show collar. It's a cherry brown with black edges.

I used 10oz veg-tan doubled over, 1.0mm black thread, 2" buckles, 2" tie down D-rings, 1.25" leash D-rings.

[chuck123wapati]

beautiful looking indeed and wonderful lettering. 

[BlackDragon]

Thanks I really appreciate it!

[Reegesc]

Love your handle idea.

[Hags]

That top handle is a great idea. Well done.

[Gezzer]

2 hours ago, Hags said:

That top handle is a great idea. Well done.

[Sheilajeanne]

Very nice! Yup, a malingator needs a sturdy collar with a handle!  Is Josie a mal too?

I like your edges - great job! Looks like you used edge paint?

Edited November 25, 2022 by Sheilajeanne

[BlackDragon]

6 hours ago, Sheilajeanne said:

Very nice! Yup, a malingator needs a sturdy collar with a handle!  Is Josie a mal too?

I like your edges - great job! Looks like you used edge paint?

"Malingator" I think Im going to steal that one lol

Yeah they're both malingators, very high prey drive. They are always ready to go. I think they're on crack.

For edging I sanded with 220 then 600, dyed with black, used tokonole, and a burnishing tool. Oh and lots of elbow greese.

[Sheilajeanne]

As a German shepherd person, who's taken part in Schutzhund, I'm familiar with the breed!  

 

[chuck123wapati]

2 hours ago, BlackDragon said:

"Malingator" I think Im going to steal that one lol

Yeah they're both malingators, very high prey drive. They are always ready to go. I think they're on crack.

For edging I sanded with 220 then 600, dyed with black, used tokonole, and a burnishing tool. Oh and lots of elbow greese.

if they are hard pullers and may hurt something or someone  if let loose i wouldn't trust that handle, those rivets aren't going to last with a big dog. I have American bullies and i wouldn't dare try to hold them with the handle as it is now. Just my opinion but i feel the need to warn you before hand. 

[BlackDragon]

3 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

if they are hard pullers and may hurt something or someone  if let loose i wouldn't trust that handle, those rivets aren't going to last with a big dog. I have American bullies and i wouldn't dare try to hold them with the handle as it is now. Just my opinion but i feel the need to warn you before hand. 

These dogs are very well trained and do not bolt, not for cats, not for squirrels, or anything else. They wait for a command.

That said, I understand some dogs aren't trained properly and do bolt or pull. I'm having my nephew put the collar through serious stress tests to make sure it'll work for his needs. In the mean time I'll come up with a stronger solution. 

[Klara]

Beautiful work! 

But, from what I've seen in videos, the dogs do pull before they are let off the leash for the attack - but maybe you mean something different by "working collar"? I was thinking of the "classic" competition for Malinois - ring, Schutzhund, IPO (depending on the country).

And are Kennel Club show judges allowed to know which dog they are judging?  Under FCI rules all identifying marks are forbidden. And show collars are generally much thinner and unobtrusive, to allow the judge to see the dog's neck. With too wide a collar I've gotten negative remarks on Rika's neck  

 

[chuck123wapati]

13 hours ago, BlackDragon said:

These dogs are very well trained and do not bolt, not for cats, not for squirrels, or anything else. They wait for a command.

That said, I understand some dogs aren't trained properly and do bolt or pull. I'm having my nephew put the collar through serious stress tests to make sure it'll work for his needs. In the mean time I'll come up with a stronger solution. 

if they are then that's a good thing, mine are too but they are still dogs with a mind of thier own. The rivets will work if installed correctly. The way you have them installed puts all the connection force on the head of the rivet instead of the post. The way its done in the manuals is by creating a slot in your collar , run your handle through the slot and then rivet it to the underside of your collar this makes the pull pressure on the shaft of the rivet instead of on the heads and the leather then cant pull out over the head or break it off. it also makes for a more finished look, you can also embed the strap end between your liner and outer piece. 

[TomE]

28 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

The way its done in the manuals is by creating a slot in your collar , run your handle through the slot and then rivet it to the underside of your collar this makes the pull pressure on the shaft of the rivet instead of on the heads and the leather then cant pull out over the head or break it off. it also makes for a more finished look, you can also embed the strap end between your liner and outer piece. 

Those are pretty and nicely constructed collars, @BlackDragon.  Well done.  Was thinking the same for the handle.  Stohlman's case making book Vol #2 describes this and other methods to attach handles.  An alternative would be to sew a tab or shield on each end of the handle to distribute the load over a stitch line. A different look would be a rolled leather strap for the handle.  I learned from the Stohlman book above and posted a summary here:  https://www.leathercraftmasterclass.com/forum-1/leathercraft-techniques/rolled-leather-strap   

[BlackDragon]

3 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

if they are then that's a good thing, mine are too but they are still dogs with a mind of thier own. The rivets will work if installed correctly. The way you have them installed puts all the connection force on the head of the rivet instead of the post. The way its done in the manuals is by creating a slot in your collar , run your handle through the slot and then rivet it to the underside of your collar this makes the pull pressure on the shaft of the rivet instead of on the heads and the leather then cant pull out over the head or break it off. it also makes for a more finished look, you can also embed the strap end between your liner and outer piece. 

The chicago screws failing is exactly what I was thinking but couldn't think of a way around it.

Wouldn't cutting a slot big enough to hold the handle also create a weakness in the collar itself?

[chuck123wapati]

48 minutes ago, BlackDragon said:

The chicago screws failing is exactly what I was thinking but couldn't think of a way around it.

Wouldn't cutting a slot big enough to hold the handle also create a weakness in the collar itself?

not if you only slot the top piece and put your handle  end between the inner and outer layers. Both pieces will be sewn together and riveted so little strength will be lost.  

[BlackDragon]

49 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

not if you only slot the top piece and put your handle  end between the inner and outer layers. Both pieces will be sewn together and riveted so little strength will be lost.  

Ok that makes sense. I was thinking of making it so it's removable but doing this would make it a lot weaker.

I'll have to make some test pieces to see what I could do to make them removable(maybe I'm over thinking this lol). But it would have to wait until after the holidays.

[Gezzer]

If it were me and I had to have it removable I think I would run the handle ends through for a short distance and use " pull the dot " snaps or whatever they are called on both ends . Just another option to think about .