It is vital when you choose a collar that you think about which lead you are going to pair it with, as many combinations will not work as well as you would hope. If you choose the wrong combination, your pet could easily slip out or break free from both their lead and/ or collar, causing you untold grief.

Control: It is likely that we will use all of the above throughout different stages of our pets lives. To start with we will use control collars which are more times than not used with leads. These are ideal for training our pets early on and teaching them boundaries with their behaviour manually.

I am sure you will agree that these control collars are also comforting for us owners to provide safety when taking them out.  Leads are ideal for this as they give us something to grab hold of.

If your Pup needs additional control, there is always the option of a dog harness, which many people find particularly useful and it gives them extra confidence when taking their pet into public places.

Identification: In years gone by, the identification of our pets was never an issue, however, these days it is vitally important that we take measures to ensure our Pup is safe. Technology has surrounded us with a number of user friendly and effective identity tags which can be attached to your dogs collar.

Although some of these identity dog collars can be somewhat pricy, I am sure you will agree that the confidence you feel once you have one around you pups neck will be priceless.

Fashion: Where do I start? In time past, it was difficult to really find something for your pet which was personal to you and him/her. Times have changed. You can now find designers who will design you a bespoke collar for your pet that is unique. You can be confident taking your pup for a walk i the park knowing that nobody will have the same designer collar as you.

From designer to high street, there is a huge range of fashion dog collars available whether you are wanting to spend £100000 down to £1. Either way you can make you pup look beautiful.

NEVER FORGET, Function before fashion. The primary function of a dog collar is not fashion. Make sure you compromise and choose a collar that not only looks beautiful but also keeps your pup safe. That is not to say that you cannot still have a lot of fun shopping for collars, leads and clothes for your dog.

Always remember to choose wisely. If you get the collar right, it can speak volumes about your dog….and you.  The right dog collars will also make a huge impact on your dogs training.

It is so important that you always use the two finger rule whenever you are fitting your pets lead.

A lead that fits improperly can cause lifelong damage and be potentially fatal. Most of the damage done to our pups is when they are walked by friends and family who do not know how to handle your dog properly. They are not familiar with the lead, collar or the dog.

It is understandable in today’s society that you don’t always have the time you need or would like to walk you dog regularly. This means that there are a number of occasions when you ask friends or family to be involved in their dog walking regime.

It is easy to expect that everyone knows how to walk a dog. They don’t! Make sure you put enough time aside before allowing someone to take your pet out to teach them how to put the collar on a lead correctly. Make sure they know how to do up the collar in case the dog wriggles out of it and also make sure that they know how to release the lead quickly in the event that the dog get caught up. Make sure that they understand that the lead and collar should not be tight and with both a full head check and a half head check it should be mostly loose and only pulling tight for short periods of time to stop the dog.

You would not let just anyone look after your child for the day if they had not had enough of their own exposure to successfully bringing up children so don’t do the same with your pup.

If in doubt, I highly recommend employing a dog walker. They are generally speaking, superb. You can be confident with a dog walker that they know what they are doing. This means that you can go to work and not have to worry about the happiness of your dog or the fitness of your dog.

So to recap; always use the two finger rule when you are fitting your pets lead and dog collars. If you do not fit it properly it can cause long term damage to your dog.

Whatever the name, it does the same job. These look and work very similarly to the halters used for horses. If you place the halter over the back of the neck and the top of the muzzle it will fit on.  This gives you so much more control over the dogs direction and control. They are excellent devices for helping you dog and feeling confident when taking your dog out. When you put pressure on these halters they pull the dog in the direction of you the handler. The great thing about this device is that it mimics mother nature! Wolves use a similar technique with it s pack to show dominance.

Many people however, think that these halters can potentially be harmful and painful to your dog. This is because the strap can dig into the dogs face and jaw making it particularly uncomfortable.

These head halters, similarly to the full check collar, need to be used with caution. If they are used with force or pulled up rapidly they can cause neck injuries on your pets neck.

Within this category of dog collars come Wolf collars. Although not used so much nowadays, they are very useful for protecting your dog against attacks from other dogs and in the past wolves. The protect the dog from direct attack to the neck by the predator.

So whether you need to protect you pup from other animals or protect other animals from your dog, the above collars will be able to help you one way or another.

Make sure whichever collar you choose that you ensure it in comfortable for your dog. Make sure that you fit it correctly to ensure that it is not to tight which will cause rubbing or fatal neck injuries and also that it is not too loose to cause your pup slipping away in a potentially dangerous area.

There are a number of different ways of doing this. And what you need to remember is that these are short term solutions and not something that you would expect to have to do continually. That is not to say that your dog will be well controlled overnight either.

Corrective dog collars control your dogs in one of two ways. Firstly through an electric shock and secondly through Citronella spray. Pinch collars are also available for this type of training.

These type of training methods should be used after other collar attempts as they can be quite uncomfortable for your pet and can at timed encourage aggression and worse behaviour in some dogs. The pinch collar in particular can make you dog feel quite on edge and reactive.

Does your neighbour complain about your dog barking at night or during the day when you are at work?  There are also corrective collars that can help you with this!  Some corrective collars have an ultra sonic sound that emits its waves when the dog barks continually interfering with the dogs bark. Some of these collars also emit a nasty smell which can only be picked up by the dog which will again teach them not to bark all of the time. The high pitched sound is not damaging to your pet it just teaches it not to bark through negative reinforcement.

If your dog does not respond to any of these anti barking mechanisms, make sure you change your approach. If your dog continues to bark and you continue to punish to dog it can result in an anxious bark which can make your dog very unhappy.

The citronella option is good as you can get a good idea when you get home from work if your dog has been barking depending on how strong the small of citronella is.

Do you need to keep you dog within a certain distance of the house? Why not try a dog fence collar. This is activated once the dog is a certain distance from the house. It means that whether you are home or not, your dog can happily spend its day in the garden and you do not have to worry about it running away. This dog collar fence has encouraged so many people to invest in a dog as they no longer feel guilty about having to go to work and keep the dog locked up. These dog collar fences are no longer very expensive as they were when they were first developed just over ten years ago, which means that anyone can get one. The collar itself can either attach to a buckle collar or can be worn alone depending on the manufacturer of the dog collar fence.

A Full check dog collar quite simply tightens around the neck of your dog the more it is tightened. The tighter you pull, the tighter it gets until released. This type of collar can therefore become very dangerous for your pet if it is left tied up on its own. If this is the right type of collar for your dog, it is important to measure the collar and lead correctly for your pet and if it is too long, it will pull out your pets fur each time you pull it. To correctly measure a full check collar for your pup, you should measure the circumference of the dogs neck and add approximately 3.5 inches and set the collar to that measurement. It is not only just a problem if this is too long. If it is too short it could cause fatal injury for your dog so take care and be careful when using a full check collar. Make sure that when you are walking your dog on a full check collar that it is not permanently tight as this will just damage your dogs neck. You should be using the check and release method, which means that it is lose for the majority of the time. The collar should be fitted like an upside down p that loosens easily when released.

If you are at any time unsure about how to use these collars effectively, seek professional advice from your local vet.

What do you get if you cross a Full check Collar and a Buckle Collar? A Half Check Collar. This type of collar is suitable for most dogs. It is actually safer than both a buckle collar and a full check collar.  Many half check collars have a release clip at the side of them which is particularly useful for walks in the park where you want to release your dog quickly.

It is important with all types of collars that the dog is not tight around your dogs neck for long as it can cause long term neck problems. The only reason for the check collars is to teach your dog to heel.

So once your dog is heeling correctly and without too much assistance, it is time for you to move through to a flat collar also known as a buckle collar.  There are many varieties of buckle or flat collar such as size, colour and fabric. Make sure you check out the fabric properly as some polyester type collars can really irritate your pet.

So, start with a full check collar but use it with care being sure not to damage your dogs neck, then move onto a half check collar, ideally with a release clip. Finally if your dog is well trained you can then think about a buckle collar.