Our training collar
At Take the Lead, we are extremely proud to offer our clients a custom designed and handmade training collar that provides comfort, safety, and control. Our adjustable, lightweight slip collar is manufactured to the highest standards and will last the life of your dog. All students enrolled in our group classes will receive one of our collars free of charge. They are also available for purchase. Prices ranges from $25- $45 depending on size. Contact us if you'd like to purchase a collar. Online shopping coming soon!
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The evolution of our collar:
For years at Top Dog Obedience we manufactured an adjustable snap around training collar because we couldn’t find a comparable tool elsewhere in the market. Now, after decades of trial and error, we have improved on that design and our collar is stronger, simpler, and easier to use. Other slip collars on the market have one major flaw: they are not adjustable, and most of them need to be put on over the dogs head. This means that the collar slides down and sits far too low on the dogs neck to be effective or safe. Snap around slip collars exist on the market, but they are not adjustable, which means you need to purchase just the right size. The circumference of a dogs neck varies with their age, weight, and how fluffy they are at any given season. For a slip collar to be fully effective, it MUST be adjustable so you can make sure it is exactly the right size to stay high on the dogs neck at all times. We recognized that our clients needed a solution that gave them comfort, control, and ease of use, so we developed a training collar to meet that need.
Materials
Our collar is made from 12 strand hollow core Dyneema rope. This highly specialized rope is made from the world's strongest fiber, and we are so excited to offer the only Dyneema dog collars on the market. Dyneema is 15x stronger than steel at the same weight, but so light that it floats on water. It is abrasion and UV resistant, and will not stretch or shrink when wet. Most importantly, Dyneema is amazingly soft and supple with a silky smooth finish that doesn’t scratch or irritate sensitive skin. The smooth texture also allows the collar to quickly release tension, letting you communicate with your dog via extremely subtle leash cues. The hardware on our collars is made from stainless steel, and each piece is machined by us to perfectly fit the Dyneema rope. From machining the hardware, to splicing the rope, the ENTIRE collar is handmade by us right here in Grass Valley.
Prototypes are currently being made! More photos coming soon!
Design
Our collar comes in 4 size categories, each with a slide tensioner that allows for additional fine tuning of the fit. The collar wraps around the dogs neck and fastens with a simple toggle that is slipped through a small ring. This design makes for a collar that is extremely easy to put on, even for clients who have limited hand mobility, or heavy coated dogs. The leash attaches to a spliced rope loop instead of metal hardware, making it quiet and streamlined. The hollow-core rope allows us to construct the collar with locking splices, eliminating the need for bulky seams and preventing the introduction of failure points. The result is a slip collar that smoothly and quickly releases tension, can be adjusted for the perfect fit, and is incredibly easy to use.