Somebody is going to open a collar on Christmas morning and it is not going to fit. It happens every year and it is nearly always the same cause: the person buying it could not measure the dog without giving the game away, so they guessed.
There are five ways round that problem. Four of them work. Here they are in the order I would try them, with what each one actually costs you.
Five ways to get the size, ranked
| How | What it costs you | How accurate | When to use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ask somebody else in the house | Nothing, if they can keep quiet | Exact | First. Almost always the right answer |
| Measure the dog yourself | Two minutes and a soft tape | Exact | If you see the dog without its owner |
| Ask them outright | The surprise, entirely | Exact | When they would rather choose the colours anyway |
| Measure a collar the dog already wears | Nothing | Rough. Read the caveat below | Last resort, and only on an adjustable collar |
| Guess from the breed | Nothing now, a return in January | Unreliable | Never. Buy something that needs no size instead |
If none of the first four is available to you, that is not a dead end. Skip to the gifts that need no size at all, because there are more of them than people expect and some of them are better presents than a collar.
If you get two minutes with the dog
Wrap a soft tape around the middle of the neck, halfway between the base of the skull and the top of the shoulders, which is where a collar sits. Let it lie flat, then slide two fingers underneath. The reading with your fingers in place is the number to order from. Do not add anything to it. The two fingers are the room.
No tape measure in the house? Use a bootlace or a phone charger, mark it with your thumb, and hold it against a ruler afterwards. It is not less accurate, it is just less dignified.
There is one exception, and it matters on a fixed-size collar: if the dog's head is narrower than its neck, which is normal on whippets, lurchers and greyhounds, measure at the top of the neck just behind the ears instead. A collar sized lower down will slide off over the head. The full measuring guide covers the rest.
The caveat on measuring their old collar
People do this constantly and it goes wrong more often than it works.
Leather, BioThane, paracord and rope all stretch and compress at different rates. Whatever that collar measures today is what that collar has become, not what the dog measures. A three-year-old leather collar has usually given a little; a nylon one has usually given a lot.
If you are going to do it anyway, measure from the base of the buckle to the hole the dog actually uses, not the last hole punched. And treat the answer as a starting point rather than a fact.
Why breed guessing fails
Because dogs of the same breed are not the same size, and the difference is bigger than the tolerance you have.
My adjustable collars run in ranges: 9 to 12 inches, 11 to 14, 14 to 17, 17 to 20, 20 to 23, 23 to 26. They are ranges rather than single numbers precisely because two dogs of the same breed can land in different bands. A working labrador and a heavier one will not share a collar size, and neither will two cockers from the same litter three years on.
An adjustable collar does buy you some forgiveness, which is why I would always choose one over a fixed-size collar as a gift. But it does not buy you a whole band.
The gifts that need no size at all
This is the part most people miss, and it turns a risky present into a safe one.
- A lead. Sized by length rather than by the dog, so it always fits. 150cm is the standard walking length and suits most dogs and most hands. Go longer for a dog you want to let range, shorter for close control in town.
- A keyring. Made from the same rope, wool and cotton as the collars, with the same solid brass. It is for the person rather than the dog, which also makes it the one thing here that works for somebody between dogs. The ones under £25 are here.
- A gift card. Not a cop-out on a made-to-order product. Letting them pick the size and the colours is most of the point of the thing.
- Getting their old collar restored. If they have a piece they love that has gone tired, the Workshop Service cleans it, checks the hardware and can re-bind it in new colours. No size involved, because they already own it, and it is a more thoughtful present than something new.
If you do know the dog's neck and you want to do the thing properly, a matching collar and lead set is the version of this present that looks like you thought about it. Put both in the basket and 10% comes off the lead automatically.
If it is wrong when it arrives
Say so and I will sort it. On a non-personalised piece there is a full 30 days to change your mind, where the law asks for 14. On a made-to-order piece I will adjust or remake it: if I got the size wrong I cover the postage both ways, and if the measurement turned out not to suit the dog, the postage is yours. Every fitting carries a twelve-month guarantee.
Which is worth knowing before you buy, because it changes the risk. The worst case is not a wasted present, it is a short email in January.
Ordering in time
Everything is made after you order it, by hand, by me. That is two to six working days on the bench, then one to two working days in the post. Comfortable for most of the year, tighter in December, and I will put the last order date on the site once Royal Mail publishes theirs.
If you are stuck between options, email me at hello@greendog.pet with what you know about the dog and I will tell you what I would send. I would rather talk you out of the wrong size than take the order.
Every Green Dog collar and lead is made by hand in Britain, to a standard Ed sets and checks.
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