The Dog Days of Christmas, 2017 edition: 1. Collars Galore!

For a few years, a few years ago, DogEvals would publish The Twelve Dog Days of Christmas, with every day focusing on the best dog collars or dog leashes or dog toys or dog artists or dog books. This year we are resurrecting it a bit with today featuring the best dog collars. Our choices have not changed over the years, which means we selected wisely in 2014 and 2013 and before and since.

So, Here They Are!

In no particular order DogEvals loves Comfort Flex and Spiffy Dog collars for their light-weightness and dry-ability. For preppiness, we like Black Dog and for cozy comfort, Planet Dog. For style, we like the sporty and classic Preston collars if you can find them, and for saving the earth, the Good Dog Company. Finally for safety, nothing can beat the PlaySafe and KeepSafe collars.

Comfort Flex 

An excellent choice for both safety and comfort, this lightly padded nylon collar slips over Fido’s head. Reflective strapping makes this collar easy to see in low light, like at dusk. We like blaze orange, bright purple (the new color of the year) and, of course, burgundy but Comfort Flex calls their colors hunter orange, purple and red, neon pink, berry, saffron, kelly green, blue jay, mariner, raven and Bordeaux. This collar will last at $18.50.

Spiffy Dog

Spiffy Dog makes a quick-drying air collar that is lighter than air from $15.99. In 26 different colors and patterns, this Colorado company also has key chains to match the dog collars (or to function as zipper pulls or luggage identifiers).

My lab looks spiffy in his navy snowflake Spiffy Dog collar.

Born in 2001, Steamboat Springs serves as the perfect four-season testing arena for the Spiffy Dog products. Spiffy also make discs, dog beds and blankets, and three-foot leashes.

Black Dog

What would a black dog want but a Black Dog collar! The Dog on Dock collar can be either a standard collar or a limited slip collar ($28).

The classic collar ($28) has a plastic buckle and bones that shine when light flashes on them.

The striped collar features a black dog on the metal buckle for $32.

The Black Dog, founded in 1971, can be found on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts but Black Dog clothing and mugs are seen all over the world. Originally and still today a tavern, the Black Dog was named after a character in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island and the proprietor’s best friend.

Planet Dog, Eco-Friendly and Comfortable

Planet Dog uses hemp, a strong fiber that stands up to years of salt-water swims, mud puddle bathe, snowy romps and rolls in the sand – medium and large collars are fleece-lined. It softens with age like a favorite pair of jeans – just what you would want to wear if you were a dog.

The 17-year-old store is worth a side-trip to Portland, Maine, if you there for LLBean which also has classy classic dog stuff.

The Good Dog Company of North Carolina

Another eco-friendly Colorado-born and North Carolina-living company, The Good Dog Company has super soft corduroy hemp collars in nine luscious colors with matching leashes and key chairs. This chocolate lab on the right

is modeling a pink hemp corduroy harness and below, the pupster is wearing basic red.

And, Finally, . . . Safe Collars!

We all know that, for safety reasons, dogs should take off their collars when they play and when they are home alone, in case the collar gets caught on something. But how many dogs take the time to do that? With a break-away collar like the KeepSafe collar, below,

you need not fear: the collar will release itself. And every dog should also have a PlaySafe collar

(a bit harder to find online  but worth it), right, which is easy to remove by a dog day camp staff member with the quick-release Velcro release.

And Now, . . .

Go shop for your best friend. Doesn’t he deserve a spiffy new collar?