Grey Hound Question?

I think you folks will find that us GH owners are fanatical about our collars... My babydoll absolutely MUST be seen in AroundtheHounds finery. She has a stash of 7 right now with 2 more on the way for Christmas.. but, shhhhhhhhhh dont tell her ;)

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Originally posted by ParNone
Aw thanks zayla! I really didn't think the long nosed breeds were all that attractive, until I got Collies. I've always been a scruffy dog person, hence my lil' Cairnys. But since falling in love with Collies, I find myself drawn to all big schnozed breeds now, including Greys.

Par...

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Par, whatever are you talking about... ???

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ictures002.jpg

Greyhounds don't have big schnozes... that's just ridiculous... :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...5AM3139_TN.jpg

Here's some collar shots... they are from Around the Hounds (aroundthehounds.com)...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...dewey04126.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...dewey04129.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...y/pics4020.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ctures3122.jpg

:D :D :D

Well I think this has pretty much been answered; but I think that the width is just a matter of preference and what looks good on your dog.
I usually use/make 1.5" martingale's for our Lurcher, Toby; 2" collars just look to big on him...the other dogs have 'regular' collars, but I do use martingales on them occasionally too (usually when working Obedience or when we are just starting Agility, after they know the obstacles they run 'naked'), I like to us 3/4" with them when I can find it since they (Scout and Willow) are mcuh smaller than Toby.
Amanda (Am_04 on GT)

See.. told ya we love our Aroundthehounds collars :)


http://www.hometown.aol.com/greyhoun...l4airedout.jpg

Even in the air we love our collars :)

There is another reason to use special greyhound/whippet collars.
Because of their long necks, sighthounds are very vulnerable in their neckregion and trachea.
In Europe we use mostly the fishshaped collars.
The wide part protects their trachea.
As you can see in the next picture
http://www.mypetpages.net/artists/13...286f654985.jpg

The width of the collar has definite purpose---to spread the pressure of the collar over a wider area. Sighthounds often lunge at the sight of a squirrel or cat and can reach tremendous speeds even at the end of a 6' lead. The wide collar cushions the impact on the neck when it reaches the end of the lead.

An analogy can be made with high heels. Would you rather have your foot stepped on by a 100 lb. woman in spike heels or a 200 pound man in sneakers? The woman is putting all 100 lbs. into a 1/2 inch square area and the man's weight is spread over several square inches. She would have 400 lbs per square inch where he might have 20.

Oh yeah...a beautiful martingale collar is a "right of passage" for most all greys who finally make it to the couch. There are many fabulous martingale collar makers out there. Perform a google search, and that should pull up many!
Here's my heartdog, Marlin!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/4...208a0000001610

Ah okay, a lil' nose comparison

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...5AM3139_TN.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...gullynose2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...ulloznose1.jpg

Hummm... Yep, the Collie nose is a lil' more impressive. But for the long and cuteness of it, we'll go ahead and let Greys into the club. ;)

Par...

I have read/heard some theories that at one time collies might have been bred with borzoi and that is when their heads began to get more slender and their noses longer. I know at one time collies looked more like border collies, well maybe a bit blockier. I'm not sure if the borzoi thing is true or not.

Hi k9soul!

Yeh I've also read that there's Borzoi in the Collie's background. Maybe not as noticable in the Roughs, but you can definitely see somewhat of a sighthoundish structure in the Smooths. I'm not sure if it's true either, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if Borzoi is in their ancestory.

Par...

They do look like they might have a bit of Borzoi in them. Such pretty coloring. I too am a big fan of Around the hound collars. She also has come out with some really pretty buckle collars also. The workmanship is excellant.

I know this is getting further off-topic but I was curious and did some more looking around, I found several references about borzoi possibly being bred with collies to give them a more noble appearance. This bit was particularly interesting:

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Borzoi stock may have been introduced into the early rough collies to give the dog a distinctive appearance. Even today certain borzoi characteristics crop up in rough collie heads. Other sources indicate the Irish setter was used in early breeding - the collie's sable color may be the indirect result of such a cross. Smooth collies may contain a Greyhound influence - smooth collies still occasionally turn up with hound-like traits, and they are much faster than their rough counterparts.

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Taken from this site: http://www.petpublishing.com/dogken/breeds/collie.shtml

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Originally posted by Diane FG
Martingale collars are very important. Greyhounds heads are smaller than their necks, and if they back up they can back right out of a regular collar. A martingale collar tightens if this happens, but doesn't hurt them. :)

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Hmm, would something like that work on a Pug with a big neck and small head? I really don't like Sylvia's harness, but I'm afraid she'd get out of a collar.

My mom uses the martingale collars on her Frenchies along with some of her other Frenchie friends.

Don't see why it would work.

Here is one of our friends frenchie Elmo