Useful information.
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Measuring your dog
Aside from needing to know a few practical things, like the breed of your dog and what colours you might like, there is the all-important sizing for your new collar.
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Care of your new collar
Flash Hound Collars are made to last but being good quality leather, they do require a little TLC to keep them in tip-top shape. Here are some handy tips.
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Our Story
When we were unable to find Australian made whippet-specific collars for our two Whippets, Ripley & Ollie, we decided to make our own.
Measuring your dog
If your dog is fully grown, you can either measure their current collar – from buckle to the hole it’s usually fitted to or clip to clip end if using that style of collar.
Alternatively, using a soft measuring tape, wrap it around your dogs’ neck about midway on the neck.
The collar measurement that you give me is where I will make the middle hole of 5.
This gives a couple of holes in either direction, (tighter or looser) to accommodate fluctuations in their weight and coat thickness at different times of year.
Is your dog fully grown?
Most pups do most of their growing within the first 12 months so please let me know if your dog is young and still has some growing to do.
For this reason, I don’t generally recommend getting a collar for a pup who is less than 12 months old, although this can vary depending on the breed and the individual dog.
A younger pup is almost certainly going to grow out of a collar in a matter of months. However, I made a collar for my whippet when he was 10 months old, and that collar has fitted perfectly into his adult life.
He had stopped growing in height, but he still had some filling out to do, including around his neck.
Caring for your new collar
We have found the leather cleaning wipes you can get at the supermarket are fairly good at removing general dirt without drying out the leather.
There may be times when a little too much fun at the park means a thorough clean to remove mud or worse (they always find something fragrant to roll in!). Here are a few tips we have found work best:
We do recommend saddle soap but any mild glycerin soap will do.
Once cleaned, allow to dry, dress with a leather balm or even some olive oil, if that is all you have.
Wipe off any excess with a dry clean cloth.
A stiff toothbrush is good for softening up the suede side if it’s been wet and feels rough when dried.
Never oil or put leather balm on suede as it will make it lose its natural velvety texture.
Our Story
The search for a good quality collar.
We were on the hunt for good quality collars for our two rambunctious Whippets, Ripley & Ollie. And we were tired of having to buy a new “cheap” collar that has to be replaced every 12 months. But looking around at what was available, it was obvious that today’s cute, cheap collar and lead was tomorrow’s landfill. All we wanted was one good quality collar, that’s built to last (and actually ends up being cheaper in the long term and reduces landfill).
This type of quality was nowhere to be seen at any of the pet stores we stepped into. In fact, what we found was a large amount of pet industry products that were cheaply made and certainly not designed to last.
So, we decided to make our own collars!
Our first collars – all those years ago.
With a background in horses, we were familiar with quality leather work, so when it came to making our own collars, we wanted something that would be strong and yet comfortable.
And like our old horse gear we wanted it to last and not have to be replaced every couple of years.
So, with a few basic leatherworking tools and a leatherworking course under the belt, two rather lovely looking sighthound collars were born for Ripley & Ollie.
They proved to be quite the conversation starter – we were often asked “where did you get those beautiful collars?” So we started making a few collars for our friends…
Before we knew it, the idea for Flash Hound collars was born.
A quality Australian made, full leather collar that could withstand an active dog’s life and still look good enough to wear to Aunty Donna’s for afternoon tea.
The two original collars stood the test of time and remained on Ripley & Ollie until the day we had to say goodbye to each of them.
They now sit in pride of place with the boys ashes, their collars with each little box, still holding the scent of each of them within the leather itself so it’s like they’re still here.