Sighthounds are notorious for being the houdini's of the dog world. We wrote about how they're prone to escaping their harnesses here, but they're also prone to slipping out of traditional dog collars too for much the same reasons.
Why sighthounds are prone to slipping out of collars:
Much like their knacking for slipping out of harnesses, it comes from two main factors that differentiate them from other dog breeds.
Firstly, their natural insticts. Sighthounds have a tremendous prey drive and they can also be easily spooked. Both of these things can make them determined to get free so they can chase whatever they saw, or run from whatever spooked them.
Combined this with their unique body shape, and it's a recipe for disaster.
Due to the slim profile of a sighthound's head, it makes it quite easy for them to back out of a collar if it is even slightly loose, whereas often with other dog breeds the head is larger than the neck, so it acts as a sort of barrier. Of course it's not appropriate to have the collar too tight either, so what can you do?
How to stop your sighthound escaping it's collar:
Whilst some people won't have this problem with their hounds and are fine using a leather fishtail collar, many people will need to take action to stop or prevent their sighthound from escaping.
Luckily for us, there are some quick fixes that will see us right.
- Martingale collars - if you like using a collar with your sighthound but are worried about them escaping, then a martingale collar could be exactly what you need. If you don't know what these are, you can find out all about them here, but in short they are collars that are designed to be escape proof by gently tightening when your dog pulls, just enough to stop them from being able to slip out of it.
- Escape proof harness - there are many benefits to using a harness with your sighthound anyway, but a sure fire way to stop their escape act is with a sighthound escape proof harness like ours.
- Double ended lead - you can attach one end to the collar and the other end to a harness. This provides an extra layer of security as they would have to slip out of both in order to escape.
- Recall training - another option is to work on your sighthound's recall so it isn't such an issue if they do escape, although this can take time, especially with a sighthound breed.
Conclusion:
If you're worried about your sighthound escaping it's collar, don't worry, you're not alone. In fact it is quite common with sighthound breeds, but luckily there are a number of ways to address the issue as explored above.
You might also like these articles about martingale collars, greyhound martingale collars, or whippet martingale collars.