Small dogs

I have a question about small dog neck sizes and collars.

I am making our first small dog collar today, EVER, for a Chinese Crested whose neck is 9".
It will be 3/4" wide.

What is the typical width for a dog collar small dog owners like to put on their small dogs? Would any of you go 1" thick?
And I'm talking about leather dog collars. Not fabric or nylon.
The leather I'm using is considerably thinner than the stuff I use for medium-big dog collars.
I just hope it's thick enough.

I'll take pictures when I'm done for any interested in seeing it.

I like putting 1" collars on the schnauzers (23 and 18 pounds) and 3/4"-1" on the poodles (13 and 6 pounds). All have longer necks that look in the the bigger sizes.

Luna's neck is 8" and no, I wouldn't buy a 1" thick leather collar. Generally I buy the 3/8", I think the biggest I'd go would be 5/8".

Personally I do 1/2 or 3/4 inch for my dogs' collars. It would depend on breed and neck size a bit, but I think 1 inch would be too thick for any of mine. Mia and Nard are 6-8 inches and the others are 8-10 inches.

Thanks, guys!
Just trying to get an idea of what to make.
Right now I have the hardware to make 1/2" and 3/4".
Decorating collars that small can be challenging though due to the fact that not many decorative patterns can be done.

I would think 1" would be too big, too, but I have a request for a collar for a chihuahua in 1".
I just don't want the customer to be disappointed by thinking 1" is thinner than it actually is.
I'm so used to making 1 1/2", 1 3/4", and 2" wide collars for bigger dogs, that thinking of making something as narrow as a 3/4" collar seems SOOOOOOOO small to me.:lol-sign:

Piiiiicsss!!! sorry, I am no help

my cockers typically go with 3/4 collars. I think 1" on a chihuahua would be huge. Unless, of course, it's a big chihuahua

i love the look of a 1" sight hound looking collar on a crestie simply because they have very long elegant necks but id say 1/2-3/4" is more of a comfort size, with 1" for "fancyness" on a dog rubies size, shes got a 10" neck (and is standard size for a crestie...)
jasper is on the small end for a crestie and anything over 3/4" looks too big on his tiny 8" neck.

knowing my wowies, 1" would be huge, but i have wowies that adhere to standard with a blocky look in the 3-5lb range, a more "deer type" wowie with a longer slim neck might be able to pull of 1" but it would certainly look huge on any of ours lol.

I would put a 1" on Milo but he's not tiny...almost 20 lbs and he's gotta thick neck.

For reference sake, I don't like 1" collars on my collies with 18-20 in necks! But everyone is different.

keely is 8 lbs with an 8 inch neck and the biggest I would go on her is a 5/8 and thats ussually what i do get for her..

For my monsters, I stick with 3/4 in and below. They're usually in harnesses though.

Meg's 36 lbs, and I can barely tolerate 1" on her! I buy 3/4" whenever I can. A few fancy collars, including her Paco are 1", but I always think it looks like a neck brace on her.

I'd maybe just check in with the owner, confirm the size again and make sure she is aware that you are saying she may think it is too thick. That way you are at least covered if she gets it and decides she doesn't like the size.

And pictures will be required.

I agree! On the big dogs I work with we usually use 3/4" collars, the 1" ones seem so bulky!

I dont usually even put a collar on romeo (small fragile neck) but when I do, its a cat collar.. hes about 5.5 pounds

Cant use a collar on mine... too small.

But when I have had one on just got for tags or something, I stick with 1/2"... anything else looks like they cant move their neck ,lol.

They do make dog collars that small... Petsmart carries them.

OK, guys.
This is the first time I've worked with leather this thin, and it's different than working with thicker leathers.
And, uh, as I said, there is only so much decorating that can be done on a small dog collar.


It's very small, it only looks big because the pic was close up, and it's been cropped which makes it even bigger looking.

I love it! I wonder if that has anything to do with purple is my favorite color

My little guys say they'll gladly be test subjects LOL

I like the bigger widths personally. Though I somehow have it in my head that it makes the collars stronger so they can't be broken or something. I dunno I'm weird.

I think thats a beautiful collar! Other then that im no help as ive never had a small dog.