The Best Dog Collar

To find the best dog collars, we solicited advice from vets, a vet’s assistant with over 14 years experience, professional dog walkers, doggie daycare attendants, two-legged friends with four-legged friends, and random folks walking their dogs on the street.

Personally, as a lifelong dog owner, occasional dog foster caretaker, and volunteer for Dogs Without Borders, I’ve loved and cared for dogs my whole life. I even once lost my dog Hank through a loose fence board at Dodger Stadium thanks to an unanticipated fireworks show. Had it not been for Hank’s collar and ID tags, the three kids that found him while playing hooky may never have been able to return him.

I’m also a veteran journalist with over 20 years of experience reviewing home and office products at PC Magazine. I’ve also written local animal interest stories for magazines and many articles about pet safety and traveling with pets at media organizations like HGTV and the Travel Channel.

Any dogs that leaves the house or that could potentially escape from its home (and realistically, that’s all dogs) need a collar with owner contact info on tags and written on the collar itself (either stitched or in Sharpie). Consider your dog’s everyday collar its first line of defense if it gets lost—it’ll identify the dog and help it get home. Your dog should also be microchipped as a last line of defense. If something happens to the collar, a microchip means a vet or pet rescue organization will still be able to track you down.

Everyday collars can be used for short walks around the block but are not a replacement for a dog harness for longer walks. “When a dog pulls [on a leash attached to a collar] he’s putting pressure on his spine,” said Dr. Todd Caslyn of Laurel Pet Hospital in an interview. This can lead to health issues down the road. Dr. Anthony Shipp (of Dr. Shipp's Animal Hospital) added that this is especially true of long breeds and low riders such as dachshunds or corgis.

Elderly dogs with limited mobility (who can’t wander off very far anyway) or dogs confined to kennels shouldn’t need collars, which can pose a choking hazard. But if you do need to keep the collar on, D.E.L.T.A. pet rescue’s Dr. Gaylord Brown notes that if there is any chance that your dog could get its collar or ID tags hung on something (like crate bars) or the dog is being left unattended for long periods in abnormal surroundings (like an airplane’s cargo hold), make sure to tighten it to the point that there’s no give to reduce the risk of choking.

A dog collar isn’t complicated; it’s a piece of webbing with an adjustable buckle and attachment points for tags and a leash. Materials and styles can vary, but the basic design is the same. Regardless of what collar you end up choosing, you do want to make sure that it will be comfortable for your dog, non-hazardous by design, and able to easily identify you as the owner. According to our research and interviews with veterinarians, assistants, dog walkers, and caretakers, these were the important features to look for when selecting a collar:

• Reflective material, so that night drivers can more easily spot the dog as well as flashlight-wielding owners.
• A light-colored interior for writing your contact info on. (Or even better, the ability to custom-embroider your contact info onto the collar.)
• Durable synthetic materials like nylon or polyester webbing. Leather can crack, is harder to clean, and can sometimes take on random smells (particularly a problem if your dog likes to roll in things). Synthetics dry faster and absorb fewer odors. We avoided PVC, since those collars tend to be less flexible, and, if chewed, can create sharp edges that can potentially injure your pet.
• Simple, easy-to-clean construction, with no braids, studs or decorative grommets. If a dog gets muddy or rolls in something, you’ll have to clean in between all of that hardware. Thicker collars with intricate weaves also would take longer to dry.
• The ability to secure excess webbing once properly adjusted. Collars that can’t tighten properly can yield a built-in noose for other pets, or your dog’s dewclaw could get hung in it.

We then pored over listings on Amazon, Chewy, PetSmart, Petco, and other retailers to see what was popular that also met our criteria. This left us with nine to test.

We tested collars on small, medium, and large dogs with a variety of coat types in as many situations as possible—on casual walks, playing at the dog park, and at the beach. We left the collars submerged in water overnight and then in direct sunlight to find out what it did to the fabric’s shape and feel. We buried them in dirt and then cleaned them with mild dish soap and a scrub brush. We soaked them in apple cider vinegar to check for any lingering odors and gave them a real-world sniff test after they rested on the necks of dogs in need of baths. We checked for any bleeding from the dyes. We pulled and tugged on them until our arms hurt.

The Orvis Personalized Reflective Collar is the best everyday collar for most dogs because it’s personalized with your pet’s information, so they can still be identified if their tags get lost. It’s also brightly reflective enough to be easily seen day or night, easily attaches around a dog’s neck but then remains steadfastly in place, and is constructed of strong enough stuff to weather every durability test could throw against it. Combine that with Orvis’s lifetime guarantee, and we think it’s worth its cost, which is more expensive than many other collars.

The Orvis is covered in reflective material with the pet’s name and your phone number custom embroidered large enough to be read at 30 paces. The reflective strip lit up like an LED when hit with a flashlight or headlight—clearly visible even with a dog whose fur obscured the collar.

The collar's plastic clasp was smooth, strong, and snapped and unsnapped easily—and as much as we pulled on it, the Orvis held steady. Its rustproof D ring is thin enough to easily attach ID tags and constructed so strongly that we tugged at it so hard that we snapped the ID tag ring. (This would be a good time to recommend not skimping on the ring that hangs to the D ring.) And if you have trouble attaching tags due to arthritis or other issues, or if the attached tags become lost, your contact information is permanently etched into the collar itself.

The Orvis collar is constructed with durable ultrasonic-welded seams more often used in the construction of items that are subjected to extreme weather conditions year-round like tents, boat tarps and awnings. This process involves fusing the material to itself using a combination of high-frequency vibrations and extreme pressure to produce a solid seam without the need for adhesives or thread. The lack of stitching also means there’s fewer places for dirt and grime to get stuck, so the collar is easier to scrub clean.

The collar is made of soft and flexible nylon that maintains its shape and feel even after hours of being submerged in water, left to dry, and then resubmerged for another day. Caked on mud comes off cleanly after a good scrub and neither stains the Orvis nor lingers in the weave. After just a couple of hours in the sunlight, it’s dry and ready to wear—no shrinking or changes in texture.

The Orvis is available in sizes from small (⅝ inches wide, 9-to-14-inch neck size) to X-large (1 inch wide, 21-to-26-inch neck size). When on the dog, the collar’s length is easily adjustable, and the collar uses an extra clamp to flatten any slack, ensuring that there’s never a loose end to snag.

The collar comes backed with the Orvis lifetime guarantee. No matter what havoc your best friend wreaks on their collar, Orvis will replace it, minus return shipping costs.

After soaking in a bucket full of vinegar and water solution for a day, the Orvis collar smelled slightly, where other collars like the Ruffwear came out smelling clean. After a quick cleaning with Dawn dish soap, the odor was hardly noticeable, so it’s not a huge deal.

The painted-on reflective coating wasn’t the brightest we tested (that was the GoTags), but our test dogs’ collars were quickly spotted on nighttime walks through the Hollywood Hills.

There’s also a slight rough patch of fused nylon right under the D-ring, where the cut end of the webbing is welded back onto itself—similar in size and texture to a short fingernail. But it’s easy enough to smooth over and small enough that your dog shouldn’t notice in any case.

The Orvis is one of the pricier collars we looked at, but with the lifetime guarantee and the high quality of construction, we think it’s worth the extra money.

For about two-thirds the price of the Orvis, the GoTags Embroidered Reflective Dog Collar was more reflective than the Orvis and slightly softer and smoother—but has just a 60-day guarantee compared the lifetime coverage of the Orvis, which we think is more important for a long-lasting and hard-wearing item.

To test brightness, we dressed our test model in both collars simultaneously and pointed a flashlight at the collars. The GoTags’s sewn-on reflective strip lit up like a Christmas tree, while the Orvis’s painted-on reflection was slightly duller. Our pets’ names stood out better, a result of a font choice that is less dense than the Orvis. Consequently, the names are easier to read from a greater distance. However, because the material is sewn on instead of painted on, the whole collar is covered in seams that can retain dirt. The extra layer also makes the GoTags collar slightly stiffer than the Orvis.

The GoTags collar feels better in your hands than the Orvis. The fabric is slightly softer and the stitching is smoother because the stitched seams—while more difficult to clean—leave no exposed edges, like the one underneath the Orvis’s D-ring.

The GoTags is only backed by a 60-day guarantee, compared to the lifetime coverage of the Orvis, and we think that’s worth the price difference. If your pet’s going to be wearing this thing for years, you want to know if something happens down the line, the company will still look after you.

For less than $10, the Coastal Pet New Earth Soy Dog Collar was the best super-affordable collar we tested. It’s made from a material derived from soy byproducts that is extremely soft and light and didn’t hold odors during our vinegar soak. Despite being the cheapest collar we looked at, it’s backed by a “quality guarantee” from Coastal Pet; they’ll replace it if it frays or breaks. Coastal also maintains their own customer service switchboard to address any consumer concerns—when you call, a human will pick up and help you. Even their Facebook page had an active consumer support chat available when we visited it.

The Coastal Soy is incredibly soft for a collar, and it stayed soft and flexible even after baking in the California sun. Because it is so light and thin (it is the thinnest and lightest in the roundup), it also dried quickly after washing and soaking.

You can find the Coastal Soy in sizes as small as ⅜ inches wide and 6 to 8 inches long and as large as 1 inch wide and 18 to 26 inches long. It’s the collar we recommend that can fit the smallest dog neck.

Unlike the Orvis or GoTags, the Coastal Pet collar isn’t personalized or reflective, and it is made of much less tough parts. But it’s also less than $10 as of this writing, so if you want something that’s not going to cost you much, it’ll do the job. And you can buy one that’s light enough that you can sharpie your info on the inside.

We were a little concerned that the collar is too light and flimsy to hold up to repeated and heavy use, but there are no reports of issues on Amazon, and Coastal Pet promises to replace any breakages or damage.

The Blueberry Classic Dog Collar was a good budget option, but the underside showed signs of fraying and wear after only one month of use; others didn’t. The denser weave made it harder to clean than the Orvis and the GoTags, and it held onto vinegar smells more than any other collar in the roundup (though it wasn’t horribly stinky). We liked the padded collar, though it is not very practical for a rough and tumbling pooch. There’s also no warranty, no customer service number, and a dead link to their Facebook page. So, don’t expect a lot of backup or assistance should your collar need replacing.

The Ruffwear Hoopie collar at first glance has a lot of great qualities and fine construction; however, after soaking it in tap water for less than an hour, the red dye from the small collar began to bleed. This dye could easily stain a dog’s fur or neck, even your carpet if a wet dog decided to roll all around your house. The blue collar, however, did not bleed. The Ruffwear has a separate hook with a rubber silencer for clinking tags, and it is easy to pop the tags on and off. The Blueberry is the only other collar with a separate ring for tags. The attendants at Go Dog LA in downtown Los Angeles liked this feature on the Ruffwear, though they also liked the ability to personalize a collar of the Orvis and GoTags.

Ruffwear’s stinkproof, water-resistant, and reflective Headwater collar did not pass muster with our cleaning test. As hard as we scrubbed, a small dirt stain would not come clean. And the harder we scrubbed, the more it seemed to wear. It might be fine for active four-legged beachcombers with no cleanliness issues, but for most people with a dog that needs to be both indoors and out, its inability to be properly cleaned means we skipped it.

We liked a lot about the Lupine Originals collar, but we couldn’t get it to tighten down enough to not leave a large gaping hole in the collar that could easily get caught on branches, furniture, or even other dogs when playing. Lupine does guarantee their products indefinitely, even if chewed, which is an advantage, but the collar also took the longest to dry and retained a slight vinegar odor after washing.

Top Paw Signature Buckle collars are one of the most popular options available at PetSmart, and they failed our field tests miserably. The metal buckle holes rusted after just a few hours under water. No other collar’s hardware rusted, even after days outside in and out of moisture. Also, the ends of the collar are too large to easily fit through the buckle to get it on your dog’s neck. We also found the hardware to be extremely heavy around our test models' necks, the nylon was on the brittle side, and there was no warranty or satisfaction guarantee that we could find.

Kurgo’s water-resistant Muck Collars were too stiff. Warped right out of the box, the small collar wouldn’t lie flat or go back into its normal shape—it hung awkwardly on our small test dog’s neck. And if you trim it for sizing purposes, the innards of the collar show. The D ring hardware is meant to double as a bottle opener, but we couldn’t get it to work. The Muck collars are very easy to clean, do not absorb smells or moisture, are PVC-free, and come with a lifetime warranty—all bonus points, but not enough to win us over.

IKEA recently unveiled a range of products for cats and dogs, including its Lurvig reflective collars. There is one collar designed for cats, adjusting from 7¾ to 11¾ inches, and three collars designed for dogs: small (6¼ to 11 inches), medium (11 to 16½ inches), and large (16½ to 22¾ inches). They currently cost about $2, $4, $5, and $6, respectively. We’ll test these as soon as we can to see how they measure up to our picks.