In the photos below, what do you notice is common to all of them?

 

 

 

 

You would be correct in saying that the dogs are all sighthounds, but you would also be accurate in saying that the dog in each photo is wearing a wide collar.

We’re a bit envious of the exquisite collars worn by the magnificent dogs known as sighthounds as any one of the collars seen in the photos above would be lost in our own heavily coated breed. That said, there is an actual reason that sighthound collars are wide.

Sighthounds hunt by sight, of course, and as any owner of a Greyhound, Pharaoh Hound, IG, Saluki, Whippet, Azawakh, Sloughi, Afghan Hound, or any other sighthound breed can tell you, when their dog spots something moving, they’re “outta there.”

Relative to their necks, sighthounds have fine narrow heads that are sometimes narrower than their necks! These heads can easily slip out of of collars that other dogs wear. Wider collars also protect the long and slender neck and throat of a hound that a narrower collar can damage as well as restrict air flow.

There is also the matter of coat. Many sighthound breeds have short and delicate coats that wear out from constant contact with dog collars. Wearing a wider than normal collar spreads out pressure on the dog’s neck and this can prevent damage to the coat and help avoid a naked patch on the dog’s neck that could become prone to a skin infection. Even if the dog isn’t a show dog, this matters.

From our perspective, there is another reason to wear such collars, and it’s one you’ll never find in a breed standard or forum:  They’re gorgeous.

Yes, we have collar envy. Check out the collar in the video below (and note the hound’s eyes – they don’t miss anything!)

Gorgeous collars like the one in our thumbnail image above made by barcelonadogs aren’t just for sighthounds as you’ll see on their website, but it’s more common to see these wide collars on a sighthound, and we thought you should know that there’s more to it than fashion.