DIY Dog Gear: Amsteel Blue Tag Holder

This is a very simple project that results in a clean, durable and low-profile tag holder.  I use 7/64 Amsteel Blue, a braided rope with a breaking strength of about 1600lb, but any hollow braided rope will work.  Because the rope is relatively thin and has an incredible breaking strength, I ensure that my tag holders will easily slip over Robin's head if he were to get caught on something.

Time: 5 - 10 minutes. It's complicated to explain but very easy to do.

Materials: Scissors, a length of fine wire 10- 15" long folded in half, and appropriate rope.

1. Measure out a length of rope that could easily slip over your dog's head. Double that length and cut.

2. Splicing rope (threading rope through itself) is easier when the ends are tapered.  To taper, measure in 1 inch from the end and open up the rope by grasping on each side of the 1" mark and pushing hands together. Using wire, pull out and cut off every other strand (on 8 strand Amsteel, this is 4 strands) so that at the 1" point, the width of the rope is reduced by half. Repeat on the other end.

Open up rope

Pull every other strand out of braid

Cut off strands to reduce diameter by half

3. Fold the length of rope in half and find the midpoint.  Expand the rope at that point. Fold each half again, about 1-1.5" off the halfway point, and expand rope at the fold points.

The second two points can be tweaked (collar can be taken out and re-spliced multiple times if necessary) if the collar ends up being too tight for the dog due to the increased thickness of the rope when it is spliced.  If the collar is too tight, bring the second fold points closer to the ends of the rope.

4. Coil the rope. The two ends will be spliced inside the main loop to create a continuous loop.  To accomplish this, the splicing tool will enter through point A in the photo below and exit through point B.

5. Insert the folded end of the splicing tool into point A and push through the core of the rope to point B, poking the loop out between the strands.  Ensure that the splicing tool does not bisect any strands of the rope. Bend the ends of the splicing tool so that it does not slip into the rope.

6. Thread the tapered ends of the rope into the loop of the splicing tool at the halfway point of the taper.  Gently pull the splicing tool back through to point A, pulling the end of the rope through the core of the main rope.  Pull the splicing tool and rope end completely out at point A and roll the tapered strands between your fingers to smooth them out.

7. Adjust the size of the loop so that the remaining opened point B on the rope meets up with the edge of the encased rope.  Smooth the rope so that the loose ends disappear into the encasing rope.  At this point, try the collar on the dog.  It should fit a little looser than originally measured at this point.  If not, go back and adjust the placement of point B in Step 3. 

8. Thread the ring of the tag onto the free end of the rope and repeat the splicing by threading the splicing tool in through point A and out as close as possible to the connection point at point B.

Add the tag.

The loop of the splicing tool should exit as close as possible

 to the beginning of the completed splice.

9. Pull tight on the spliced end to cinch the splice around the tag before smoothing the end into the rope.

10. Smooth down the rope and pull everything tight. The gray Amsteel fades over time but remains perfectly durable.

Note: Thin tag holders like this one should never be used as a collar for safety reasons. 

Gear Review: Tubular White Pine collars and pet safety considerations

Midleap - Cherry Canyon

Although nowadays Robin is rarely leashed, his collar is a critical safety tool.  We tried a few options before settling on the perfect one.

In the beginning, he was skittish enough that he wore a Petco "adjustable mesh harness" and a comfort collar for walks, just in case. Unfortunately, his coat started to break underneath the harness's tight neckline, and the bulky padded collar crumpled his neck hair. I decided to look into martingale collars, which tighten only when tension is applied.  Though often used as a training aid in place of a chain, when they are adjusted generously martingales have the benefit of fitting loosely until control is needed.

(We still have his Petco harness and use it for kick-scooter trips and the occasional hike.  It's well designed out of stretchy, durable mesh, and while it's far from an attractive harness we've found it to be very secure.)

Having just purchased a Ruffwear pack, I decided to get a Ruffwear Chain Reaction collar in size small (11-14" neck).  Ruffwear must have based the size chart on larger-headed dogs, because Robin at 11.5" (now 12") was just barely able to slip out of its smallest adjustment.  Although I determined that the collar's range could be extended by removing the sewn on rubber logo tag holder, we ended up returning it once we noticed further damage to his hair.  The twisting of the collar's sturdy webbing against his fur caused a new ring of breakage around his neck.

While researching hair breakage, I happened upon White Pine collars, which are chainless slip collars made of silky tubular nylon for show Samoyeds.  I bought a flame orange "Soft Slip" size "Mini" in medium for 8-13 inch necks.

Tubular nylon, unlike flat woven nylon, doesn't have a rough edge, and on these collars the cut ends are folded to the outside. The slip action relaxes when tension is removed, unlike the chain martingale which stayed tightened due to the weight of the chain. It's adjusted to slip over his head for convenience, and at its tightest I can fit two fingers underneath. As soon as we switched to this collar, his hair grew back and hasn't shown any damage since. Despite the soft material, these collars hold up well: his daily "adventure" collar is six months old and does have a little fading and fuzziness, but its strength and construction is not compromised.  Like all nylon collars, they are unfortunately susceptible to catching on velcro (my most hated fastener).

Because Robin can't slip out of this collar, we remove it at home in case he gets the live ring caught on something. However, since we often pop out offleash for a potty break or even to the car in a hurry, Robin was ending up tagless too often for my comfort. He is not a runner, but all animals are a little unpredictable and furthermore, he's proven that he'll run away from other people to follow me.

To remedy this problem, I made a generously sized continuous loop tag holder from some Amsteel Blue high-strength cord, left over from our homemade hammocks. The ends are spliced into the center of the cord, creating a strong, smooth circle with no rough edges, and the 7/64" cord is thin enough that it's essentially hidden under his coat except at the throat. I have learned firsthand that a tag could easily be the only thing standing between a safe Robin and a lost Robin.

Tags:

• The Amsteel tag holder carries a small brushed stainless Petco tag with only our phone numbers, which is still like-new after 8 months and is fairly easy to read. 
• His day-to-day collar carries a lightweight, cheap aluminum tag from eBay, which has not held up too well (dings and scratches) but remains very readable.  It lists his microchip information and our phone numbers.  
• His newest tag and my favorite is the Boomerang slider tag on the new collar.  It was more expensive and I balked at the cost initially, but it is leaps and bounds above the other two in quality.  The engraving is deep, black, and tiny but extremely readable.  It fits securely inline on his collar, so no extra jingling.  It's thick, sturdy and warrantied for Robin's entire life.  For this tag, we chose to engrave our two phone numbers and Robin's email address, which forwards to our emails and autoreplies our current travel information to anyone who might find him.  I figure this should cover all of our bases for the next ten or so years of his life!

Takeaways:

Ruffwear Chain Reaction:
Good for: smooth coated dogs with a 12" or greater neck circumference or a large head. Probably best for a more muscular small dog since its width overwhelmed delicate Robin.
Not ideal for: fragile coats, slim/small builds and small necks.

White Pine tubular nylon collar:
Good for: any hair type, any size dog. Durable and secure with customizable level of control. Packs small so a good backup collar to keep in the car or a bag.
Not ideal for: dogs that pull constantly, since collars of any sort can damage the trachea and these are especially narrow to hide under the ruff. Pullers should always be harnessed. Also not a good option for unsupervised wear, since a tightened collar can't be slipped.