Measuring your dog for a slip collar

The measurement that I require to make your leather handmade slip collar is not the same as a traditional collar. This is due to the way that a leather slip collar fits on your dog. As a slip collar does not open it needs to be able to pass completely over your dog's head without pinching or rubbing.

To measure you will need;

• A fabric tape measure,

• and your dog of course!

Simply take your tape and measure around the largest part of your dog's head....

Measuring your dog for a Handmade Leather Dog Collar from Oakside Saddlery couldn't be easier!

Method 2

Using your dogs existing collar to measure for your new handmade Leather Dog Collar. You will need the following items;

• Your dog's collar.

• A fabric tape measure or other ruler.

How To

Before removing your dog's collar check the fit and note which hole that the collar is buckled to.

• Remove the collar and lay it flat.

• Lay your measure alongside the collar.

• Take the measurement from the inside of the o...

To measure your dog for your new Handmade Leather Dog Collar from Oakside is quite simple really.

Method 1

You will need the following items;

• A fabric tape measure (this can be in inches or centimetres)

• Two fingers

• And your dog

Hopefully you have all three of these otherwise you may have to improvise!

Place the fabric tape around your dogs neck where the collar will go. The tape needs to have enough slack to easily slide two fingers underneath it. This is the size of the collar that you should order...

How should you look after your handmade leather item from Oakside Saddlery?

Having spent a fair amount of cash on your handmade leather goods it seems only fitting that you should want to take care of it. Most leather if looked after will last many years of hard use. Dog collars, for instance put up with a lot of abuse – from mud, water, baths, sand, and their mate chewing on it!

To keep your leather in good condition and looking like new takes only a little bit of effort. If the leather is r...

The Sighthound Collar

A sighthound is a type of hound that catches its prey by using shear speed and agility. It uses, as the name would suggest, its keen vision to keep this prey in sight at all times. Sighthounds have a long, lean, and flexible body; long legs and neck, and a deep chest. This all comes together to create the perfect, high-speed, hunter.

Breeds of dog associated with being a Sighthound include;

• Greyhound

• Whippet,

• Lurcher

• Afghan Hound

• Borzoi

• Wolfhound

• Saluki

To name but a few.

Sighthoun...

My standard dog lead is a traditional leather lead made with practicality in mind.

A simple but useful leather dog lead that does exactly what it is meant to do!

Leather

The leather is my standard bridle leather, very strong and durable, perfect for my leather dog leads. Why have a nice collar and then scrimp on the lead? There are a variety of lengths;

• Short 24 inches (60 cm)

• Medium 36 inches (91 cm)

• Long 48 inches (121 cm)

• Extra Long (152 cm) (I'll cover this one in a later post)

And a variety of w...

So you have been looking for a handmade leather belt. There are many available from really cheap ones – to really expensive ones, and I mean really expensive, even some made from human skin!

So why would you choose one of my handmade leather belts?

Maybe it is just because you like to support UK small business? Whatever the reason, I would like to think that you choose to buy a leather belt from Oakside because you like the look and quality of my work!

I am trained as a Cordwainer (someone who...

Plaited collar

My plaited dog collars are made from English Bridle leather, the pre-eminent leather available. It is hard wearing, long-lasting and has an excellent finish. My plaited leather collars are available in either Black, Dark Havana, or Australian Nut Bridle leather with the entire collar made from a single piece of leather, with no joins in the plait.

Buckle

The buckles that I use are either; solid brass roller buckles or stainless steel West End Buckles. I use stainless steel West En...

So you have an idea for the perfect collar for your dog. And no matter how much you have scoured the web you just can’t find exactly what you are looking for! This is when a Bespoke Cordwainer comes in handy. Give me your ideas and I will see what I can do.

Some of the specific requirements I have been requested to make are listed below

• ·         Extra wide to protect an old injury.
• ·         Brass instead of leather loops.
• ·         Wide boar hound style collar.
• ·         Double pronged buc...

Dogs have been used in war for many years. Britons, Greeks, Egyptians, and Romans all used large breeds of dog for scouts, tracking, and battle. Attila the Hun used giant Molossian dogs during his campaigns. Roman armies used entire companies of large Molossian dogs to devastate enemy warriors. These dogs would have spiked collars and mail armour, fitted to them to cause utter mayhem! 

WW1

It was in WW1 that the Red Cross wanted to use Ambulance dogs to locate injured soldiers. Dogs were used a...