I have a few ideas in my head for some new styles of handmade leather dog collars. I thought I might put these ideas to paper - so to speak.

Patent Stripe
This would be a leather dog collar based on my patent stripe browbands and nosebands. A standard traditional leather dog collar with an inserted piece of patent leather. I can't make a collar entirely from patent leather as it is too thin in substance. Therefore the strength will need to be in the normal bridle butt leather that I make all of...
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Personalisation of any item is a good thing! And how better to express this than by ordering handmade.

Colour

The three leather dog collars above are; from left, Dark Havana, Black, and Australian Nut.Dark Havana is a dark brown coloured leather, Australian Nut has a reddish hint to it, and black is, well, black! 

Stitching is carried out by hand and can either blend in or contrast. So above we have brown stitching on a dark Havana collar, Yellow stitching on an Australian Nut collar, and on the...

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The point when making leather is the part of a belt or strap that passes through the buckle. There are a variety of designs and styles that a Cordwainer can use, and sometimes traditional methods dictate what style of point a strap should have. Nowadays, on leather belts and the like, this is just a case of personal preference.

There are two styles of point that I use and both are traditional designs.

Cathedral Point

The cathedral point, or harness point, is probably the most common point end in...

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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....

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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Dog Collars have been in use by mankind for thousands of years. Images can be found in Ancient Egyptian paintings dating back to 3500BC. These collars were made from leather and had the dogs name on them. The Ancient Greeks used dogs to protect their livestock and used large spiked collars. The Ancient Romans were devoted to their dogs, and collars have been found with with messages in them showing appreciation to their dogs.

Dogs have been used, and sadly abused, by humans for many years; hu...

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You have been looking for a proper leather dog collar, just like you remember having years ago! But no matter how much you look you just can't seem to find one. Well look no more!

My handmade Traditional Leather Collar is made the old Fashioned way using English Bridle Leather which is very strong and long-lasting, solid brass or Stainless steel fittings ensure that there is no rust, and hand stitched with linen thread.

I hand stitch the fittings using an old traditional method which passes two...
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Hi all,

My name is Simon, I am the Cordwainer at Oakside. My two websites are www.oaksidesaddlery.co.uk and www.oaksidebelts.co.uk. I specialise in hand stitching heavy English Bridle leather and making bespoke leather dog collars and leads, horse bridles and hand made leather Belts.

I hope to be able to use this blog to inform you about some of the products that I make, give you an insight into leather and the skills that I use, and to also provide some advice to help you make an informed deci...
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