Fitting · 12 August 2026
How to measure a dog for a collar
Two fingers, one tape measure, and the one mistake almost everybody makes with a long coated dog.
A collar that is too loose comes off over the ears. A collar that is too tight is obvious and nobody does it on purpose. The problem is the middle: a collar that fits the coat rather than the neck.
Measure the neck, not the fur
Put a soft tape around the neck where the collar will actually sit, which is usually a hand's width behind the ears rather than right up against the skull. Press the tape down through the coat until you feel the neck.
On a smooth coated dog the difference is nothing. On a rough collie it can be four centimetres, which is a whole size.
Two fingers, flat
Slide two fingers flat under the tape. If they go in without forcing and the tape does not lift, that is the number to order.
Two fingers on a beagle and two fingers on a wolfhound are not the same allowance, which is exactly right. The dog's own scale does the work.
If you are between sizes
Order the larger one. Every collar we make has five holes at 20mm spacing, so the larger size covers the smaller size's top two holes.
The exception is a puppy. A puppy will outgrow the collar you buy today, so buy the size that fits today and expect to replace it once. We take the first one back at half price against the second.