Very Old Leather Dog Collar

Description of the Artifacts

• Very Old Leather Dog Collar with Metal Studs. length. Early to mid-20th century.

• Very Old Leather Dog Collar

The History of the Dog Collar

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The invention of the dog collar changed the relationship between humans and dogs forever.

Picture if you can what the relationship of dogs to humans 12,000 years ago. Believe it or not, while we do not know how this relationship first developed, it did. One must imagine that one of the reasons that humans and dogs became attached in the first place was that humans would discard unused scraps of food and bone and dogs being scavengers, took advantage of that and began following them around. Well of course; this would have been beneficial to the human since this would prevent predators and other scavengers who might be more dangerous than a dog. Let’s face it, humans had something to learn from dogs too, since dogs were natural hunters.

One must assume that the early relationship with a dog and human were probably less than comfortable. After all, dogs knew nothing about humans and for the most part, humans treated all animals as a potential meal. There is little doubt as to how those early interactions went. While we don’t exactly know when the first dog collar was invented, this invention would have changed the relationship. Suddenly, humans were allowed to control these hunters. Control took on several forms including ownership, identification of individual dogs and training and socializing. Most of us are aware that pure-bred dogs have long been considered as royalty and often, collars reflected a fashion statement being made by the owner.

Egyptians were probably the first to differentiate dog owner "classes" through the use of collars. For instance, the average person (or peasant) would most likely have a plain collar or one that was simply made and adorned. However, royalty and social elite members of society would have collars for their dogs that were very elaborate. These collars were probably fashioned from precious metals and were embellished with messages, engravings and perhaps even pictures. Romans of course were dog lovers and revered their dogs nearly as much as the Egyptians did. Rome however was not in as calm a period as Egypt was. Because Rome seemed in such turmoil, this was probably seen in the accoutrements of their dogs as well. Roman dog collars were often fashioned from thick metals and many had spikes. There was a purpose to these spikes, they prevented the dog from being attacked by other dogs and they could never fall victim to an enemy.

Long after the fall of the Roman Empire, sporting dogs began to wear an entirely new line of collars. You were likely to see choker collars, harnesses, halters and martingales as well as slip collars. These were often customized so that dogs could serve as messengers, carriers of fluids and even to carry first aid supplies.

As surprising as this may be, there were very few changes in dog collars until after plastics came to be used. And while the function of the dog collar remains much the same, the style and composition has certainly changed. It was not until 1980, the first electronic training collar was introduced.

Original training collars were produced that combined probes on a power pack. These could deliver an electric shock into the neck of a dog. These collars were remotely triggered by a trainer or owner. Over two decades however, these collars became far more sophisticated and the electric (i.e. invisible) fence system and the anti-bark collars were created.

Electric fence systems (also known as containment systems) required the dog to wear a collar. These fences worked in a manner that provided the dog with stimulation that ranged from very mild as he approached his boundaries to much more severe as he strayed further out of range. It did not take very long for a dog to understand that if he stayed within certain boundaries, this stimulation would not occur. The bark collar clearly works in a very similar manner with the exception that it only corrects when your dog barks.

Many believe that training collars are not required to have a well trained dog. This may be true, but using a collar helps train your dog faster and will help them remember the lessons you are trying to teach them. In addition, collars can provide identification of your dog. Let’s face it, the right collar adds something to your dogs looks as well. We’re not so far removed from our ancient roots; we still want our dogs clearly reflective of not only their personality but ours as well.