Hound collar: Refers to any number of collar styles. What they all have in common is a very wide neck band. This wide band protects the IG's trachea from injury if the collar is suddenly pulled. The wide bands are lined with felt or some type of lining to prevent chaffing.
Martingale collar: This type of collar is not one of the traditional choke/check-style collars but it is able to tighten humanely if the IG suddenly fights the lead, thus preventing the collar from slipping over the IG's skull. As with most collars, it needs to be fitted correctly to work properly. Martingale collars can be purchased in several different neck band widths. The thicker hound width is used for informal IG walks and the narrow width can be used for IG formal leash training.
Note: martingale collars of any variety are not suitable for obedience competition according to CKC rules. You can train in them, but then you must switch to a plain buckle collar for the competition.
Choke or Check Collars: Not suitable for IGs
Buckle collars: Thin flat, or rolled buckle collars can be used to place your IG's ID & licensing tags on. This ID collar should be temporairly removed during obedience training so that the jingling and the extra neck band doesn't interfere with the training collar, or with the IG's concentration. A nylon or flat buckle collar without any ID tags or attachments is suitable for CKC obedience competition.
Harnesses: These can be great for IGs. The neck is free and you have good control of the IG. A correctly fitted harness will not come off the dog. However, they are not without problems: the nylon of many harnesses can irritate the skin, and some IGs just plain don't like them. If you sew some soft padding to the undersides of the harness this may make the IG more comfortable, but don't count on it.
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