Just in case anyone here is searching for a really fantastic leather collar, I thought I'd point you in the right direction.

Before we sent our puppy off to our trainer this fall, we were told to find him a good quality leather collar with a safety ring.   Little did I know I'd scour every single pet and outdoors  sporting goods store in the Twin Cities and Western Wisconsin and STILL come up empty handed!  The search for a really sturdy collar took months (and involved a piece of garbage that our trainer immediately tossed aside to be replaced with one of his).

With Otto headed to Texas a month ago, it was essential that I send him off with a really good quality collar--and I hunted EVERYWHERE.   Finally, a week before Otto was to leave I found a message on the Gun Dog Forum about Kent and Snow Canyon Outfitters.   I immediately left him a desperate message. What an incredibly nice guy! He squeezed my last second request in and sent me Otto's FANTASTIC new collar with days to spare--even before my check had had a chance to arrive. I'll tell you, compared to what I've seen on the market--nothing holds a candle to this collar. It's a beautifully constructed collar made from high-quality, durable leather. And the hardware! This thing is really, really heavy, solid brass. 

Otto's old collar would stretch if you looked at it funny--and I wouldn't have been surprised in the least to have seen the Pepsi swirl embedded in the hardware.  And, no lie, that was the nicest collar I was able to find in our area.  (The collar in my avatar is our old piece of garbage.)

Kent does amazing work, and the service is fantastic.  After we talked about the collar I needed, we kept chatting on the phone for another 20 minutes because he was such a nice guy.  I'd buy my next collar from him in a heartbeat--except that this thing will never need to be replaced.

I SWEAR I'm not being paid to go on endlessly about this collar--or Kent for that matter , but he really swooped in and saved the day.  I wish I had known about him ages ago...

www.snowcanyonoutfitters.com/

I've never found one I really like.  Seems like they always slip down to far and then seem too tight.  I'll try these.  I'll wait a few weeks till my new little girl decides what she is going to weigh.