Knot-a-Coat-Breaker
I've always been on Team No Home Collar for all my dogs, and while my dog's microchip contact information is always up to date, I've always been uneasy that my dog is also visibly unidentifiable. Up till now, I've avoided collars at home, in part because they seem to always break my dog's coat at the neckline. I now live in a rural but well-inhabited area with terrible lighting and a Black Lab - not a safe combination. After looking through reviews, I decided to give this collar a shot, and I haven't taken it off since getting it.
PROS: I love that it's reflective. Even in low light in my home, it's very visible. It comes with Ruffwear's brilliant tag silencer - jangling is another reason I've avoided collars at home, because the noise drives me batty. This collar sits lower on their necks than standard collars, so putting a second collar on for leashes isn't an issue. It's also easy to always find the leash attachment place as it's always on top of your dog.
CONS: If you have grip strength issues or limited dexterity in your hands, you're gonna need someone to help you move the knots for you. They are TOUGH to move. On the other hand, this also makes them pretty secure. If you have heavy tags, the off-centered tag hole will throw the weight off-center somewhat, and cause the leash attachment to be off-center on top, but this is fairly simple to mitigate as you can move the leach attachment around the collar. Because this collar sits lower on your dog's neck, it's gonna be looser, so even with my very well-mannered dog, I use a separate collar for leashes and keep the Knot-a-Collar for ID tags. Also, if your dog at all pulls, I would not suggest this collar with a leash, since this rope is much thinner than normal collars and therefore puts more pressure on your dog's trachea in one spot that flat collars; to be safe, I'd use it with a harness or flat collar no matter what.
BOTTOM LINE: This collar converted me from never having my dog wear a collar at home, to finally having my dog in a collar that keeps him safe: both via reflectivity at night, and for identification purposes. I love it!
