When it comes to collars we’ve always favored the ones that use a traditional metal buckle instead of a plastic clip; I’ve never forgotten that one of Beanie’s litter-mates died when a plastic clip failed near busy traffic.  That said, Biggles’ otherwise solid old fashioned collar literally dropped off on a recent evening walk. The cause of failure? The little cross-bar in the buckle snapped, and he wasn’t straining on his lead at the time. Very fortunately we weren’t by a busy road and Biggles was thoroughly engrossed in a sniff so he came to no harm, in fact he quite enjoyed being carried back home in Susan’s arms like a big furry baby.

He spent the rest of the evening and much of the next day without a collar, and given that he’d been so slow to recognize his sudden and unexpected moment of freedom on the walk I didn’t expect him to notice. I was wrong. Biggles very quickly learned that one our most basic Beagle control systems was gone. His visits to the outdoor loo via the kitchen suddenly became full of new possibilities; numerous items were grabbed from the worktops as we tried and failed to steer him directly to the door. I almost had to rugby-tackle him to get his head out of my sock drawer, and when it was time for his toothbrushing I discovered just how much I rely on hooking his collar with a finger; his rear teeth went almost untouched by the brush. Clearly an urgent trip to the local petshop was needed to get a replacement collar, but when I got there I faced a difficult choice: try one with a stout plastic clip, or trust a metal buckle, knowing that I had just seen one fail?

Eventually I spotted something that appears more trustworthy than either of those options: the EzyDog “Double-Up” collar. It does close with a plastic clip, but it has two D-rings either side of the clip for the lead attachment. You hook the lead through both of these rings, so even with a dog that pulls like a train the clip never takes the strain.

It’s a brilliant fail-safe design that would be worthy of NASA – if they applied their problem solving skills to doggy gear that is. Obviously I couldn’t get a secure collar for the Bigglet and leave Beanie with a lesser design, so two of them landed in my shopping basket.

If you’re looking for a safe collar for a dog with zero road sense then the EzyDog Double-up should be on your list of candidates.