Chaco Dog Collar and Leash Review
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Chaco makes more than sandals and belts. Now your four legged friend can sport a fashionable and durable collar and leash combo fit to match your adventures. The collar is made from Chaco’s own webbing and has been very durable and kept up with Aspen and Suki’s every move. These dogs go just about any place that we take them and hike and run with the best of them. Suki did her first 5km race (w/ a Chaco leash) and placed 10th, not bad for a nearly 9 year old that took a dip in every stream on the course. The collar has stood up to a few scrambles with a fence, porcupine, and trips through the wash. The collar features a durable plastic buckle and metal ring to attach your leash and name tags to. There is also a small plastic D-ring that Chaco states is for light attachment. We have used it to attach Aspen’s 3 tags and have had no issues with them falling off. The webbing starts out stiff, but after a little break in period it softens and the dogs don’t appear to mind the collar.
The collars come in an array of colors and prints. Aspen tested out a dark blue wave pattern with a black leash. The dark color combo helps to hide how quickly the collars get dirty, which I have found is true of any collar we have owned. Suki was originally given a neon green collar and matching leash. The buckle on the collar was jammed up from the get go and Chaco gladly replaced it.
Currently, the Chaco dog collars are only available in sizes medium (14-22″) and large (18-29″). Our 60 and 72 lb pups wear a large with plenty of room to spare. Depending on the season, we let the collar in and out about 2-4 inches to accommodate their changing hair-dos; summer cut vs shagging dog look for winter warmth. In the future, I foresee Chaco adding to their line up a small and even perhaps an extra small. Chaco has the know-how to make a smaller collar, considering the size of the webbing on their sandals. We will keep you posted.
Chaco also makes leashes to match. The leashes are made from the same durable webbing as your sandals and the collar. The leash length is 6ft, but this can easily be adjusted to be shorter or even a tad longer. How is that possible? For starters, the leash has a buckle and loop system that allows you to adjust the size of the loop by which you hold onto your end of the leash. To adjust, simply pull extra webbing from your dogs end into the loop and then slide a small piece of plastic next to the “male” end of the buckle. Having a buckle within the loop also comes in handy for attaching your dog to an object during a quick jaunt into the store, etc. While we don’t condone long tie ups, this feature is twice as handy when you have two Chaco leashes. Rather than alter the size of each loop to fit the object you are tying up to, you can attach the two leashes to one another and double the size of the loop, while letting each dog remain on their own line.
The leash features your typical metal clip to attach to your dogs collar. We had a Chaco leash and collar combo for about 1.5 yrs before the metal clip stopped working. The collar’s plastic buckle and the leash’s plastic buckle were still good to go, it was actually the metal clip pulling away from the webbing. Aspen is a strong dog and after multiple attempts at trying to get to a squirrel or bunny, the clip gave way. The collar and leash combo that we have been testing out have been good to go so, with 5 months of use in them. Small scratches are present on the buckles, but that is about it. The leash and collar have both survived a few trips in the washer too.
For more info on the Chaco Dog Collar and Leash, visit www.chaco.com.
The collar retails for $12 and the leash for $20. Assembled in the USA with parts from overseas.
