We bought one a few years back for our oldest dog and loved it. We had to get one for the newest member of our family as well. Great quality and price.

I am ordering the exact same collar for our Bernese Mtn. Dog after 4 years of durability and style. It is still in absolutely fine shape. I am re-ordering only because the elements after four years have finally darkened the color some. Our big girl loves to be out in blizzards, and this collar did not disappoint. The tan color accentuates her caramel accents perfectly. You would regret this purchase.

It's very sturdy & padded for comfort

Leather. There is no substitute.

This is a fine collar for a big dog. There is just no substitute for real leather. For thousands of years, leather has been one of the most reliable materials available to man. Leather is still a good choice for many applications today. Saddle stirrups, an arguably importance piece of riding equipment in terms of safety, has been made of this material for thousands of years and riders have staked their lives on its reliability. A good quality leather that is properly sized for its application is very reliable and unlikely to fail the user. In my opinion, it is the perfect material for a dog collar.

I have a large dog that loves to pull on the leash. His old collar is over two years old and it is still in good shape even though he gets bathed every week. The collar has lost its brown color and faded. I decided to replace it with a padded collar and decided on this one, the subject of this review.

This is a wide collar at almost two inches in width. The wider it is, the more comfortable for the dog. Pressure is distributed over a wider area. Of course, that also means he will experience less discomfort when pulling against the leash and may not discourage him from this annoying habit, but that is another topic for discussion. My dogs spends comparatively little time on the leash and a lot of time just wearing the collar around the house. His comfort is my main priority. I can also use an e-collar to discourage him from pulling against his leash. He is a big dog and there is enough room on his neck for this collar and an e-collar to be used simultaneously. I live in an area that have strict leash laws. Even though the e-collar controls the dog better than a regular leash, I have to follow the rules and use the leash.

The quality of craftsmanship is very good on this item. I was surprised to find it for this price. The leather is full grain. The padding on the inside is soft to the touch. I have no doubt that the leather will soften in time. It is stiff right now because it is new.

The hardware is brass. So you will not have to worry about rust. The leash attaches to the D-ring in the back. There is a very small D-ring near the buckle for ID tags. Do not underestimate this feature. Having two separate D-rings on opposite sides of the collar is important. One for the ID tag and another to attach the leash to. You do not want the ID tags and the leash to clip on to the same D-ring on the collar. One day, you will make a mistake (easy to do early in the morning before coffee) and clip the leash to the split ring of the ID tag. One strong pull and the split ring will open and your dog will have his freedom. You also do not want to keep turning the collar around just to attach the D-ring. That irritates the dog's neck. So the bottom line here is to pick a collar with two D-rings.

If I have to nitpick, I would have made the small D-ring on the bottom, the one near the buckle, a little bit bigger. I like having enough room to attach two separate ID tags (In case one falls off), a Homeagain (a pet locator service) tag, and vaccination tags.

I expect this collar to last a very long time. The craftsmanship is superb and likely superior to the designer belt that you have holding up your slacks. This is an honest-to-goodness full grain leather material.

Highly recommended.

First of all, I can state that Vaun Duffy Products is a company with truly World Class regard for product design, quality and customer satisfaction. I recently purchase a Large Soft Touch Collar, and a Soft Touch Heavy Duty Braided Leash. I think the collar and leash are the best value you will find on any similar product. For dogs who appreciated comfort, and owners who appreciate comfort, good design, and quality with a touch of style, at a reasonable cost, this is the choice.

Now, I'll explain in detail why I made those statement; because, I'm a retired Manufacturing Engineering, and Quality Engineering, Manager from the defense industry who likes to tell stories. I recently adopted a 15 month old Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog (I know, I never heard of one either). This dog is a very affectionate, self-minded, "people" dog, who likes to sleep a lot, with major energy bursts in between. He is a water dog who likes to run off the end of the dock into the lake, swim back to the beach, jump up and down looking for admirers; and then, charge off to do it again, over and over. He always attracts people wanting to pet him. When this dog gives you a handshake, or a "love pat" to the arm, leg, or chest you know instantly why they're called a Leopard Dog. I really regret that someone previously taught him to "sit and shake". I wish they had stopped at "sit".

I typically walk/train him on a choker collar. He absolutely refuses to move and inch from the back door on the heavy duty run I made him because the heavy duty clip and cable leash pull on the choker. I got him a 1" x 22" leather collar of cheaper quality; because, I wanted to reward him to swim without a chocker, and make the run more comfortable. The cheaper 22" collar was somewhat loose at it's tighest notch, but no other heavy leather product at either the local national pet chain, or local pet boutique came close to fitting him. He immediately tried to get the collar off, and tried to chew the loose end that was left after adjusting to the tightest notch. After his first swim in the pet boutique collar, I left him on the run, on the deck to dry. I came back 15 minutes later; and, he had almost stretched that collar to where he could get loose. The 1" x 22" collar is now 7/8" x 24".

The 24" Soft Touch Collar fits perfectly at the tightest notch, leaving room for growth (hope not). It has an inner layer of soft quality leather which is 1 1/2" when flat, continuously stitched with higher quality cord to a 1 3/8" wide, thicker outer layer of quality leather. Delta has made no attempts to remove this collar. The stitching is only interupted where the leash eyelet is attached at the top of the collar. The boutique collar has a rolled pattern on it's edges which looks like stitching. The Soft Touch Collar buckle is secured by double stitching of the folded thick leather. The stitching actually includes 2 loops of cord around the outside of the leather. The boutique buckle is retained by 2 rivets, immediated followed by the leash eyelet and single stitching of the folded leather. The Soft Touch Collar has two leather loops to retain any extra belt, so there is no temptation to chew on whatever hangs out after the buckle. The separate tag eyelet, adjacent to the buckle, is also a big plus because Delta's name tag is prominent, and easily readable to his admirers, while I hold the leash in an attempt to keep him from delivering a "love pat".

As for the Soft Touch Leash, it is of the same high quality leather. The people end has the soft inner layer of leather that is stitched all the way into the braid. Both ends are braided, which not only looks good, but provides shock absorption to increase the overall strength of the leash. The design of the braid at the dog end even appears that it would increase the leash's tensile strength. Having designed a run for him in which I wanted no component rated at a load lower than 400 pounds, I know how hard it is to find a leash clip rated at anything higher than 90 pounds. I don't know the load rating of this solid brass clip; but, it appears to be at least as strong as the 210 pound rated plated steel clip I found.

Now the topper. I recieved the leash less than 48 hours after ordering it. I put them on the dog, and went for a walk. The dog, and I, were comfortable with the set up. I put the dog in the back of the car, did not take the leash off, and went to change my shirt. In the minute, or two, I was gone, he had chewed through the leash just above the braid. I was not happy with Delta. I decided to write Vaun Duffy Products, with a picture, to explain what had happened. As I stated to them, it was clearly not their fault; but, I like the leash, even if Delta doesn't, and I asked if I could get a discount on a replacement. Gary, from Vaun Duffy, responded within 30 minutes of my e-mail, and shipped me a free replacement.

Given my work experience I believe I know World Class values when I see them. I don't know if Gary is the owner, or an employee; but, he's a class act with a class product.