// June 13th, 2010 // No Comments » // Animals, Family, Pets
With the history of custom dog collars we have to go way back in history. Long before people had cows or even trained birds they had their best friend the dog. Even in the old world and even new you will find the remains of dogs buried beside their masters. You can track this back to over 12,000 years. However what we want to talk about is when did we start to use collars or decorate our dogs.
Let’s go back in history from ancient times to the present, and we can look at how history with our changing attitude towards our dogs has helped us to determine how we collar our dogs.
Most of us know that the Egyptians really had a thing for cats, but they did have dogs and they were not always kept in the house like cats were. Cats were more like a symbol to them. The dogs they had were used more for hunting and protecting them. And we know from history that the Egyptians had their cats mummified with them but some Egyptians also had their dog friends mummified with them as well.
Training the dog at the height of the ancient Egyptian included using collars and even leashes. But one point I want to make though is collars were already in use for years. The collars were actually a real work of art for there time.
Now back in Greece they used farm dogs, and they used a special type of collar on them, it was a collar with spikes going through from the inside out. Similar to the spiked ones used by their medieval successors. Sheep herders needed sheepdogs but they preferred to have the white in color so they were visible at night. The collar was made from leather and as mentioned it had spikes in it, the collar was called a melium. The reason for the spikes in this type of collar was to provide protection for the sheepdog while he guarded the sheep from any wolf. Wolves usually would go for their neck and try to bite them there.
Back then the Greek farmers liked to have their dogs fierce so they were great protection, but they did not want them to overly aggressive, like many of dog owners today. They wanted them tough so they could protect them and the family but yet friendly enough so they would not turn on them. As we mentioned before they preferred their sheepdog to be white but they wanted their farm dogs to be dark in color so they could hide from intruders.
The people of old in ancient Greek and Egypt loved their dogs just like many civilizations after them. In cities and towns, the small friendly dogs were called Alopekis and they became companions of the little children and the women. The even would herd the small flocks of geese or whatever animals the family was raising.
Back it ancient Rome dog’s were loved so much that Caesar had to publicly reprimand the citizens for giving so much attention to their pets than to their own children.
While dog’s in the middle ages were used not only as shepherds but also as hunters. They had on the plain leather collars which were used for hunting rabbits or wild bore. The collar was used to attach a leash when the dog was not hunting, however when the dog was used for hunting, they would attach a stick to the collar instead of a leash so the dog would not bite them while they were excited.
By the late 1700′s collars became more decorative, they were the normal thing for the privileged pooch. As new technologies became available silver and gold and brass would allow beautiful collars to be fashioned, they were stamped or engraved. The collars were engraved with the owners name, that way if the dog ran away it could easily be returned.
Today custom dog collars are common and a thing of fashion, with the flashy colors, expensive baubles and personalization make them just as popular today as they were many years ago. To find out more about Custom Dog Collars Click the link here –> Custom Dog Collars.
