Size Matters

One of the questions I am asked most often is “What size tag should I get?” And the answer is… I don’t know. 

I don’t know your dog, what sort of activities y’all do, how often said dog will be wearing this tag, what activities they’ll be doing while wearing it, their size…any of that. Tag size is by and large a matter of personal preference, and now seems like a great time to remind everyone that Great Danes are my one true love in the dog world. In fact, let me paint you a picture of my perspective of size. The short version? We have a “small” dog in our house. He weighs 60 pounds, and stands about 24” at the shoulder. He’s LITTLE to us, and the smallest we’ll likely ever have in the Miller house. The long version is that we have been a Dane household since 2013. I spent about 8 years referring to a dog that was 145 pounds and 33.5” tall at the shoulder as “the small one”. My “big guy” was 36.5” tall at the shoulder, and weighed on average about 160 pounds. Every tag looked small on those beefcakes, and Shark had enough neck that a 4” wide collar looked perfectly normal on him. So  I’m probably not the best one to advise on what size you’d need for your 20 pound dog. 

But how DO you know what size to get? The easiest way to decide is to make a fake tag out of a piece of paper. My regular tag sizes are 1”, 1.25”, and 1.5” in squares or square diamonds, and 1.25” circles. Cut a piece of paper or cardboard or whatever. Hold it up to your dog for comparison. Heck, even tie it on his collar for a minute (but just a minute, and only under supervision- obviously you’ll need to remove it ASAP after you see the size against your dog) to see how you like the look. I would also strongly advise that if you are a person who has trouble visualizing or “eyeballing” measurements, keep a cloth tape and a ruler handy for any time you’re looking to order gear for your dog. 

I hope this sheds a bit of light on things- both about how to decide on a tag size, and why I’m really not just being a butthole when I don’t have any helpful advice on the matter.