How to Customize Dog Collars

You can adorn your little bundle of fur with a customized dog collar. There is no need to visit an expensive boutique dog store to give your dog an ornate dog collar. A trip to the local craft store and a plain collar from the pet aisle at a discount retailer are all the materials needed to personalize a dog's collar. Sewing skills are a plus to make re-usable collar sleeves, but not necessary. A bag of hot glue sticks will typically suffice when decorating canine collars. Make sure you do not forget to re-attach the required dog tags to the decorated collar.

Things You'll Need

  • Dog collar
  • Hot glue gun and glue sticks
  • Fabric glue - optional
  • Tacky glue- optional
  • Measuring tape
  • Fabric
  • Gems or beads
  • Scissors
  • Sewing needle and upholstery thread - optional
  • Straight pin
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Instructions

    • 1

      Purchase a dog collar made of canvas and not leather or plastic. Hot glue will adhere more firmly to canvas or fabric-based collars. You may want to purchase two collars and use one as a base for removable and re-usable fabric sleeves and the other one for permanently affixed adornments such as beads and gems.

    • 2

      Measure the dog collar so you know how much fabric or adornments will be required to cover the entire area. If possible, purchase gems and beads featuring a flat back. If you want to create a design with beads that do not have a flat back, they will need to be sewn onto the collar with upholstery thread.

    • 3

      Lay the collar on a flat surface and place the beads or gems on top in your chosen design. Make sure to leave at least an inch of the collar free from adornment so it can still be firmly secured around the dog's neck. Take a photo of the design to be used as a template while gluing.

    • 4

      Glue the adornments into place with hot glue and allow to dry overnight. You can use tacky glue, but it typically does not hold when exposed repeatedly to moisture. Even if your pet routinely stays indoors, the collar will get moist when the dog drinks from its water bowl

    • 5

      Purchase a yard of fabric in desired colors and patterns from a craft store. You may be able to cheaply purchase remnants or scraps of fabric for the dog collar sleeve since very little material is required. Measure the dog collar before going shopping to make sure you purchase enough material to completely cover both sides of the collar.

    • 6

      Lay the fabric on a flat surface and cut to the desired size. Place the dog color on top of the fabric and use the hot glue to adhere the material if you do not want to make a re-usable sleeve. To create a re-usable adornment, fold the fabric in half and stitch or use fabric glue on the open edge, making sure to leave an open sleeve area for the dog collar to slip through. You will need to use a pair of scissors or straight pin to push a hole through the fabric for the metal closure on the dog collar to fit through.