Yesterday's project was to make a pile of martingale dog collars for the Greyhounds Rock Fredericksburg booth at the Heritage Festival in downtown Fredericksburg on July 4th.
Those of you who are connected with me on FB saw this photo when I posted it yesterday afternoon.
When I started making collars years ago, I only made them one-and-a-half-inches wide and greyhound size. Martingale collars, at that time, were mostly used for greyhounds and other sighthounds, so it made sense to cater to that market. Since then, owners of other dog breeds have learned about the safety provided by a martingale's limited slip choke loop ... and that it doesn't have to cost a fortune to have a whole wardrobe of colorful collars for your dog.
These are some of the collars that my Daniel wore. The one in front was my favorite!
To feed this new interest in martingales, I have added a smaller-size to our inventory. As the photo says, these collars are 1" wide, and they are slightly shorter than the original size ... think of this as a Medium.
I use donated discontinued upholstery fabric samples to make my collars. The samples are small, and I am only able to get two, three, or (at the most) four collars from one piece of fabric. The benefit of this is that you're not going to see your dog's collar on every other dog at the dog park. The downside is that once a pattern is sold out, it's gone ... get 'em while you can, because you may be disappointed when your favorite isn't there when you come back to the booth.
Anyway ... as I looked at the new collars, I realized that there was nothing there for the girliest of pups. There is the brown rose chintz one, and the lime green one has polka dots on the lining, but something was definitely missing. I dug through my fabric stash and I came up with this:
Pink houndstooth! Such a classic pattern, small scale to compliment a more petite collar, and oh-so feminine. It was hard for me to put all four of these collars in the pile for the booth ... one of them would look SO good on Ruby.
If you are local and plan to come to the Heritage Festival, please stop by the GRF booth ... I will be working the afternoon/closing shift. If you can't make it to see us in person and you are interested in one of these collars, let me know and I will pull it from inventory and sent you a PayPal invoice. Or, if you have an idea for a custom collar, I would love to work with you ... I once made collars for a woman so her two dogs would match the couch in her office.
I donate my time and all supplies to make these collars, and every $ of the purchase price is donated to Greyhounds Rock Fredericksburg ... to support canine cancer research that benefits ALL breeds of dogs, not just greyhounds. This is a cause that is close to my heart, since it was cancer that took my Daniel in May (and Emma in 2011).
I love this photo of Daniel and me!!
It is appropriate that I post this today, because it is a special day to celebrate. Today is the three-year anniversary of my dear friends Kim and Andy's dog TJ's osteosarcoma diagnosis and surgery to amputate his front leg. Three years survival is a miracle for this horrible disease, and TJ has thrived as a Tripawd ... continuing to work as an active Therapy Dog in hospitals, schools, and mentoring other Therapy Dogs.
Happy Ampuversary, TJ!!