Pets First Cowboys Pet Collar: An Honest Review

I bought the Pets First Dallas Cowboys collar on a Thursday afternoon in late August, two weeks before the season opener, after a friend texted to confirm he was coming to the first watch party of the year. Biscuit was wearing a plain black nylon collar at the time, and it hit me that I was about to host a Cowboys fan whose dog would show up to game day with no team colors at all. That felt wrong in a way I could not quite defend, so I ordered the Large and paid for faster shipping. Eighteen months later it is the collar he wears most weeks in the fall, clipped to his ID tag and left on between games. I have strong opinions about it now. This is the honest version, including the parts the product page does not tell you.

Biscuit is a 6-year-old French Bulldog, 27 pounds, with the barrel chest and short neck that make most pet gear a guessing game. The collar is the Pets First NFL Dallas Cowboys licensed pet collar in Large, and it has survived a full football season, a second one in progress, and more cold-water washes than I can count. Here is what I have learned, the good and the slightly annoying.

How I've Used It

For context: I am Renata Okafor, I coach high school softball in Columbus, and my Sundays in the fall mean a backyard watch party with friends who root for different NFL teams. The running joke is that Biscuit switches sides each week and wears a guest's team colors, which is exactly why I needed a collar that looked like the real thing rather than a plain nylon strap. The Pets First collar is not a costume piece that comes out once a year. It is worn on walks before big games, during the whole watch party, and sometimes for the rest of the weekend because I forget to take it off.

The material type was the first thing I checked before buying. The listing says 100% nylon, and I wanted something that would not soak up the mud from Biscuit's favorite puddle or hold the smell of whatever he rolled in. The nylon webbing is dense and stiff out of the package, which I will come back to, and the stitching is the heavy-duty kind that feels like it belongs on a working dog rather than a backyard spectator. The listing describes the collar as heavy-duty and durable nylon with webbing material stitched together with nylon web binding, and that description is accurate. You can feel the difference between this and a cheap printed collar the moment you pick it up.

The specs say it measures 30 x 0.08 x 1 inches and weighs 2.4 ounces. The 1-inch width is the number that matters for a French Bulldog. Narrow collars dig into Biscuit's short neck, and wider ones slide off his shoulders. One inch sits right in the middle, and the Large size gives me enough adjustment range to get it snug without choking him. The breed recommendation lists all breed sizes and large, which matches my experience: this is not a one-size-fits-most product, it is a properly sized piece of gear.

The routine settled in fast. On game Sundays I clip his ID tag to the D-ring the night before, and we do a pre-game walk around the neighborhood so he can work off some energy before the crowd arrives. The collar has been on for every one of those walks, through rain in October and the first cold snap in November. One Sunday I forgot to swap it back to his plain collar before a Monday vet visit, and the vet tech commented on it. That is when I realized the Pets First collar had stopped being a costume and become his actual everyday collar on game weeks.

What Nobody Tells You About the Fit

Here is the part I wish someone had told me before I ordered: the collar arrives stiff. The heavy-duty nylon webbing and the nylon web binding are built to last, which means the first week feels like buckling a belt that has never been worn. On a short-necked dog like Biscuit, that stiffness made the collar sit a little high until it broke in. Give it a few days of wear or one wash and it softens into shape. Do not judge the fit on day one, and do not return it because it feels like cardboard out of the package.

The second thing nobody tells you: the sizing chart matters more for the chest than the neck. Biscuit's neck measures about 14 inches, which would put him in a smaller size on paper. But his barrel chest means a collar that fits his neck measurement often ends up too tight under the jaw once it is buckled. The Large size clears his chest and still adjusts down enough to fit his neck. If your dog is broad through the chest, size up the way I did. The collar is adjustable and comes in 4 sizes, from small puppies and kittens up to large dogs, so there is a size that fits most builds, but you have to be honest about which one that is.

The third thing: the D-ring placement. I clip Biscuit's ID tag to the D-ring and leave it there permanently. The ring is positioned well, so the tag does not flip up into his face when he walks, and it does not rattle against the buckle. That sounds like a small thing until you have owned a collar where the tag sits directly under the chin and drives the dog crazy. On the Pets First collar the tag hangs low enough to be out of the way and high enough that it does not drag on the ground when he puts his head down to sniff.

The fourth thing is the break-in moment itself. I remember the first Sunday I put it on him for real, I buckled it too loose because the stiff webbing would not sit the way I expected, and he shook his head until I fixed it. The next weekend I buckled it one hole tighter and it settled into place. You will likely need two or three wears to find the right hole, and that is normal. The adjustment range in Large is generous, which helps, but the stiffness hides how snug the collar actually is until it has been worn for a few hours.

How It Holds Up to a Full Season of Washing

The care instructions say machine wash cold and line dry, and I have followed that exactly, no exceptions. After 18 months, the team name and logo still look like the day I bought it. No peeling, no cracking, no faded letters. That is the part that surprised me most, because I have owned licensed pet gear that lost its print after two washes. Whatever method they used to apply the bright NFL team name, logo and colors, it is holding up better than any licensed gear I have owned.

The nylon itself has held up too. There is no fraying at the edges, no thinning where the buckle meets the webbing, and no stretching where Biscuit pulls on a walk. He is not a hard puller, but he is 27 pounds of muscle that lunges at squirrels, and the collar has taken every lunge without complaint. The edges are bound with nylon web binding, which is exactly where cheap collars start to fray first, and after a season and a half mine still look clean.

The wash test that convinced me happened in October. Biscuit found a muddy patch on the pre-game walk, rolled in it, and came home with the collar caked in mud and damp with whatever he had found. I threw it in the machine on cold with his bandana, hung it on the line, and by Sunday morning it was dry and looked like new. No stiffness returned, no color bled into the lettering, no smell lingered. For a collar that gets worn every week, that kind of recovery matters more than how it looks on day one.

The honest caveat is the buckle. The closure type is listed as buckle and snap, and the buckle has developed a slightly looser feel than it had new. It has never popped open on its own, and I check it before every game, but I would not hand this collar to someone who planned to leave it on a dog unattended for years without checking the buckle regularly. For the price of a licensed collar, that is a fair trade, but it is a real thing to know. The manufacturer warranty covers the collar, which is worth keeping in mind if you ever hit a defect.

After 18 months of cold washes and weekly wear, the team name still looks like the day I bought it. That is the part that surprised me most.

The Design Details That Matter on Game Day

The collar features the bright NFL team name, logo and colors, and on a Dallas Cowboys collar that means the design reads clearly from across the yard. At my watch parties, the collar does exactly what it is supposed to do: guests can tell which side Biscuit is on before he reaches them. The colors have not bled into each other in the wash, and the lettering has stayed crisp, which is more than I can say for some of my own team shirts.

The listing says the collar is available in 32 NFL teams and in 4 sizes, and the adjustable design is genuinely useful. I have the Large, and there is enough room in the adjustment to fit Biscuit snugly now and slightly looser if he ever needs it. The closure type is a buckle and snap, which is the standard you want for a collar you put on and take off every week. It is quick to get on a wiggly dog, and the snap gives you a backup if the buckle is ever half-closed.

One thing I appreciate as someone who washes gear herself: the collar is a basic animal collar, nothing more. There is no padding to trap water, no lining to bunch up, no extra hardware to rust. It dries fast on the line, usually overnight, which matters when Biscuit wears it every Sunday. It also pairs well with the rest of his game day gear. The Pets First leash clips right to the D-ring for pre-game walks, and the collar sits low enough that it does not fight with anything worn over the top.

The detail that gets the most comments is how the collar looks with his ID tag on it. Guests expect a costume collar to look flimsy, and instead they see a 1-inch, 2.4-ounce collar that looks like a real piece of equipment. The tag hangs at the right height, the buckle sits flat against his neck, and the whole thing reads as intentional rather than dressed up. That is the difference between a dog wearing team gear and a dog wearing a costume, and the Pets First collar is firmly in the first category.

Who This Is For

This collar is for the sports fan who wants their dog to look like a real fan, not a dog wearing a cheap costume. It is for the person who will actually use it on walks and at watch parties, who will wash it properly, and who understands that a licensed product costs a little more because the logo is the point. It is especially for owners of broad-chested dogs like Biscuit who have been burned by gear that fits narrow dogs and pinches everyone else. In Large, the Pets First Dallas Cowboys collar fits him the way gear is supposed to fit.

It is also for the person who checks their gear the way a coach checks equipment before a game. The buckle needs an occasional look, the webbing needs a break-in week, and none of that is a reason to skip it. If you are the kind of owner who already washes your dog's gear on cold and hangs it to dry, this collar will reward you. It is a low-maintenance piece once it is broken in, and the licensed design is the whole point of buying it in the first place.

Who Should Skip It

Skip this collar if you want something you never have to think about. The buckle needs an occasional check, and the stiff webbing needs a break-in period. If your dog is a heavy puller who snaps buckles on a regular basis, you may want a collar with a heavier closure. And if you are buying for a puppy who is still growing, the 4 sizes mean you will likely need a second collar in a year, so it may be smarter to wait until the dog is full grown.

Skip it too if what you actually need is a working collar for hiking, training, or serious pulling. This is a basic animal collar, a fan piece first and a utility piece second. It does its job beautifully on game day and on neighborhood walks, but it is not designed to be the toughest restraint in your drawer. And if the Dallas Cowboys are not your team, the whole value of a licensed collar disappears, so buy the team that actually means something to your household. There are 32 to choose from.