Meet our last two foster dogs, Bey and Becky. They were, as you can see, ridiculously adorable Husky mixes. I say were. They are still adorable Husky mixes, but they are now in their forever homes (Yay!) and no longer our foster dogs. But while they were here, we were given the opportunity to try out PrideBites Custom Collars.

PrideBites offers customizable dog accessories, including collars, leashes, beds, and more. I chose to get two coordinating collars for the girls to test out the service and the products.

On April 29, I went to pridebites.com to design and order my collars. The website is pretty straightforward. You can order collars already designed by someone else, or you can start from scratch and choose your own combination of ribbon color, hardware color, font, nameplate background shape, and font color for your pet’s name.

While they offer a few different patterns, I didn’t feel the ones they had were just right for these puppies, so I went with solid colors. I designed Bey’s first and then went back and made Becky’s the exact opposite. We went with purple and aqua. Bey’s was to be a purple collar with aqua buckle and font, and Becky’s was an aqua collar with purple buckle and font. The website gives you a photo preview so you can be sure you like how it’s going to look. I loved them both.

I did experience two glitches in the order process. The first was this: When I got done with Becky’s collar, the second in my order, it did not show up in my shopping cart when I went to check out. This most definitely could have be user error, but it meant I had to go back and start from scratch with all seven decisions. I hurriedly did that and tried again to put it in my shopping cart. It worked! But then I saw I made an error in my rush by forgetting to change the font color from the back default.

Unfortunately, there is no option to edit your design once it is in the cart, so I had to remove it, go back, and make all seven decisions a third time. I found it frustrating. Yes – it was my own error, but in my opinion, it should be easier to fix. But fix it I did, and I submitted the order.

The site says to allow three to four weeks to receive your order. And it turns out they mean it. While I was impatiently waiting, they were sending me an average of one marketing email a week. Which I found extremely annoying. I mean, really – why would I place another order before even getting my collars? And how does anything in 2016 take four weeks to get to you? Long story short, the dogs were adopted before I got the collars. They arrived May 26. And to be fair, they were every bit as adorable as the preview I got on the site. But sadly, I do not have photos to share of the girls wearing them. And they have new names, now, so…

Whatever. I will name the next two foster puppies Bey and Becky, and they will wear these adorable custom collars for as long as they fit.

Scorecard

Quality: The collars are nice looking. The ribbon feels sturdier than the plastic buckles, which feel a little cheap. But because they need to break away for safety, I think that’s understandable. Overall, the quality is fine. Standard nylon dog collar.

Style: They are cute. I wish there were more patterned ribbon choices. There are 10 solid color choices and eight patterns. The opposing color schemes I chose meant solids worked better, but normally, I prefer a patterned dog collar. Fashion, man.

Creativity: It’s a great idea. Who doesn’t like to be able to customize things?

Value: At $16.99 for the small (+$1 for M, +$2 for L), they seem to be priced pretty fairly. If you put both your dog’s name and your phone number on there, it’s like getting a collar and tag in one so that’s a pretty good deal.

Bottom line

These collars are fun. I like the idea of personalized collars and leashes. I just wish there were a few more ribbon choices. And they inexplicably take a month to get made/shipped. Don’t order them if you are in a hurry or need a special occasion gift on a deadline. Otherwise, have fun – make your baby a special necklace.