How to dye wolf collar in Minecraft

Wolves are one of Minecraft's most iconic mobs. They were the first companions added for players all the way back in Beta 1.4; however, when introduced, their collars were stuck being red, which is why the color is such an iconic look on them. This is similar to how beds could be made in different colors, the red bed was the only one, which made it such a classic look.

Thankfully, Mojang eventually added the ability to apply dyes to wolf collars, giving you a neat way to customize their animal companions.

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Steps to dye a wolf's collar in Minecraft

1) Tame a wolf

Make sure to bring enough bones to tame the wolf (Image via Mojang Studios)

The first step to dyeing a wolf's collar is finding a wolf. Thanks to the new Armored Paws update, wolves can be found in a plethora of biomes, ranging from frigid snowy taigas all the way to Minecraft's gorgeous badlands. The full list of biomes that can spawn wolves is as follows:

• Snowy Taiga
• Old Growth Pine Taiga
• Old Growth Spruce Taiga
• Taiga
• Sparse Jungle
• Groves
• Savanna Plateaus
• Wooded Badlands
• Forests

These biomes cover a huge swathe of any world, including those made using any of Minecraft's best seeds, and should make it easy to find at least a few wolves to tame. Speaking of which, you'll need to

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2) Get a dye

You can use any color of dye; it truly comes down to preference (Image via Mojang Studios)

The next step is to figure out which color of dye you want to use and then get that dye. The methods for obtaining each dye can be found in detail below. Ink sacs and bone meal can be used on the Bedrock edition in place of black and white dyes in almost every situation. The same is true for lapis lazuli and blue dye.

• Red: poppies, red tulips, beetroot, wandering traders, and rose bushes
• White: bone meal, lilies of the valley, wandering traders, and trail ruins
• Black: ink sacs, wither roses, and wandering traders
• Gray: black dye + white dye (Java and Bedrock), wandering traders (Bedrock only)
• Light Gray: Azure bluet, oxeye daisy, white tulips, gray dye + white dye, black dye + two white dyes
• Brown: cocoa beans, wandering traders
• Orange: orange tulip, torchflower, red dye + yellow dye, trail ruins, wandering trader
• Yellow: dandelions, sunflowers, trail ruins, villages, wandering traders
• Lime: green dye + white dye, smelting sea pickles, and wandering traders
• Green: Wandering traders, smelting cactus, villages
• Cyan: blue dye + green dye, pitcher plants, wander traders
• Light Blue: blue orchids, wandering traders, blue dye + white dye, trail ruins
• Blue: Wandering traders, cornflower, lapis lazuli, trail ruins
• Purple: Wandering traders, blue + red dye
• Magenta: Allium, lilac, wandering traders, purple dye + pink dye, blue dye + red dye + pink dye, two red dye + blue dye + white dye
• Pink: peony, wandering traders, pink petals, pink tulips, red dye + white dye

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3) Dye the collar

Dyeing the collar is by far the easiest part of the process (Image via Mojang Studios)

Dyeing a wolf's collar is remarkably easy. All you need to do is interact with the wolf with the dye in your hand. This will apply the colorful Minecraft dye to the color, overwriting the classic red look.

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Wolf armor can also be dyed for further customization

Wolf armor allows an extra layer of customization for wolves (Image via Mojang Studios)

The wolf armor added to Minecraft in the recent Armored Paws update can also be dyed in much the same way collars can. In fact, the biggest difference between the two is that wolf armor must be dyed before it's put on a tamed wolf. Additionally, the process will differ slightly between Java and Bedrock.

All you need to do in Java to dye Minecraft wolf armor is combine dye and the item in a crafting interface, similar to how leather armor is dyed in this version. If you're on Bedrock, you'll need to dye wolf armor in the same way you dye leather armor: putting the dye in a cauldron of water and then interacting with the dyed water while holding wolf armor will apply it to the item.

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The ability to dye both wolf collars and wolf armor makes them incredibly customizable, especially when considering there are also nine variants of Minecraft wolf spread across different biomes. This should make any Minecraft survival base much easier to decorate.