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Dangerous collar incident


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Taya (foster puppy)chewed up and destroyed Jester's round leather collar so I had on him a cheap dime store collar just until Taya goes to her new home in 10 days. It was narrow woven nylon, the adjustable kind with a plastic push-in-the-sides release buckle.

 

Taya and Jes were playing, and she managed to pull the collar out enough that it was loose, grabbed it in her teeth and then did a crocodile death roll, twisting the collar around her lower jaw. It was so tight I couldn't slide it off, nor could I get the plastic buckle, which was located under Taya’s lower jaw, to release; so tight around Jester's neck I couldn't cut the collar off, and Jester and the puppy were both struggling so badly I couldn't get her flipped back over to loosen it.

 

I stayed calm and tried to calm the dogs, which was futile. I finally managed to force the collar off over the puppy's lower jaw. By the time I got the collar off Jester he wasn't breathing. I don't know how long it took me to get him breathing again..........you know how those things are...it seems to take forever.

 

Took Jes a while before he could breathe properly or walk. Everyone was traumatized. This happened a few days ago and everyone is completely fine with no lasting damage, and back to playing together -- with NO collars on!! Jester still has bruise marks on his neck, but that is all. I am grateful beyond words that everyone is ok. It could have happened while I was away and I could have come home and found Jes dead, and the puppy god-knows-what.

 

Lessons learned:

1) Never use one of those narrow cheap woven adjustable collars, not even temporarily. They adjust too easily, which allowed it to be pulled out enough for this to happen. Had it been a flat leather collar , or even a flat woven one, non-adjustable, this could not have happened.

 

2) Be sure you really know how to do CPR on your dog.

 

I now have a bit of a debate with myself about collars. I have always left my dogs' collars on them all the time so they always have ID. Now I am not certain that's the best idea. Are there other things that could happen....other freak accidents.....with collars?

 

Do your dogs wear their collars all the time or not?

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Mine always wear their collars. Mick wears a thick leather field collar from Gun Dog Supply, and Sinead (the foster pit, formerly known as Hila, turned permanent resident) wears one of those thick rope collars made from climbing rope. She'll be getting a leather collar soon, though. There's no way either of them could get themselves twisted up in it.

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Do your dogs wear their collars all the time or not?

 

No, mine don't.

 

I know there are risks with them not having ID all the time, but I just prefer them not to have collars on in the house.

 

When we leave the property, I slip on their collars, which have their ID tags.

 

Personal preference, really.

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Oh, my, seeing him not breathing was probably so scary, so glad Jester is fine and you were there to help him.

 

I only have one dog but he never wears his collar inside. We always put it on when he gets out the door.

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The only one who wears a collar all the time (except at night) is Skittles. There are several reasons for that. But, all three of mine have break away collars from Premier. So, even if they are wearing them, I know that there's no risk of them getting tangled up. Unfortunately, break away collars also have a drawback. They will break away with little pressure. So, if they got loose, the collar could come off and if someone tried to grab the collar or put a leash on them, they probably wouldn't realize the collar was a break away and the collar would come off with just a little pressure. But, since I've known several people who have had dogs get tangled in collars and even know people who have had dogs die from being tangled in collars, it makes me feel better to use break away collars. Two of mine go to doggy day care twice a week and I feel better knowing that they are wearing break away collars when they are there. At home, though, my dogs are mostly naked (except for Skittles).

 

I'm glad your dogs are both OK.

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One thing that can happen with any collar is getting hung up in a crate - either a wire crate or the wire door on a Vari-Kennel type crate. I've heard of dogs strangling in a crate because their collar buckle or adjustment ring gets hung up and they panic and start spinning. It can happen with a tag that's attached with a d-ring too. Split-rings usually just pull out, freeing the dog.

 

Dangle tags can get hung on all kinds of things like fences, crates, door handles in cars, etc. I always use Boomerang tags - the kind that lay flat against the collar - the collar threads through slots on either end of the tag. And they don't rattle, jingle or clang against food/ water bowls.

 

The other thing I've seen happens when a collar is too loose. The animal - it happens more often with cats than with dogs - can get their lower jaw under the collar, panic and dislocate their jaw or injure themselves thrashing around. Collars should be snug enough that you can just get three or four fingers under them. Cats should never wear anything but break-away collars. Boomerang makes those flat tags for Beastie Bands. (The Cadillac of cat collars - safe and comfy!)

 

My dog wears a collar 24/7. Ditto my cat. But I only have one of each and the dog is never crated.

 

Glad Jes survived his experience!

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My dog do wear the adjustable woven collars and they've been fine with them. However, they do not wear their collars all the time. They actually only wear them when we leave our property. They never wear them inside or in our backyard. They are microchipped in case something does happen but we have a secure yard and they have great recall so I'm not worried about them not wearing collars.

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Sorry for you scarey experience but it's good to know everyone is okay.

Mine never wear collars unless we're off of our property and they are supervised. Had a scarey incident years ago with one of my dogs getting hung up on something in the yard. I never even realized he was hung up until I found his collar hanging from wire that was placed around a plant in my garden. Wondered how in the heck it got there but quickly realized he was hung up and must have struggled to free himself. It still breaks my heart thinking about it :rolleyes: Never again did any of my dogs wear collars 24/7 or without my supervision.

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Scary!

 

At my house, the dogs are not left unsupervised with each other, nor do we have floor vents, so they all wear regular collars 24/7 unless in a crate. In a crate it's either no collar or a Premier KeepSafe. (The TazLab ones also look cool). At daycare, the dog park, or similar dog-dog play sessions that are supervised and where I need a handhold, Kes now wears a Premier DayCare collar - it's designed with two strong velcro sections for quick release by a human and yet strong enough to allow use as a handhold or leash attachment!

 

I'm currently considering getting several Lupine cat collars and buying extensions for them to use as quick release ID collars - the house we just placed an offer on has floor vents and I find the KeepSafe collars pretty boring design-wise.

 

I've seen way too many lost pets and heard too many stories of people keeping animals without scanning them for a chip - there's no way I'd knowingly leave my pets w/o external ID, but I also won't risk a strangulation incident and quick release collars seem as close to ideal as possible in most settings.

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In the house, Fergie the BC and Maggie the border-cat are naked & nude. No collars.

 

On our local walks, Ferg goes naked, but I have her old buckle-collar & 6-foot leash in case there is traffic or someone with an unknown dog - or child.

 

When we are out of our little personal neighborhood space, Fergie wears a Lupine combo- collar. It's a combination regular and Martingale collar. The great part of the Martingale is that, although it does sort of squeeze in, it never gets to choking.

 

Of course, Ferg and Maggie the Cat (who considers the screened porch all she wants of the outdoors, although she does stalk deer from it) have microchips.

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I didnt used to, but I do now..its just easier, with so many animls iin my house, I somtimes need to be able t grab one of the dogs in a hurry. for example, when one of my birds escaped and Electra took off after him(she IS a bird dog lol) , she wasnt wearing a collar, and that made the whole situation a whole lot more dangerous because I was trying desperatly to grab a dog that was going mental about a bird panicking around her and had nothing to grab. all my dogs wear collars now. scary incidents happen, I have had then happen both with and without collars. for example, 2 years ago, when we had a covered wood pile in the yard, I got home from work and came in the yard..only to see Happy panicking because she had gotten the tarp covering the woodpile cought around her neck and twisted.(my mom was home, but not paying attention), that was just as scary as when Happy's jaw got cought in Perkys collar.

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Its a risk either way: you have to make a choice and go with what makes you feel the best.

 

I am nervous that a collarless dog who got loose would not find his way home, and while my dogs are are well trained and are even very good at not leaving through an open door I have had 2 times in my life where a dog got out and because they were well labeled I got the dog back quickly, so I vote collars.

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Glad to hear everything is ok.

 

Our dogs never wear collars, unless I need a collar on for a specific training exercise and then it comes right off. A while back we had one of our dogs get hung up in the woods, I would guess for a few hours. You could tell he had been struggling in the mud when he got home and it took him several days to recover. So while I realize there is the chance that someone could pick them up and not scan them for a chip if they run off, I would rather have them safely living at someone else house then find their body in the woods.

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Mine wear collars all the time. The exception is if all the puppies are playing together and then collars are removed for safety reasons. My dogs wear their collars fairly loose, so can pull out of them if they hang up on something. They have either the center-ring hunt collars (designed to spin if the dog catches the collar on something) or Dublin Dog collars, which are a thick rubber that would take quite a feat of strength to twist (as you noted, certain styles of collar may be more prone to being twisted). There are no hanging tags to worry about. Nameplates are either riveted on, or they have a Boomerang tag. I prefer for my dogs to be identifiable as owned by someone from a distance, and the only way to do that is if they're wearing collars.

 

J.

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Lacee always has her collar on. I've always done this with my animals and I actually think Lacee prefers having it on. My cat too. But their collars have their name and phone number stitched into it, so there is no hanging tags to get caught on anything.

 

I'm sorry that happened, but am so relieved Jes was ok!! How terrifying.

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Hannah almost never wears a collar. If we go travelling out of town I will put it on. Same thing with Turbo. Jetta always wears one because she will take off if not on a leash. When Turbo was younger and had a collar on, he was playing with Hannah and she somehow got her back foot caught in his collar (she was on her back and he was playing with her) and started freaking out trying to get away from him and he kept moving and twisting her foot more. Her foot was caught just above the hock. We were both right there when it happened and I grabbed her leg and his collar so he would stop pulling on it, and then DH worked to get enough slack in the collar to get her foot out. There were no injuries, but if we were not right there, she could have hurt her leg, or choked Turbo.

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I came home once to find my old Lu with her collar tags caught in the side vent of a Vari-Kennel crate, so no collars in crates around here. Nick only wears a collar when we go for a walk or when we're somewhere off the property other than my sister's place, which is a second home to my dogs. Hoot the pup wears his all the time except in a crate because he's still learning about the boundaries of "home". Nick's collar is loose enough to slip over his head, but the pup's is not. They both have nylon Lupine collars. It's so damp here that leather grows mold.

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I have an "only dog," so the play thing isn't such an issue. It is very scary to hear stories like this. Every time one is told, I start taking Buddy's collar off in the house... but it is a PIA, since he has to have it on every time we go out the front door, which is 3 - 5 times a day. So I eventually give in.

 

Mary

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Jake wears his half the time. Sometimes I leave it on after a walk, sometimes I take it off just so we can both enjoy that super neck scratching, sometimes I take it off just so one of my cats, Willow, can have the catnip effect (she goes batty, rolling around on his collars)

 

Jake's my only dog, though, and he's quiet and mellow so I don't worry about him getting into trouble over his collar.

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My dogs wear collars all the time and boomerang tags for ID. I weighed the risks and since we go in and out of the front door so much (ie loading dogs up to go somewhere) it was impractical to take on and off five or more collars every time I wanted to take the dogs somewhere. If they're playing with a dog that likes to grab necks I will take the collars off. When my dogs play with each other they just don't much play that way - but it is always a concern. Like Julie said, when I have puppies here I DO take collars off unless we're going somewhere.

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Thank God Jester is OK! That must have been terrifying. :rolleyes:

 

My dogs do not wear collars in the house or in our (fenced) back yard. If we are leaving our property, they have collars with ID on them. When my in-laws watch them, they are instructed to make sure no collars on in the house, too.

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The same thing happend to Lucia and a friend's dog. Both my dog are "collar savy" and like to use it to pull the other dog down or drag them around by it. One day Lucia was wrestling with a friend's aussie mix and grabbed her collar. One of the dogs flipped and Lucia's jaw got caught in the collar and was choking Bridger out. Both dogs were in a panic. Than doG we were right there to see it happen. Bridger's collar had a buckle and we unclipped it quick. VERY scary!!!!!!

 

Both my guys wear Lupine martingale because they can slip the other ones. Since martingales are a continuos loop, I take them off anytime they aren't on a leash. I also request any dog that comes over for a play day has the collar taken off while here. The dog park is tougher, but I just keep a close eye on rough play.

 

I'm glad things turned out OK for you. I know how scary that scene can be.

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Some years ago, I was contacted by a family for a rescue pup. This is exactly how they lost their previous border collie when a family member was watching their dog for them. My dogs wear their collars all of the time, but none of my dogs have the habit of latching on to another dog's collar, thank goodness and they are crated when unsupervised.

 

This post is s good reminder and that accidents like this are not just freak accidents. It's happens more than you think.

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Hello all, my dogs don't wear collars for all the reasons mentioned in this thread, except when we leave home. And, all my dog collars are leather. I never use a nylon collar on a dog, because they don't stretch and the synthetic material can cause irritation. My contact info is riveted on my collars so no tags, but it's as much because the jangling noise can disturb sheep as for safety. I prefer my dogs to be stealthy, so I rig for "all quiet."

 

Another consideration is tie out chains, which I use when training, or sometimes at a dog trial. The end that's attached to the dog has a snap with a swivel, so that if the dog twists the chain for whatever reason, it won't cause the collar to tighten around his neck. I don't tie my dogs out for very long at a stretch, but accidents can happen quickly.

 

Same with horses. I never turn one out, or otherwise leave it alone with a halter on. I have seen too many wrecks as a result, and I've been known to reach through a fence and take one off somebody else's horse.

Cheers all,

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