Wednesday, January 30, 2019

A Collar Warning

   PrideBites Collar
   Do you leave your dog’s collar on all of the time? I’d read that they could pose a danger but to be honest, I’ve always left my dogs’ collars with their id tags on them. Most of the horror stories I’ve read involved the dogs fighting or getting the collar caught on furniture. Since we are usually home with the boys it didn’t seem to pose a problem. The main reason I’ve always left them own is for identification should they ever get lost. Yes, they are microchipped but most people immediately look for a collar. Did I mention neither of the boys has a strong recall? If they get out, they will take off like greased lightning.
Woman kissing dog
   Anyway, those are my excuses and I honestly never gave it much thought until the other night. The sound of Bentley’s id tag jingling woke me up. He was scratching his neck when my husband and I heard him whimper. Not a yelp but it was obvious that something was wrong. I hopped out of bed only to discover a nail on his back paw had became stuck in the leash loop of his collar! Luckily, he was not injured but if that happened when we were not home, he no doubt would have ripped his nail out trying to get loose. His nails weren’t that long but he hit that silver ring at just the right angle and it hung.
The Bayou Boys in the backyard
   As Maya Angelou said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” The Bayou Boys only wear their collars on when they are going ‘free-range’ in the backyard. I think we learned a valuable lesson and were very lucky. I’m passing our lesson on to you in hopes that no dog or cat run the risk of getting a nail caught in their collar.
*If you have reclining chairs, you’ll want to read “A Recliner Warning” which is another lesson we learned the hard way.
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20 comments :

  1. Excellent advice and thank you. Maybe this is the spur folks need to redesign tags so they sit flat on the collars rather than dangle loose? More name plate style rather than tag? Thats what I would do, anyway. Glad no one was hurt or upset by your incident.
    Purrs
    ERin

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  2. aaah that is a nightmare...how good that you were there to help out... we agree that can be dangerous... so we will look for a solution...

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  3. We man - glad you were home when that happened! Great post with such valuable advice!!

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  4. This is scary and thank goodness your peeps were home and heard your call of distress, Bentley. I have gotten my dewclaw caught in the ring of my martingale collar before and mom has always been there to help me out.

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  5. Thank goodness that was a happy ending! Mom heard some horror stories about unsupervised doggies and collars. I wear a Martingale collar, so that’s even more tricky. I am naked unless we’re leaving the house with my leash.

    Love and licks,
    Cupcake

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  6. We have ours on starting when we go for our morning walk until we are out for the last time at night. Mom lets us sleep naked so we are more comfortable, and there is no nighttime jingling. If we are ever kenneled we take them off too, but during the day they are on. Normally we go in and out so much it is just easier to leave them on. They are not real tight, so they can easily slip off over our heads if needed. Glad Pierre is alright. That guy sure causes a lot of worries for you guys these days!

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  7. That's probably why us kitties don't wear collars. When we had doggies they only put their collars on when they left the house too.

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  8. Yikes...that could have been really scary if he had been alone.
    As Brian said that is exactly why Madi never wore a collar. The saying is anywhere a cat's head fits so will his/her body. I was always worried Madi's head would go places it should not go and then the collar would get caught.
    Hugs Cecilia

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  9. Manny and Chili Bruce know how to get their collars off, so after several attempts, they go without. And I've heard horror stories about collars, as we all have. It's good to know that this one incident was handled quickly and no injuries to anyone (except, your heightened fear factor!)

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  10. That is scary. I am glad he is OK.

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  11. We've always kept collars on all the time. But we keep them fairly loose, so I think they could be slipped out of if needed. With Luke going in and out into the yard all day, it really needs to be on. But I will reconsider that now for times that we are not here. I do remember when Luke was a puppy his collar got stuck on his crate. That was the last time he wore it when in there! Now he has the soft sided crate so no worries there, and he's rarely shut in there anyway.
    Jan, Wag 'n Woof Pets

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  12. They have breakaway collars now. The kennel that I sometimes board Blueberry makes them mandatory.

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  13. Our pack's break away collars come off at night...and are never worn if crated.

    Great heads up!

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  14. We're glad you're OK, Bentley ! Good advice ! Purrs

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  15. Daisy Mae only has a flea collar. No microchip. Vet never mentioned that. Joined your blog hop for Pet Parade. Stay warm.

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  16. Our dogs only wear collars when we are leaving the house for some reason. Over 25 years ago (before we knew better) two of our dogs (a rottie and a German Shepherd) were doing their usual bitey face/wrestling in the back yard. Fortunately we were in the yard too. The rottie got her lower jaw stuck under the GSD's collar. The rottie was stuck and the GSD was choking to death. Luckily we were able to rush over and separate them. From that point on our dogs have never worn collars in the house or even in our back yard. One rule we also have is that our dogs are never left unattended in the back yard so there is no worry about them escaping. An added bonus is not having to listen to clanging tags in the middle of the night.

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  17. Oh, that is so scary! I am glads you were right there to free Bentley! I always have a collar on, butts Ma's gonna rethink that! Thanks for the heads up, Ma really didn't think about the nails catching.
    Kisses,
    Ruby ♥

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  18. Like you, we used to leave the collars on all the time , but I know of two dogs who were killed by their collars and that was all it took. It's a one in a million chance maybe but that is enough.

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  19. Oh gosh, what an important lesson! We'll have to reconsider the wearing of those collars indoors.

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  20. I don't keep collars on my gang, I use slip leads when I need to walk them.

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