Collars and Tags: An essential evil?

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

My dogs were doing the morning play romp in the living room when the screams began.  Horrifying.   At this time I still believe Starlit's mouth, teeth, or lips got caught up in Spud's collar or rings on the tag.  I still don't know what really was happening except I could not get them apart. 

It became so bad my two elderly cats came rushing in trying to figure out which dog was causing a fight.  Their little paws trying to reach out and stop the violence so no one got hurt. Sweet cats trying to protect their canines.  Even though they  hear the dogs growling and playing all day--they knew this was really bad--it was different.   "OH NO... not all four involved in a fight while my hands and face were down there too"

Been there, done that, and it became hard for me to stay calm.  A calm reaction was the only thing going to solve the problem and stop the screams.

Each time I seemed to be able to calm things down, one dog would move and the screams began again .

Eventually, I was able to remove Spud' collar but I thought he would die before I got it off.  He was listless. <-listless in not in Spud's realm of his hyper life.

So to collar and tag?

Tags provide identity and security for our dogs--something I thought was one of the most important things we could do for their safety.   Rabies and county license  are filed away and are not included on the collar,  but identity tags are  mandatory in my opinion even though I have both dogs chipped.

I know it is a good thing to remove the collar when dogs are crated! To many hang themselves because owners leave them crated with collars, but what do you do if it is normal everyday life?  Or is this just a fluke?

[Liza, Halle and Finn]

Hi!

I know exactly what you experienced!!

My two doodles were playing one night when Kachi's teeth got stuck on Halle's collar! Kachi panicked and tried to pull away, and this startled Halle, so she tried to pull away. This in turn pinched Kachi's mouth harder, and he started to cry,  frightened Halle all the more. Needless to say, it was scary with both dogs crying, and frantically trying to break away. THANK HEAVEN my husband and I were in the room! It was quite a struggle to remove Halle's collar (as she was wrestling to get away from Kachi's hold), but we finally did it!  From that point on, neither of our dogs ever wears their collars at home!

We were just so grateful that we were home when it happened!! It was truly frightening!

[Heather and Rocky]

Joanne - I would have been flipping out trying to handle that.... I'm glad you got them apart.  How are the dogs now??

 

Wow - the possibility of any of this never crossed my mind.  Rocky is an only dog and we don't crate him - but it didn't ever occur to me that something could happen from the collar..... now I'm worried. 

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Joanne this sounds just horrible! I am so glad you were there and this has a happy ending. And what sweet kitties!! :)

This is an interesting collar that might be useful in the house or around the yard when the dogs are not on leash. It looks like you write their contact info on the collar which is stretchy. This would avoid the tag entanglement issue as well as the problem of one dog's jaws getting caught around another dogs collar.

 

http://www.safedogid.com/index.html

[F, Calla & Luca]

That does sound interesting. Maybe someone will report back.

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

Very interesting!!  I think I might have to order one.

[F, Calla & Luca]

If you do please let us know how it is.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Maybe the embroidered collar is the way to go....name and phone only. My Sis in law bought them for her dogs. This is just much to upsetting. Once at daycare a dog got hold of one  of her dogs collar and also somehow got stuck, the daycare provider "stayed calm" (easily said than done for me too Joanne) and rushed out with scissors. She cut a $35 collar of her dog after trying the so called "quick release".

I only have one so it's really not an issue for me but just today on our walk Daisy was so excited she was jumping up and down, her leash came off her collar. I had somehow connected to the ring that holds the tags instead of the collar ring, the tags went flying. Good thing DH was with me cause I didn't even see the tags fly, he did. Daisy stopped immediately when told and came right to us. We were walking in the street (no sidewalks where we live). This is one thing that terrifies me.

Are the two of them fine now Joanne, I sure hope so.

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

I just saw this on a TV show about pets, that dogs getting collars caught is a high statistic killer:(  Can't remember exactly.  But they suggested never leaving collars on in the house or crate.  They also suggested a Break-away collar.   I haven't seen them but you could google search to learn more.  Here is one link I found http://www.breakawaycollar.com/yourdog.cfm

 

So glad Spud & Starlit are okay... I can't imagine how scary that would be:(

[Jodi and Stella]

Oh how horrifying! For you and the dogs. I have heard of dogs getting caught like that while playing ending up tragic, thank God you were there!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Joanne,, We had this happen to us and I did not remain calm. I heard the same screams out in the yard and ran to find Vern attached to Fudge's collar. I could not get his teeth unattached and her collar was so tight, I could not get it off either. The look in Vern's and Fudge's eyes was horrifying. He was as frightened as she was.  I ran to get scissors, screaming for my husband....of course, the scissors had not been put back in the proper place and I was sure Fudge would die. Luckily, my DH did stay calm and yelled for them to sit and they listened and stopped thrashing long enough to break apart. Vern likes to grab Fudge's collar and shake it when they are playing, so I now always remove her collar when they play outside.

This was the one and only time we ever had a problem during their play. Vern's collar also got attached to the AC vent.  I feel too that they should have their tags on, so for now, I just remove Fudge's collar when they play outside. Someone did suggest a tag protector to me when I posted about the AC vent.

I am so sorry this happened to you and your dogs and scared the bejezus out of you. Very glad they are ok now.

[Sharon & Monty]

holy cow! i would like to think that this was freak accident.  poor babies.  I hope everyone is well and calmed down.

 

[Anna and Achilles]

Oh Joanne, how scary, I am so sorry. I am glad Spud and Starlit are ok.