Collar or no Collar?

[jennifert9]

This may be a strange topic but I have a question...how many of you leave your dog's collar on all the time? This is my dilemma:
I prefer to leave Duncan's collar on him at all times, #1 because it has all his identifying information on it like his rabies tag and his microchip info and #2 because I need a way to hold on to him when he doesn't have a leash on. (like when someone knocks on the door and I have to hold him while I open it)
However, my boyfriend always takes it off and swears Duncan likes it better off. Now I kind of agree with him because Duncan seems to love having his collar off and having his neck scratched. I worry though when I'm at work that something horrible will happen, like the house will catch on fire or someone will break in and Duncan will be loose w/o a collar....
So anyway, the second half of this problem is Duncan's neck itself...He has one of those necks that hangs down you know? I can't remember what it's called, I think a cowl? he's got a lot of extra skin and hair underneath his neck, like a St. Bernard. And I think golden's have it too. Do you know what I mean? I'm not describing it very well.....:p So I think he would be more comfortable with a bigger collar but the one we have is as large as they make, at least with the metal clip. ( He had a nylon collar with a plastic latch but he snapped it chasing a squirrel and I'll only use the metal ones now. Anyway, I'm sure I can find a larger one but then he may be able to get out of it.....Silly I know to spend this much time thinking about a collar but I was curious also as to what everyone else did, do you leave it on all the time or take it off when they are home...or do they wear no collar at all...?

[Denyce]

Sequioa our husky always has her collar on. If for some reason she bolts out the door...I want to be sure that she can be identified. What we use with her is a martingale or greyhound coller or modified choke collar. It is made of nylon and can hang looser on her neck when she is in the house. When she is on a leash it tightens up so it won't pull off her neck. I am not explaining this well at all...sorry.

Denyce

[Logan]

I keep the collars on all 3 of my Goldens, Jennifer, for the same reasons that you and Denyce stated. I just feel safer. Murphy, the old lady Lab, does not wear a collar, but she also rarely goes outdoors (maybe 2-3 times/day) and she has a recurring cyst on her neck that has totally healed up since we took her collar off, but her situation, as I said, is very different than the other 3.

I'd leave it on, and just keep working to find the most comfortable, safe one, for him.

Logan

[elizabethann]

I leave Fenway's collar on all the time. However, for some odd reason, I take his bandana off when we get home. I figure it might make him more comfortable without it. I'll always keep Fenway's collar on just in case he were to escape. Though he's microchipped, I'd want other identification on him at all times.

[LeahMM]

All of my dogs are currently wearing theirs but when I bathe them the colllars come off and stay off until we take them somewhere.

[LorraineO]

always always stays on... ANYTHING can happen in the course of a day and if they get loose,, or theres a fire or whatever,,,, they can be indentified..without,,, youre,, well you know,,, outofluck! :(
tell your BF to either leave the collar alone or pay the $$ to get him microchipped!!

[GraciesMommy]

Always on~~

[lute]

i would leave it on at all times if there is any chance of him getting away from you. i leave Beanie's collar on all the time, but Wolfie's i only keep on when she's outside. she can't have on all the time because it could mess up her neckline, and she needs a good neckline cause she's a showdog. i would leave it on her all the time if i could.

to leave it off just because you think he's uncomfortable is a bad idea. the collar could save his life and that's lots more importaint then his comfort.

[Suki Wingy]

I NEVER hold Nino by the collar! It chokes him:( . When I have to hold him back, I hild onto the scruff of his neck. I used to take it off all the time because I thought it irritated him, and it does a litttle, but now I've found a really good collar, and I never take it off. He is an escape artist and gets free at least once a month, and if you open the door, he bolts out.

[cali]

depends on the dog lol Happy almost never wears a collar but I can also garentee that she will never bolt she hnds out candy with me on halloween lol she walks out the front door all the time and I can leave her out front go do something and come back she wont go anywhere lol Misty where a collar MOST of the time, she like Happy wont take off anywhere however I dont trust her as much as Happy, Happy I can leave outside anywhere and she will stay, I leave her in peoples front yards all the time while I go in to visit lol she just wanders around the yard but never leaves it. Misty I always tie up for something like that lol but she does get into trouble a lot so I need to be able to grab her collar. currently she is only wearing a bandana. Perky always wheres her collar she does not go anywhere as long as my mom is home but she has wandered off just to find my mom before(ok so she slowly mosied over to the naighbores house lol) Blair always wheres his collar not that you can tell.. lol he WILL take off if given the chance because running towards moving cars is just the kind of idiot he is lol Ripley also always wears his because he likes to take off and meet people, he litterally finds new people to meet when he has his collar on people can just let us know they have him, when he is not wearing his tagged collar for whatever reason and he gets out people find us from is tatoo lol

[petslover]

None of my dogs wear collar.. Just when I take them walking.

[melandchico]

It is safer to leave it on, however, I take Goliaths off when we are in the house. It's one of those really wide leather ones (he snapped everything else we tried). He also has alot of skin under his neck and when he lays down, all the skin bunches up through the collar and up into his face (hard to explain). It also hurts us when he rubs up against us and it does a number on the walls (he rubs against them like a cat). But we don't really worry about him bolting out of the house because he has never even tried it and he listens better off a leash anyway. I know I am not much help in making you decision, I just thought I would let you know what I do. If your worried about safety, what about just taking it off while your home and later in the evening when people are less likely to knock?

[jenfer]

I used to have Gigi's collar on all the time, but lately I discovered her neck is going "bald". I think she pulled too much and thus it became "hairless" around her neck. :( So when we are home, I took the collar off... but I guess it shouldn't matter, because she is not on leash at home.

[Samantha Puppy]

When she's at home, Samantha's collar is never on. Only when we go somewhere or she's at my parents (they have a tie out when she goes outside, they don't have a fence).

[pitc9]

Sierra - always on, unless I'm brushing her neck, then it goes right back on. (She's run away before, and the people called me after reading her ID tag)

Buddy - He looooooves a good neck scratchin' so I'll take it off, and sometimes leave it off at night because he's on night watch security duty while Sierra and I are sleeping, :rolleyes: and walks around, and his tags make to much noise, and the princess Sierra has to get her beauty rest!! :p

[PJ's Mom]

Mine don't wear a collar at home...only when we go out. :)

[buckner]

My dog doesn't even have a "collar". I believe when we adopted her, she came with one... but lordy, that's far too small now. We use a harness on her instead. It helps her back when she's walking on a leash, and the vet recommended it with our past dog when she had back surgery. We didn't even want to go down that road with Daisy, so it's a harness instead. We don't even have an ID tag on her either.. now I'm feeling like a bad dog owner. We don't have a fenced backyard, so when she's outside with my dad, she uses a leash. And when she's out with me, she follows my commands so I don't need a leash for her. I carry one incase, but I'm training her for certain things and trying to clean up her act a bit... her "piggish" act. :p And oh yes, her harness is always on her unless she's in the bathtub.

[MariaM]

Major's collar is always on him. In my situation, it has to be. Alot of people think its safer to have a collar on a dog 24/7, and some people don't. The hazard with keeping it on him while you're not home is it could get caught in a crate or something around the house. You could give your house a good check for things it could get caught on, because you never know. But I still think its safer to keep one on him as much as possible.

[ZackAbby]

Collars all the time for us. I get worried that they'll somehow get out of the house with no ID if they don't have them on. Sometimes they get to run around a little without them after their baths, but then they get very excited because Zack gets to put on his "tux" and Abby gets to wear her "prom dress." :)

[lv4dogs]

My dogs NEVER wear a collar when inside the house because one time a few years ago Nanook's tags became stuck in the heat register cover. Thank god I was home & the heat was off. But I won't chance that ever again.

I have heard of a few other freak accidents involving collars in the home too.

They are all trained to not run out the door or run away, they are very loyal, trained well, have a good recall and have microchips just in case.

[sammy101]

mine ALWAYS have their collars on.I cant stand it when i see dogs with no collars on.You never know what could happen:(

[cocker_luva]

jesse's is on all the time, except for a bath and groom up.

[cali]

My dogs NEVER wear a collar when inside the house because one time a few years ago Nanook's tags became stuck in the heat register cover. Thank god I was home & the heat was off. But I won't chance that ever again.

I agree, when happy was a pup happy and perky were both kept in the bathroom together when we were not home, well they were playing and happys jaw got stuck in perkys collar, after that collars came off.

[Pit Chick]

My own wear their collars all the time except bed time. I take them off when we go to sleep because I don't want the jingling tags to wake me up and if the fosters in the other room hear the tags jingle in the middle of the night, they'll all wake up and start barking. :rolleyes:

My suggestion for your boyfriend would be to compramise. The dog wears the collar most of the time, but he doesn't have to wear it to bed.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

My dogs wear them outside, but not inside. Buster and Charlie like to burrow in their blankets and I fear them getting stuck and hurt with their collars on. Nacey and Nova both wear harnesses and are way to active to waer them in the house, they are always wrestling with eachother. Bitsys hair mats very easily, so I don't keep one on her for that reason.

[Suki Wingy]

by collar I assume we are talking about this or this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/sukiwingy/PT%20dog%20breeds/martingale_sample.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/sukiwingy/PT%20dog%20breeds/stack-1.gif
I know several people who insist on attatching the tags on to a choke or slip collar and keeping it on their dogs 24/7 :( :(
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/sukiwingy/PT%20dog%20breeds/chchain.jpg

[ParNone]

Mine are never left alone in the house with their collar on. I was home when Murph got his caught one day. I saw how easily it could happen and how easily he panicked and would have choked himself to death if I hadn't been there. I've never had any of mine bolt from the front door and take off for parts unknown. Murph's the only one I've ever had to be careful about with the front door (and now that he's old, not even then) and the furthest he ever went was the neighbors.

So I view the collar in the house as way bigger a risk then no collar. The only time mine wear a collar with tags is if we do something like hiking or if they're outside all day when I'm not home. And with having the Collies now, who are a lil' too noisy for being left outside unsupervised, that never happens.

Par...

[manda99]

Smokey wears a harness and we take it off occasionally. Usually at night.
We call it "taking off his bra."

[sabies]

Sadie's comes off when she is inside and I am home. It is on when she is outside or home alone. I figured if there was a fire or she somehow got out I would want people to know where her home was. Never thought about it catching on something :(.

I think she's more comfortable sleeping without it but not sure if I'll ever know if that's true.

[sammy101]

Originally posted by Suki Wingy
...I know several people who insist on attatching the tags on to a choke or slip collar and keeping it on their dogs 24/7 :( :(
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/sukiwingy/PT%20dog%20breeds/chchain.jpg

my RB Dalmatian wore one all her life.she never had problems with it.

[Shelteez2]

The shelties almost never ever wear collars. Either in the house or when we go somewhere.

[Suki Wingy]

One of those people I'm talking about's dog got it caught on the heater and dragged it arround and almost died.

[KYS]

I have mixed feelings about collars/safety.

Sheba never wears a collar unless we leave the house.
(she has a bad neck)

Rocky has a big strong neck and he wears a collar/ID
all the time.

I like a collar for ID purposes but I do worry that
a collar can get caught on something.

I tried break away collars but ended up going
back to a regular collar for Rocky.

[Soapets]

Sandi and Oreo always have their leather collars on, except when they get a bath once or twice a year.:rolleyes:

[Vette]

I never have a collar on Kirby. he scratches the ever living daylights out of his neck,, unless hes distracked from it with treats or something. after a little while he remembers it on him and back straching at his neck again. so no collars for him.



Originally posted by sammy101
my RB Dalmatian wore one all her life.she never had problems with it.

Same with my bridge girl Muffin. i used to have a cloth collar for her,, and it made her hair go funny and it bugged her. so i switched over to a traning collar. she never had problems with it either. and it was hair freindly. :D

[IRescue452]

Autumn always has a collar. If she ran off I don't think anybody in this area would think to check for a microchip. Also, some chips can't be read by certain scanners. Sonny even wears a collar and hes an indoor only cat.

[schteve_d]

Docker has had a collar on since the day I got him, but I bet that Buddy and Tasha have not worn a collar in almost five years. I took them off of them because they would use them to unfair advantage: Whenever they would play-fight they would grab each other by the collar and chuck the other around and I thought they might hurt each other. Now they just grab each other by the throat!:D :D

[lv4dogs]

I personally know of a couple dogs that have died and a couple more that I heard of while working at the vets office while wearing the choke collars and many many more that were injured.

One was a pup in a car, the owners ran into the gas station for a second & the dog got his collar stuck on the seatbelt thing & hung himself to death.

The other was out in the fenced in yard while the owner was in the shed, the dog got his choke collar stuck in the fence & suffocated himself to death.

For this reason my dogs only wear a choke collar if needed for the begining stages of training and only if I am right there with them every second! If I have to leave their side, even for one minute it comes right off.

[GraciesMommy]

I was gonna add...when Gracie was a baby baby I didnt keep a collar on her when she was in the crate..I was too afraid of her getting her foot hung in it and choking...I had a fear of that happening..

[anna_66]

Originally posted by LorraineO

tell your BF to either leave the collar alone or pay the $$ to get him microchipped!!
Jennifer did say that Duncan was chipped.


Yes mine wear them all the time even though they are chipped. I just don't like the idea of something happening and them being out without id. All their collars are loose so if they did get caught on something I think they would be able to wiggle out of them.

Now I must add something kinda funny. I said we keep them loose right? Well we have to keep tightening Bon's up because when him and Roxey play she always loosens it up. In fact he's once again lost his collar in the yard:rolleyes: Guess Bon needs a new kind of collar hu?

[jackie]

i always take my dogs collars off in the house.

[jennifert9]

Anna, it sounds to me like Roxey is trying to "lose" Bon!! She's probably thinking, "If I can just get this collar off him and chase him toward the fence, maybe he'll get out and I won't have to compete with him anymore....darn cute puppy!! ;) :p

[wolfsoul]

Timber's collar is on all the time. She's never had any problems with it, but she does like it better off -- I think it starts to irritate her nexk after a while. I think that it's better for her to have her collar on 24/7 because my aunt keeps her outside most of the time (Timber doesn't like being inside -- I think she gets clostrophobic or something).

When I get my catahoula, he'll only have his collar on when we go out. I'd be worried that he would somehow get away. ID on a collar is so simple that anyone could pick him up and just bring him to me. Of course he will be chipped and tattooed as well, incase he slips out of his collar or he gets out of my house.

[tricollie4me]

Collars on both the kitty (an inside-only cat) and the pup, 24/7.

[Buddy Blaze Lover]

Blaze's collar stays on 24/7!;)

[daisyshuman8]

I keep Daisy's collar off most of the time. The only time she wears it is when I take her somewhere or we go for a walk or something. She stays indoors usually, and when she does go in the backyard, she needs no collar anyways since our yard is fenced in. She is pretty good about not bolting out the front door, but if she does, she always hangs around the front yard and immediately darts in after I yell a "Daisy Mae, get your butt in here now!!!" Always works! She's a chubby hound who I highly doubt won't go far LOL

[DogLover9501]

Jasper never wears his collar inside, or in the fenced area, he always wears it out though, like at the dog park and things, he's also microchipped but I still like him to have his tags on.

Piddle & Wiggles never wear collars.

[Kevin Farmer]

the only time maximus collar comes off is for a shower, then we let him be "naked dog" for a day. he also has collar neck so if he's not wearing it , it looks like there is something missing. and of course he has several outfits to choose from.

[lv4dogs]

Originally posted by Kevin Farmer
let him be "naked dog"

Naked Dog! Ha, I love it! I call my dogs "naked dogs" all the time when their collars are off.

[Suki Wingy]

Originally posted by lv4dogs
For this reason my dogs only wear a choke collar if needed for the begining stages of training and only if I am right there with them every second! If I have to leave their side, even for one minute it comes right off.
Me too. I never use a choke chain anymore, I use the MUCH more humane pinch or prong. Niño actually likes this collar, sometimes he tries to pull me on my rollerblades while wearing it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/sukiwingy/nino/walk_neck_s.jpg

[Chica]

I KEEP CHICA'S COLAR ON WITH HER TAGS. I ALWAYS HAVE A NIGHTMARE IF SHE GOT OUT OR LOST, THAT I WOULDN'T GET HER BACK! ;)



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v415/chica1/chicafebruary05.jpg
see her colar!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v415/chica1/CHICATOY9MOTUG.jpg
she does have her ID tags on it.:rolleyes: