Please Remove Your Collars

[areias]

Guys...I just almost had two dead dogs. I had just gotten home, Mom was here...we heard what we thought were the dogs fighting outside. I ran out with a broom, and Star was on top of Romeo-I started whacking Star (really hard) and she would not get off...finally I noticed that she had her jaw entangled in his collar. They ran up the hill in our backyard and I was able to grab ahold of Romeo, when Star fell off the little wall...Mom grabbed her...I thought Romeo was dead, honestly...Mom ran in for scissors while I tried to hold the collar off Romeo's wind pipe. Mom came back and Star was finally able to jerk away and ran into the house. I was about to do CPR on Romeo and he finally started breathing again. Everyone is OK now, I was worried that Star might have a broken jaw but she is alright, admist a few bites on her mouth, and Romeo has a sore neck and bite on him. They are all relaxing now.

What would have happened if that was a chain collar? Or if there was only one person here, if I hadn't gotten home in time? This never would have happened if the collars were left off...I know it's a lose/lose situation, if the dog gets loose and has no ID...but it's better than almost having your dog strangled to death.

[mike001]

I don't ever leave a collar on my dog..The only time they wear a collar is when they go for their daily free run in the bush and hubby is always with them. Otherwise they are in the house or their fenced yard. We do put the collars on when we take then in the van in case of an accident.
But that was a great reminder.

[areias]

Well see..Zoie is usually the only one who wears a collar, as she is the most likely to "escape". I went for a walk with Romeo yesterday, and then just unsnapped the leash, didn't take the collar off for whatever reason-it's never been a big deal.

[luvofallhorses]

we are lucky nothing has happend with our dog's collars. I am glad everyone is okay!

[borzoimom]

Guys...I just almost had two dead dogs. I had just gotten home, Mom was here...we heard what we thought were the dogs fighting outside. I ran out with a broom, and Star was on top of Romeo-I started whacking Star (really hard) and she would not get off...finally I noticed that she had her jaw entangled in his collar. They ran up the hill in our backyard and I was able to grab ahold of Romeo, when Star fell off the little wall...Mom grabbed her...I thought Romeo was dead, honestly...Mom ran in for scissors while I tried to hold the collar off Romeo's wind pipe. Mom came back and Star was finally able to jerk away and ran into the house. I was about to do CPR on Romeo and he finally started breathing again. Everyone is OK now, I was worried that Star might have a broken jaw but she is alright, admist a few bites on her mouth, and Romeo has a sore neck and bite on him. They are all relaxing now.

What would have happened if that was a chain collar? Or if there was only one person here, if I hadn't gotten home in time? This never would have happened if the collars were left off...I know it's a lose/lose situation, if the dog gets loose and has no ID...but it's better than almost having your dog strangled to death.

A chill went flying through me- I had this happen with two shepherd pups once. They were wrestling when the smaller female got her jaw wrapped around the martingale part of the brothers collar! When she pulled- she was choking him- and when he pulled it was pulling her jaw. Both pups were screaming- their mother jumped in to try to figure out who was killing whom. Luckily the collars were nylon and with a very tight margin- cut the collar off of him!! Since then my dogs do not wear collars anymore in the house.
When zubin came he wore a collar for a brief time, until femka started playing with him- then alllllllllll collars came off in the house. I keep slip leads at each door incase I have to get someone quick- but all the leads do is collect dust..
I TOTALLY AGREE with your post on being concerned. Even if its a well fitted collar ( which mine were and I know your would be too) - this can happen!

[Daisy and Delilah]

How scary for you guys!! I'm glad everyone is ok now.

My girls don't wear collars. They have harnesses that I put on them only to go out. Thanks for posting this so everyone can be aware of it.

[Husky15]

A very scary situation! I am glad everyone is all right.

We have a collar on Belle at all times because we must use a leash when she does her business (although sometimes we'll just let her run out herself). So instead of taking it off and then putting it back on whenever she needs out, we just leave it on.

Thankfully, nothing bad has happened with her collar, and I hope nothing does.

[Vela]

My dogs don't wear collars unless we are going out front, I have read about this too many times, and it happens easily with undershot jaw dogs like Boxers.

Very glad your dogs are okay, I have read of other dogs who weren't so lucky so I'm glad they are alright!

[Kfamr]

How scary.

At the same time, with the chance of dogs running off, it's always a good idea to have collars on them. My dogs are never left unsupervised for this reason. Call me paranoid, but I always make sure someone is outside with them.

[areias]

It's so hard to say yes, keep the collars on, or no, don't. I just took every collar off the dogs. Are there such thing as breakaway collars? Do they work? Unfortunately this was a martingale collar...which is why we couldn't get it off right away. It has to slide over his head, it dosen't buckle. She didn't get her mouth stuck in the loop, it was the collar itself, but I guess it would be pretty easy to get stuck in the loop in the martingale collar.

I would keep the collar on, if it was a single dog or if the dog dosen't like to play with the other dogs. But all of mine will wrestle around. I'm going to look around the internet for an alternative.

Here's the wall Star fell off of, Romeo was on top, she was hanging by her jaw, choking Romeo.

[wolf_Q]

How scary! I'm glad they are both ok! Unfortunately with having huskies the risk of them running off is too much for me to dare to let them go without collars. Nebo's is a rolled leather one and I've never had a problem, I would definitely never leave a chain collar or one made to tighten on.

[Kfamr]

Yes, it would not keep a martingale on. I use those for walking only.
I've never seen a break-away collar for dogs.

[Taz_Zoee]

This just brought tears to my eyes. I am so glad they are okay.
I think I will mention this to my brother (who now has two dogs) and also for when Zoee is there for the weekend.
My brothers family is very good about taking off choke collars before they go in their kennels outside. But I am sure no one ever thought of this happening.
Thank you so much for posting this.

[GreyhoundGirl]

A chill went flying through me- I had this happen with two shepherd pups once. They were wrestling when the smaller female got her jaw wrapped around the martingale part of the brothers collar! When she pulled- she was choking him- and when he pulled it was pulling her jaw. Both pups were screaming- their mother jumped in to try to figure out who was killing whom. Luckily the collars were nylon and with a very tight margin- cut the collar off of him!! Since then my dogs do not wear collars anymore in the house.
When zubin came he wore a collar for a brief time, until femka started playing with him- then alllllllllll collars came off in the house. I keep slip leads at each door incase I have to get someone quick- but all the leads do is collect dust..
I TOTALLY AGREE with your post on being concerned. Even if its a well fitted collar ( which mine were and I know your would be too) - this can happen!

I thought of your story while I was reading this... wondered if you'd seen it yet...

Is the 'collar issue' an issue if you've only got uno dog?

That must have been really scary for you.

[lute]

That's terrible! I'm so glad both dogs are ok!

I never put a collar on my dogs unless we are going outside or traveling.