Pets keep collars ON in the house?

[Freedom]

Do your pets keep a collar on in the house?

I don't use collars for the dogs, I use harnesses. I put it on when we are going out, either in the car or for a walk. Once we return, I take the harness off again. When they go out in the back yard to do their business, no harness.

I used to keep collars on the cats all the time, I was so worried they would scoot out the door. Now I only put a collar on them if we are going somewhere with them; but not for a trip to the vet.

So what do you do with your pets?

[critter crazy]

With my two dogs, and their Wonderful ways of learning how to open doors and such, I Always keep their collars on! The oly time they come off, Is when they are getting a bath.

I have tried to keep collars on the cats, but now I have just given up!

[Ginger's Mom]

I will be interested to see some of the answers, because I am kind of conflicted as to whether I should leave Ginger's collar on all of the time. Ginger has her collar on 65% of the time. She does not wear it to bed, and on occasion I let her go "naked" just because I think it has to be more comfortable for her. My first dog only wore a harness when we went out (she was a year old when I got her and that is what she was used to). I made Ginger wear a collar at all times as a pup for training and control purposes, and I guess I just never got out of the habit of doing that. When someone knocks at the door she goes absolutely insane, so it is easy to just grab her collar and control her. But I do worry about her getting it caught on something when alone in the house. So far nothing like that has happened,

[Cinder & Smoke]

My FurKids wear their leather collars, WITH TAGS, 100% ALL the Time -
without exceptions - even for baths & brushing!

I put it on when we are going out, either in the car or for a walk.
Once we return, I take the harness off again.
When they go out in the back yard to do their business, no harness.

There's way too many situations that can crop up - even when you're all home -
to take the chance of one of them getting loose or lost without their ID
AND a way to hold onto / secure them if required.
Consider:

* You're away and a burgler breaks in - door's open, he runs out of treets, and the Dog Takes Off.

* You smell smoke in the night - after you call the FD - are you going to gather the Gang
to "collar up" before fleeing out the door?

* Someone rings the bell - you open the door and Fido spots the Bunny out in the yard - *Zooooom!*

* These may seem far-fetched - but Stuff Happens!

On the *rare* occasions when I take a collar off (like to change license tags) -
the FurKid who's had his/her collar removed becomes quite agitated and won't
take their eyes off "THEIR" Collar till it's returned.

To me, it's NOT worth the risk that a Beloved FurKid could get lost and not be
able to show his "finder" where he lives.
TAGS save lives! --- Wear it!!

[shepgirl]

Collars go on only when we go out for a walk or in the car. I hate having collars on them in the house, with the tags and all.

[cali]

other-depends on the dog.

Happy and Misty and Elecra only wear collars when we go out, or if they are being dogsat.

Rusty, Ripley and Perky wear collars 100% of the time.

Ripley and Rusty aklways wear collars because they are not the best behaved and need to be easily grabable. Perky is very well behaved, she just look really weird without a collar lol.

Happy, Misty and Electra its because I HATE collar lines, and I dont need to worry about any of them anyway. none of then have any desire to run anywhere, I have then follow me out of the yard(no collar) all the time, if I am running the garbage out, or need to moves something to the garage or the front yard etc.. I will leave the gates wide open and invite them to follow me. so they have fancy collars that are simply slipped on when we go for a walk or run or whatever. all dogs wear their collars when being dogsat, I know they wont go anywhere when I am around, but I cant garentee the same results for someone else entirly lol

[Kater]

I leave a collar on my cat at all times. It is break-away and I test the fit and buckle regularly. I would not do the same with one that was not designed to break-away.

I also leave a collar on my dog at all times (except during bathing), but his collar is not a break-away style. However, I feel the risk is greater that he will get loose than it is that he will get his collar caught. That said, in multiple dog households, the risk can definitely change. I have personally heard more stories about dogs tangling up on each other's collars than I have about dogs becoming caught on inaminate objects. It probably depends on the play style of the dogs involved as well as the way the dog(s) react to stressful situations.

This is certainly a very important topic to consider! I hope that all of our PTers have made the investment to microchip all pets, whether or not they wear collars regularly.

[Pam]

Collars are never on in the house. Years ago I had two other poodles (a mini - Ashley, and a standard - Whitney). One day I was peeling potatoes in the kitchen and heard some awful yelping. I quickly ran into the other room to find Ashley hanging by her lower jaw from Whitney's collar. They would frequently play tug-o-war and play biting games with each other, and by some strange fluke this happened. I was so glad I was home!!! I also heard a story similar to mine happen to someone else not long afterward. When we go for walks or car rides they wear harnesses and collars (because their IDs are on their collars) but when we get home everything comes off.

[Suki Wingy]

Niño has his collar on all the time. He used to be quite the escape artist, even if he always intended in coming back he can run far and has a bad habit of running in front of moving cars.

[Elf Shadow]

Lil just wears a flea collar all the time.it doesnt seem to be working either.she has collars (and a harness i think) when we take her out.

[catnapper]

Nicki has hers on 100% of the time, the cats never have one on. I saw Pouncer try to kill himself trying to get it off too may times to count... besides, if I used a breakaway on him, it broke it off in about ten seconds. I guess he prefers nakedness.

[k9krazee]

Other - Depends on the dog.

Shadow - 100% of the time, she looks funny without it and loves her collar. I'm not worried about her running off or anything.

The rest of the dogs, it depends. They always wear a collar - with tags - when going out somewhere but that's about it. Jack is chipped and he's the one that wears the collar the least.

One of the three cats has a collar, because her and her sister are so similar it's nice to be able to tell them apart at a distance. Haha.

[jackie]

my dogs wear collars 24/7 and the cats never have worn collars.

[lizbud]

My dogs wear collar & tags 24/7. I do take them off for baths only.
Only tried the breakaway collars for cats once & they got tangled up
everywhere, so I don't use them at all on the kitties.

[Edwina's Secretary]

The Es wear their harnesses when they go outside. They hate them.

Edwina wears a necklace or ruff only when attending a cocktail event or going on a special date.

They are both microchipped.