Today I was on the computer and the dogs were playing in the room. All of a sudden, I hear Crystal and Jewel (my little IG's) screaming. I jump up and look at them, and they look and sound like they are seriously fighting. So I grab them to pull the apart ... and they won't come apart! By this time, all the other female dogs (they call them b*tches for a reason!) have jumped on Crystal and Jewel and are biting them. The pack-fight mentality. So I smack the rest of the dogs off of them, try to pick them up and see what is going on. By this point (like 10 seconds) they are both screaming, flopping, peeing, pooping ... and still stuck together. I discover Jewel has her bottom jaw stuck in Crystal's collar, with the collar wrapped around her jaw twice. It's choking Crystal. Her eyes are bugging out and she's gasping for air. It's CHAOS! I FINALLY get them on the couch, hold them down enough to twist Jewel around and untangle them. It's like untangling rabid shrews. By this time (like 30 seconds) all the other b*tches have decided that if they can't bite these two, they will all gang up on Sequoia and bite her. So then I have to get three dogs off her.

Jewel is a very shy, timid dog anyway, and she RUNS outside. I really wondered if I broke her jaw. I finally caught her and looked, and it's ok. But she is a mental MESS, and is still hiding. She really thinks I tried to kill her. Another minute or so, and Crystal would have been dead. SCARY day.

I'm ashamed to say that grabbing the scissors to cut off the collar never occurred to me. And they had on the fabric Martingale collars they came with from my friend in Utah. If they would have had regular snap collars, it would have been simple to get it off. Tomorrow I'm going to buy cat collars for them. So, be warned about Martingale collars, everyone!

Now, what's really bad abou this is two of my sister's dogs did this same thing in her yard a couple years ago ... and sadly they both DID die. She came home from town and found them. She will NOT put collars on her dogs at all since then, and I don't blame her. But for decades I have preached the wisdom of ALWAYS having a collar with tags on your dogs. But, if I would have not been sitting right by them today, definately one and maybe two of my dogs would be dead right now.

So, opinions please, folks .... no collars due to stangulation danger ... or collars due to escape and loss danger?