# Collar Accidents?



## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

Since many of us have been frustrated with another thread regarding chaining an unsupervised puppy to a dog house all day I figured I'd post a poll about collar safety. 

I guess I'm upset with the poster because I've had several friends whose dogs have been killed or injured in collar accidents. A friend's WGSD was killed/hanged on a nail in his backyard; Mac's brother was killed/hanged with a flat collar in his pen; my sister's neighbor's dog was killed/hanged on the fence; my vet's brother's dog was killed/hanged with a flat collar in his pen; another friend's GSD was killed/hanged when she left her just for a minute while she dashed in the house to go to the bathroom are a few I can think of at this time. 

I've also known people, including my own sister, whose dogs were playing and one got a jaw caught in a collar but had a happy ending.

You may vote for as many options as apply!


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## unloader (Feb 16, 2010)

My next door neighbor's dog was killed due to her leaving him chained up in the backyard. The poor thing hung himself on the fence. I didn't know her or the dog when it happened, it was 20+ years ago. She hasn't had a dog since.

I make sure to take Remy's collar off once he is in the house or in the yard. We only have it on when we are on walks and away from home.

It's a sort of catch22 because I am worried about him potentially escaping out the front without a collar, but I also don't want him hurting himself.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

My aunt's Boxer jumped the fence and got caught at the top and hung himself.

My mom's friends Shar Pei did the same thing, both of them died.


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## gagsd (Apr 24, 2003)

I have had multiple accidents.... when I was there supervising. Luckily no injuries.
--Tags caught in floor vent, dog walks over to me with floor vent hanging from collar. 
--2 playfighting and lower jaw of one hung in the collar of the other.
--Jump up on gate and get links of fursaver caught on top curlique of gate

A lady I knew always left her Golden Retriever on a suspended runner and he somehow got over it, hung himself and was found dead.


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## PupperLove (Apr 10, 2010)

WOW this is all so scary  . I do not personally know of anyone who has had a dog with a collar accident, but this has really got me worried.


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## dogfaeries (Feb 22, 2010)

I haven't had any accidents with my big dogs, but had an Italian Greyhound get his jaw caught under the collar of my other IG. If I hadn't been sitting right there while they were playing, I'm pretty sure I would've had at least one dead dog.

My dogs are all naked at home now.


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## VChurch (Jun 14, 2010)

dogfaeries said:


> My dogs are all naked at home now.


 

Mine too!


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

I must admit that so far I'm shocked at the results of this poll. I didn't realize so many people know of dogs who have had some type of collar accidents ... IMHO this is really frightening. 

When I posted the poll I assumed that the total for the "*NO I don't know of any dog harmed by collars*" question would have the highest total with a split among the other three questions. I guess it proves you should never assume.


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## Daydreamer (Jan 25, 2010)

My little JRT somehow got her collar hung up on a mini blind. Thankfully we got her free before she was injured but it sure was a close call. She was choking and gasping and my husband had to cut her collar off. Another minute or two an we would've had a dead dog. No collars now expect when away from home, though i have just ordered some breakaway collars to try - i hate them being wihtout tags.


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## KohleePiper (Jun 13, 2007)

The only collar I would leave on my dogs is a breakaway collar for dogs! This way if the dogs play and the collar gets snagged it will just pop off. I've seen them get their jaws stuck in the collar before and also tags stuck and that worried me too much!


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## Wolfiesmom (Apr 10, 2010)

I have seen dogs get their jaws stuck in their collars. Wolfie got his dog tags stuck once, but he broke free, thank goodness. Now he only wears his collar when I am supervising him. On the subject of leaving a puppy or dog chained to a dog house unsupervised, my father did this and his dog was struck by lightening and was killed. The lightening hit a nearby tree and traveled down the dogs chain and electrocuted the dog.


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## we4elves (May 11, 2010)

After reading posts on the forums..I have ordered breakaway collars and all of my dogs wear them now...I am not comfortable with them not having any id tags on....just in case


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

The only dog I know personally who had a collar accident was hanged by a prong collar but managed to get loose. This Husky/Shepherd/? mix was left in the backyard on a tie-out with a prong collar by a woman who rescued dogs. The fence was a 6 foot wooden fence with a 4 foot chain link inside it (the chain link was their old fence that they never removed.) 
She climbed the fence but the tie-out was not long enough to reach all the way to the ground on the other side. A friend of mine happened to be walking past and saw the dog struggling as she hung down near the top of the fence! My friend ran over and as she did the dog managed to struggle herself loose (two of the prongs disconnected from each other) and she was able to grab the dog. She took the dog to her house and called me since I knew the rescuer. She ended up adopting the dog. 

The only other incidents I've seen are with my cats, they have breakaway collars so they never hurt themselves but I have found one of my their collars hanging stuck near the top of my Sugar Glider's cage (the tag was caught through the bars) and another collar hanging from the fireplace where it got caught and came loose.


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

Chicagocanine said:


> ...
> The only other incidents I've seen are with my cats, they have breakaway collars so they never hurt themselves but I have found one of my their collars hanging stuck near the top of my Sugar Glider's cage (the tag was caught through the bars) and another collar hanging from the fireplace where it got caught and came loose.


Darn, I wish I had thought about including a category for cats and other animals in the survey. This just proves that collars can be dangerous regardless of the species.


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## mazza (Jun 11, 2010)

My Vinnie somehow got his collar caught on kitchen cupboard door handle while he was drinking his water a couple of years ago I couldn't believe my eyes when he came walking through to me with this door hanging from his collar yep he just took the door of the hinges and came through with this look of oops didn't know I was that strong mum


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

arycrest,,why not start another poll with that very topic?????


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

JakodaCD OA said:


> arycrest,,why not start another poll with that very topic?????


What a great idea ... I'll definitely start one later today!!!


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

I don't know of any dogs (only from the Forum) personally that had accidents with the collar, but than again, I only know very responsible dog handlers that wouldn't chain a dog to the dog house all day long. 

Mine wear their collar 24/7. Even the puppy does, we've never had ANY accidents. We also never had any accidents at my parents place.


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

Wolfiesmom said:


> I have seen dogs get their jaws stuck in their collars. Wolfie got his dog tags stuck once, but he broke free, thank goodness. Now he only wears his collar when I am supervising him. On the subject of leaving a puppy or dog chained to a dog house unsupervised, my father did this and his dog was struck by lightening and was killed. The lightening hit a nearby tree and traveled down the dogs chain and electrocuted the dog.


If they can get their Jars stuck in their collar they are wearing the wrong collar. That is for sure!:help:


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

IMHO you are more likely to have an accident in losing a dog due to NOT wearing a collar with ID tags than due to a collar "accident."

Not everyone takes dogs to the vet to be scanned for a chip, in fact, many people I have come across rehoming "found" dogs haven't had them scanned for a chip.

And I agree Mrs. K, I've never known anyone to have a dog have a collar accident, nor have I myself, and if a dog can get it's jaws stuck under another ones collar, the collar wasn't fitted properly.


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

After messing up the poll about cats and collars I finally got one posted.
http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/general-information/138420-collar-accidents-cats-etc.html


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## Jax's Mom (Apr 2, 2010)

Rerun said:


> IMHO you are more likely to have an accident in losing a dog due to NOT wearing a collar with ID tags than due to a collar "accident."
> 
> Not everyone takes dogs to the vet to be scanned for a chip, in fact, many people I have come across rehoming "found" dogs haven't had them scanned for a chip.


I don't disagree  
But lucky for GSD owners, chances are people are not going near them and calling animal control 
My biggest pet peeve is when people only put their phone number on the tag. In our neighorhood it's a common occurance for dogs to escape from their house and bolt to the park where they "know" their friends are. I always return them home or wait for their owners to show up but a phone number doesn't do me much good unless I have my phone with me.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Our puppy Uschi got caught going under the twisted wire fencing around our pasture. The S-ring that holds her rabies/name tag onto her collar got caught on the wire and she panicked, naturally! I was standing there talking to our neighbor so was able to unhook it but I had to take the collar off of her, she was going nuts! She was pulling and twisting so hard that she definitely would have been injured if I wasn't right there. Now I use a regular ring for their tags.


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## Ucdcrush (Mar 22, 2004)

It's hard to imagine 1 person with all those bad experiences (OP). My dogs always wear flat collars when I'm gone, that has my name address and some phone #s on it.

I have worked to "dog proof" the area they are in during the day, though there are probably theoretically places that their collar could be stuck if they jumped up a certain way, I'll definitely take another look around out there..


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## Elliehanna (Mar 17, 2010)

I have always had a collar on all of my dogs I have ever owned, never had any issue with them, had my male on a chain spot (if its proper set up you will not have issues with hanging on the fence since it should NEVER have enough slack to get to the fence) My dogs wear collars 24/7 with there rabies tags and an ID tag on them. I think the issue many people have with dogs getting caught on things is the collar is way to loose, it should be able to fit 3 fingers FLAT against the neck not stacked on top of each other under the collar. I grew up with dogs always having collars on for protection if they got out (they never did get out) so I really do not understand why to not have a properly fitted collar or a harness on a dog at all times.


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## AliciaMaria (May 8, 2010)

Mrs.K said:


> I don't know of any dogs (only from the Forum) personally that had accidents with the collar, but than again, I only know very responsible dog handlers that wouldn't chain a dog to the dog house all day long.
> 
> Mine wear their collar 24/7. Even the puppy does, we've never had ANY accidents. We also never had any accidents at my parents place.


Same here... How awful though!! I didnt realize so many people left their dogs outside unsupervised... (or knew people who did..) my dogs' collars are on loose enough that they can pull out of them, and if they play rough enough with each other, you'll find a naked dog running around the house once in a while.  But thats it... and theyre definitely not loose enough for their jaws to get caught..! Thankfully, we dont have any fences here, so no hangings are in store... (so sad..)

Ive heard of huskies climbing fences though and doing this... back when I used to volunteer for a siberian husky rescue.


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## AvaLaRue (Apr 4, 2010)

I had collars on my ShihTzu's (before I got my GSD) and my oldest, Chewy, likes to lay on the air vents in the house to stay cool in the summer. 

Last summer his ID tags got caught in the vent. Luckily I was home. He is never out of my sight for very long as he is a velcro dog. When I realized he wasn't glued to me after a few minutes, I went looking for him. He was in full panic mode. He was trying to pull his his collar away from the vent and twisting and turning his head. He's collar fitted properly so there was no way he was going to pull his head out of the collar.

I shudder to think what would have happened to him if I had not been home. No collars on any of my dogs now unless we are going on a road trip!!!


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## G-burg (Nov 10, 2002)

My dogs always wear a collar.. either a flat collar with tags or a fur saver.. 

I guess for me it's more about if they happen to get loose, I'd rather them have some sort of collar on then not.. Most people who see dogs with collars may figure they actually do belong to someone and may be more opt to help find that dogs owner, even if they are taken to the shelter..

Maybe I'd change my mind (about them wearing collars) if my dogs were to have some sort of accident that involved their collars, tags getting caught on something..


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## VegasResident (Oct 4, 2006)

I have seen pups get jaw caught in collar.

My dogs were under strict naked rule at home. Collar is only worn when we are oging to take them somewhere.


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## JudynRich (Apr 16, 2010)

I have two active big puppies and I ordered breakaway collars...still too strong for my comfort level...they could be injured too easily. The only time my dogs wear collars is when we travel or take them in the car. They are microchipped. I have heard of the injuries, so I prefer safe to sorry. Same reason I buckle up and put kids in car seats!


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

I had a puppy get its jaw caught in the adult dog's collar. It needed my help to get out. Screaming ensued.

Oh, and I forgot about the day I came home from work and found my puppy's collar broken and the tags broken off after a crate accident. She flew out of that crate in a panic when I got home.


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

Jax's Mom said:


> I don't disagree
> But lucky for GSD owners, chances are people are not going near them and calling animal control
> My biggest pet peeve is when people only put their phone number on the tag.


I agree! Most of the time Bianca wears a collar with a flat ID plate on it which has my home number, cell, vet's number, address and underneath it says "If I'm Alone, I'm Lost". (She also has a tag bag attached to the collar with her rabies tag, city license, and microchip tag in it.)

Even worse than a tag with just a phone number is when the dog is only wearing a rabies tag or city license (no ID tag with the owner's info.) Where I live, there is a phone number on those official tags, but it is to the city pound... If you call them they will either give you the contact # for the owner (if it's a city license) or the number of the vet who has that batch of tags (if it's a rabies tag.) However that doesn't help much if you find a dog after business hours! I have had to keep a dog in my yard overnight because he only had a rabies tag so I couldn't get the contact info for the owner until the city office opened in the morning. I've also found a dog wearing only a tag from the shelter he was adopted from-- luckily they were able to give me the owner's contact info.
I have also found a dog wearing a rabies tag where I was able to get the vet's number, but the vet had only seen the dog once almost a year previously when he got the rabies shot and the contact info they gave me for the owner was out of date. I wasn't able to find out where the owners moved to, there was no forwarding address or phone number and I never found them. My best guess is they dumped him.


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## Kroush (Jul 4, 2010)

With a Siberian, he HAS to have a collar on at all times because they will run away at any given chance and I don't want to chance him darting out the door one day without any ID. He is Microchipped, but it's an ISO standard 15 digit chip and a lot of American shelters only have the 9 digit and may just put him down. 

He is trained to sit and wait in the doorway, but he's very excitable and I don't want to just leave it up to training with this breed.

Now the GSD Sibe mix I may be picking up, because of the GSD in her is a little more obedient, but I don't just want to chalk it up to chance again!


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## VegasResident (Oct 4, 2006)

Bought time someone thinks out of the box...yes the collar is good for walking, but why cant a dog wear their IDs somewhere safer on their body (still visible unlike the microchip) a place that does not kill them if it gets caught on something? I dont know, like a doggy bracelet or something.


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## VegasResident (Oct 4, 2006)

Something like this that is chew resistant for the dogs ankle.

Road ID - Learn More - the Wrist ID Elite

Better than see them get their neck caught I would think.


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## Kroush (Jul 4, 2010)

Well, there are harnesses with places for ID tags, but Loki gets his jaw stuck in his harnesses all the time, I'd imagine that'd be just as easy to do with a bracelet.

The only other safe option I think would be ear tattooing.


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## VegasResident (Oct 4, 2006)

Mine had an ear tattoo, but as a long coat GSD the fur gets in the way.

Then again, the one time she got out of back yard as a pup years and years ago when her doggy door went there and we were having sunroom built (grrr, stupid sunroom guy opened gate..) I got home at lunch to find her sitting on the front porch waiting for me....boy did I chew out the sunroom guy and she stayed locked in house the rest of the time till he was gone!

Heck, lets use white hair dye on their black saddle area! :happyboogie:


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

VegasResident said:


> Mine had an ear tattoo, but as a long coat GSD the fur gets in the way.
> 
> Then again, the one time she got out of back yard as a pup years and years ago when her doggy door went there and we were having sunroom built (grrr, stupid sunroom guy opened gate..) I got home at lunch to find her sitting on the front porch waiting for me....boy did I chew out the sunroom guy and she stayed locked in house the rest of the time till he was gone!
> 
> Heck, lets use white hair dye on their black saddle area! :happyboogie:


Yukon and Too both had tattoos (Yukon-inner thigh, Too-ear) containing their breeder's CKC identification. In fact that's how the breeder got Yukon back after his owner abandoned him outside of Winnipeg. But what always concerned me was if one of them had been lost in Maryland or Florida, would someone know to contact CKC? I know I've been contacted before and seen message asking what this or that tattoo could be for. What kind of information is fool proof for this type of identification?


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## Duke-2009 (Apr 13, 2009)

We use the electric fence for both of my dogs and to be honest we very rarely put the zap collars on them. They are very well trained. Lucky is 5.5 years old and Duke is 18 months. Neither has ever tried to leave the yard. No runners or chaining them up so they are both usually collar-less. We are lucky to have a few acres. Scary stuff.


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## Melly (Mar 21, 2010)

Well my dogs have the adjustable break away collars just for their id tags. I have heard of dogs getting injured by collars but have never actually witnessed it. But I would rather be safe lol.


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

Just a reminder that the Poll part of this thread will be closing tomorrow afternoon, 7/28/10. If anyone wants to participate after the poll closes you can always add the information as a message.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

I have had 2 of my OWN dogs have collar accidents and witnessed another pair of dogs have one.

My boys Riggs and Remi were wearing their fur saver collars. They were wrestling and mouthing each other on the necks. I was sitting at the computer, basically ignoring their silliness when suddenly they started yelping.

Riggs had managed to get his lower canine teeth wedged INSIDE one of the links of Remi's collar!!

Luckily I was right there and was able to shut down their panic instantly (I SCREAMED STOP!!).

*It took me about 3 minutes to free him.* I had to physically lift him up and turn him around because he had spun and twisted the collar around. Then I had to work the link off his teeth.

If I hadn't been there the LEAST amount of damage would have been broken teeth. More likely it would have been one dog with a broken jaw and one strangled dead dog.

The other incident was at dog camp. I was in the field during off leash playtime and I was watching a pair of male dogs wrestling just like Remi and Riggs had been - mouthing the necks. I was walking over to the owners to advise them t remove the dogs collars when one dog managed to slip his jaw under the collar of the other dog and got stuck.

Again - the very first thing the dogs did was panic. Luckily we were able to grab them right away and free them.

My dogs NEVER wear collars unless there is a leash attached to it. Naked in the house, naked in the yard, naked at the dog park and so on.


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## VegasResident (Oct 4, 2006)

No leash no collar....  My dog is always naked except for walks and when transporting in the car.


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