# Long Stock Coats (Fur Question)



## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Just a quick, maybe somewhat silly, question. Koda would be considered a Long Stock Coat, and I've noticed that the fur underneath where his collar lies gets kind of twisted up and it looks as though he has a permanent ring around his neck from it being there. Trust me, it's not from the collar being to tight, I can fit three fingers or more between it an his neck. It's not from lack of grooming either. He gets a bath at least once every two weeks and I brush him regularly. I pay special attention to the area around his neck as I've noticed it beginning to do this and don't want it to get matted under there, so I keep brushing it out. I just finished giving him a bath (Literally, that's why I got to thinking about this) and loosened his collar, almost to a stupid, unnecessary level, to see if it makes any sort of difference...

I was just wondering if anyone else longer coated Shepherds were experiencing the same thing?


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Yeah, mine do that too. Their collars aren't tight either, so there's not really any pressure holding the hair down, it just seems to sort of bend over on its own.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

I put a rolled leather collar on Stosh and it seems to have helped with the wild hairs


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

:thinking: So there's nothing that can be done about it? I just don't want it to get any worse. I'll just keep brushing, bathing, and leaving the collar pretty loose, I guess.

*Edit - Man, I just noticed a few spelling errors in my first post. Where has my head been at lately? That stuff bothers me...


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## Whiteshepherds (Aug 21, 2010)

Melina said:


> :thinking: So there's nothing that can be done about it? I just don't want it to get any worse. I'll just keep brushing, bathing, and leaving the collar pretty loose, I guess.


Try removing the collar when the dog isn't outside especially at night if he/she sleeps in the house. Also check to make sure the collar is dry when it's on them. (sometimes they get wet in the rain and we don't even notice)


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Whiteshepherds said:


> (sometimes they get wet in the rain and we don't even notice)


:rofl: Rain...In Arizona...That's a good one.

Seriously though. I'll try removing his collar at night, maybe the less time around his neck, the better.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Maybe try a leave-in conditioner on that area and see if it prevents tangles


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## Uniballer (Mar 12, 2002)

Melina said:


> I've noticed that the fur underneath where his collar lies gets kind of twisted up and it looks as though he has a permanent ring around his neck


Have you tried a fur-saver collar?


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

It's not just the long coats. Even my stock coats will get a ring of fur rubbed out if they wear their collars all the time, although I can imagine it's worse for long coats. Ike had a bad one when we got him because his owner left the collar on all the time. It took almost 6 months for the hair to shed out and grow back properly. I don't leave collars on my dogs in the house or in their crates and no one has a ring.


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Uniballer said:


> Have you tried a fur-saver collar?


Hmm, I wasn't sure what one of those looked like, so I checked it out. Looks similar to the choke I have for him, which doesn't seem to be doing anything to his fur, I think it's only his flat collar that's doing the damage.

I know a lot of people are opposed to leaving collars on while inside for safety reasons, but Koda and Riley don't play inside (Riley has actually been scared of him lately, I have no idea why, but it's beginning to worry me) so they won't entangle in each other, though I suppose he could snag it on something else which could potentially be disastrous. Either way, I'm horrified of him accidentally getting out somehow, and if he didn't have his collar on with his tags, how would I ever get him back?

Maybe I can try the leave in conditioner...Hmm...


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## Whiteshepherds (Aug 21, 2010)

Melina said:


> :rofl: Rain...In Arizona...That's a good one.


 Opps, didn't know you were from Arizona. My son lives not too far from Sedona and one of the only complaints he has about the area is the water shortage.


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## vomlittlehaus (Aug 24, 2010)

I dont like the 'mark' the collar leaves around my dogs neck either. I use a flat collar when not training. I dont even keep the collar on her much, only when on walks or traveling away from home. Even if we are out in the yard (not fenced) playing or working, I dont always have it on. She stays very close and in the yard, but we also live on a remote street with water front and back, so not much traffic but neighbors.

As far as the rain goes, it has been raining since yesterday. I dont like to keep a wet collar on a wet dog, gets smelly.


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

Melina said:


> I know a lot of people are opposed to leaving collars on while inside for safety reasons, but Koda and Riley don't play inside (Riley has actually been scared of him lately, I have no idea why, but it's beginning to worry me) so they won't entangle in each other, though I suppose he could snag it on something else which could potentially be disastrous. Either way, I'm horrified of him accidentally getting out somehow, and if he didn't have his collar on with his tags, how would I ever get him back?


I don't really take them off for safety, but all of my dogs are microchipped and tattooed in addition to their collar tags. I have a really hard time imagining a scenario where my dogs would get out and take off...


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

JKlatsky said:


> I don't really take them off for safety, but all of my dogs are microchipped and tattooed in addition to their collar tags. I have a really hard time imagining a scenario where my dogs would get out and take off...


Hmm...I suppose you're right, maybe I'm paranoid. aranoid: I know for sure Riley wouldn't take off. I can walk her down the street and she'll stay right by my side, never stepping off the curb. Not that I do that, I've just experimented. As of right now, Koda is a different story. I'm working on his recall, he doesn't do well with distractions, and he has a tendency to wander and want to mark. I'd like to believe he wouldn't just...Take off, but I can't be certain.


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

The collar safety thing is a personal choice, I consider the risk of being without identification to be higher. My dogs are microchipped, but not everyone will check for a microchip. Logan let himself out of the front porch one day when I went inside for a few minutes, he was still drying from a bath and didn't have a collar on. He crossed a major 6 lane highway and strolled into the walmart directly across the street. If I hadn't run into the walmart employee who was about to take him home I wouldn't have been contacted until the next day when she ran the chip, and I would have spent the night imagining him laying dead on that 6 lane highway. One time I drove to the grocery store and got a call from a woman on my street, my dogs had wandered into her yard and when she walked them up to my house she noticed the front door wide open. So either someone tried to break in and changed their mind upon confronting 2 GSDs, or my dogs opened the front door (knob, not lever) and got out. Your place can catch on fire etc, to me that identification risk is just more of a concern. 

You should try a rolled leather collar. I've tried chain collars, flat nylon collars, flat microsuede lined collars, flat leather collars. The ones that have done the least damage to the coat were rolled leather. The most was caused by slip chain collars. I do keep Emma's collar a bit looser than Tessa's because of the long coat.


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## dogless (Jan 7, 2005)

I use a martingale collar (like the ones they use for greyhounds). It is loose for regular wear so doesn't rub her fur, but tightens when she is on a leash so she can't slip out. I have used these for both my current long coat girl, and the prior one. No rubbing, and they never slip out of their collars either.

I usually take it off when I am at work, but she wears it all the rest of the time.


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## Runswithdogs (May 8, 2010)

My stock coat got that until we stopped leaving the collar on when she is home. It went away within a couple of days. I stopped because it did look like it would start to cause mats, and when we first rescued her her coat was a napped up matty mess that I didn't ever want to deal with again!

Even with the collar loose enough, it would still kind of bend the hair, especially on the underside of her neck/chin/chest area.


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## mssandslinger (Sep 21, 2010)

Melina said:


> :rofl: Rain...In Arizona...That's a good one.
> 
> Seriously though. I'll try removing his collar at night, maybe the less time around his neck, the better.



haha except for the Hail storm we just had! crazyness! sorry OTS


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

mssandslinger said:


> haha except for the Hail storm we just had! crazyness! sorry OTS


Oh man! I was sitting in my car when that thing started, so I didn't want to get out. I had to sit through it inside my car! It sounded like people were chucking bricks at my car. It was scary, but _so cool!!!_


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

Bianca had that ring around the neck when I got her. I bought a different collar to use at home and the fur eventually went back to normal. The collar I got is very soft, made specifically to not damage the fur on the neck (for show dogs). The company is called White Pine Outfitters.
When I take Bianca out I use a wide leather collar, but at home I use the White Pine collar.


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## Jgk2383 (Aug 5, 2009)

mssandslinger said:


> haha except for the Hail storm we just had! crazyness! sorry OTS


Even more offtopic but what about the fricking tornadoes Flaggstaff had today!??! This is INSANE! Its suppose to get real bad out this weekend too. yuck. Back on topic... Im dealing with the same issue with Elvis and having collar fur as I call it. As of now im trying to take the collar off at night and fluff it with a brush. It just looks so bad on him!


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Jgk2383 said:


> Even more offtopic but what about the fricking tornadoes Flaggstaff had today!??! This is INSANE! Its suppose to get real bad out this weekend too. yuck. Back on topic... Im dealing with the same issue with Elvis and having collar fur as I call it. As of now im trying to take the collar off at night and fluff it with a brush. It just looks so bad on him!


I know, I saw that on CNN while I was at the gym. I was like _Whhhaaaa?? Tornado...in....Arizona???_


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