Collars in the house?

[vanillasugar]

On or off?

I'd really like Sierra to be collarless in the apartment. I think it's nicer for her not to have it on all the time. Matt disagrees and thinks she should always have her collar on.

(Can I make this a poll? I couldn't figure that out...)

 

[Vivien]

Inside she is always collarless, that way when were ready to go on a walk she is excited to wear her collar. Honestly if I leave it on her for too long I think it starts to bother her.

 

[Paige]

Never. Unless we're going out for a walk they never wear them. They love collars. They get all excited when they see them. But they have chewed eachothers collars off way too many times for them to wear them in the house. First month I had the two of them they went through so many.

 

[RD]

My dogs will always wear their collars as much as possible.

For quite a while I was adamant that Eve should have her collar off whenever we weren't going somewhere. I am a very responsible dog owner, I would make sure she never got out unattended, I didn't want her to strangle herself inside, etc. etc. etc.

When I was in Washington, I went to run a couple errands and I left Eve and Buddy in the backyard, with a 6' EXTREMELY dog-proofed (and gates padlocked) fence around them. Halfway through my errands I get a phone call from a guy who says he has my dog, and witnessed her almost get hit by a car. End errands, have heart attack, continue to have heart attack while going to get dog. Cry, hug dog, thank the super-nice guy, go home, check the yard, and realize that the only way she could've gotten out was to have jumped 6'. She's barely 25lbs and I had no idea she could jump so high. I thought she was safe in that yard for 2 hours but oooh was I ever wrong. I am SO thankful that she was wearing her collar and ID, because otherwise I'd never have found her so quickly and (it makes me shake just thinking about it) might never have found her at all. A microchip is great, but someone who finds your dog can't contact you immediately if there is no visible form of ID on the animal.

I totally understand the concerns of having a collar on in the house/when unattended, but after losing the love of my life when I was so convinced that an accident like that would never happen, I always want her (and all my future dogs) to wear ID. Jmo!

When I supervise her and when she's playing with the other dogs, I take her collar off. When she's crated and I'm home, I take her collar off. When she's swimming or being groomed it's off. Otherwise it stays on.

 

[Toller_08]

Dance does usually all the time except for at night and when she's crated. The other two don't though. I hadn't been able to find a rolled leather collar in Winston's size (allergic to nylon and is uncomfortable in a collar wider than 3/4 for long periods of time) and Morgan just tries to chew hers off. Winston will be wearing one all the time soon though, now that I finally found a rolled leather one in his size.

I just feel safer having collars on them though. You never know when they might get out of the house, no matter how responsible you are. It hasn't happened yet to me, but I think there's a greater chance of them escaping than there is of them strangling themselves as they don't play rough with eachother and are always supervised.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

I'm torn on the issue, to be honest. If any of my dogs were to get out somehow, I would want as many forms of ID as possible, that being their microchip and their collars. So for the longest time they had their collars on at all times, unless they were getting bathed.

But we've had two too many accidents with jaws being twisted in collars and Banzai's face turning an alarming blue color. We no longer risk it at all. Both boys microchip info are up to date and when we leave the house their collars are on them at all times. Inside, well, it's not worth the risk of losing their lives...

 

[bubbatd]

Ollie gets " dressed " when we go out for the paper and then " undressed " for bed . Being a rolled collar it doesn't bother him ... and it's easier for me to hold him if someone comes to the door .

 

[sparks19]

No.... I can't stand the jingling lol.

they wear their harnesses inside though during the day when they make frequent trips outside. But they come off when we go to bed or if we are not home.

 

[FoxyWench]

mine all wear collars 24/7, never had an issue, but there all modified with elestic so if they get caught a good tug and they are free, but mine is primarily they are all belled so they dont get trampled...

 

[Zoom]

They've always got them on when we leave the house, but inside they're off. Keeps down the collar marks in their fur and reduces the risk of jaws getting tangled when they wrestle. But we go outside, the collars go on.

 

[Tankstar]

I take it off. Blaze hates wearing his coller. He scratchs at his neck until i take it off of him. With all the long hair he has it just gets matted by the scratching. Plus he really has no way at all to get out of the house (he would have to get out the front door and then get out of the screened in porch with a door) or back yard (we live in a town house so all homes are attached. he would have to hop 3 back yards to get free, all of witch are 7 feet tall.), so I'm not worried about him running off.

 

[smkie]

Mary has loose skin around her neck that always looks like a collar would be uncomfortable. just in general i like to take my shoes off too..i figure they like the collars off..My collars hang on a hook near the door. The go on before they go out and get hung up after they come in.

 

[Herschel]

I have a hook by the door with leashes/collars/our jackets and another set of hooks for bags/keys/etc. Off as soon as we get inside, on right before we go outside.

For those that are looking for safe indoor collars, Tazlab has some nice safety collars.

http://www.tazlab.com/TL_collars.htm

 

[Angel Chicken]

Always off. She only gets her collar on when we walk so she gets excited and WANTS to walk when I pull out her "necklace".

 

[corgipower]

the mals yes. they are still young and they get into a bit of mischief. it's nice to have a collar i can grab if i need to.

the corgis, no. i like for their necks to have a break from wearing it, and they are better behaved and better listeners.

 

[noludoru]

Off. I LOATHE his "collar fur" but it seems I can't do a whole lot about it.

Sometimes he has his collar on in the house, though. Never in his crate.

 

[RedHotDobe]

I leave Rumor's off. I've had such a battle trying to keep fur on her neck that I don't want anything screwing it up. Unless she needs tags, I prefer to use a chain or thin nylon choke to go outside. Even more ideal would be her harness. I try to always have an ID tag on her collar, but she doesn't always have her rabies, microchip, and license tags on.

 

[SarahFish]

Lui's is always on, because if he gets out and we don't notice he'll run so he's got his registration tag and phone number tag on his collar so he can be returned. Not that we can really see it, with his fur and everything.

 

[marympierce]

Off

Off in the house- when we're home. If we're watching their every move, they don't wear the collars. They scratch and chew at them. When we leave the house (they have access to a doggie door), or they are outside with us, they always wear their collar/harness with ID. I got them the KeepSafe breakaway collars, because they get their jaws tangled in each other's collar when they play.

www.keepsafecollar.com

 

[MisssAshby]

None of my dogs wear a collar/harness inside. When we move into the new house and they will be roaming the backyard they will start wearing a collar/nametag again.