Your dogs collar can kill them!

[mrose_s]

copied from another forum with permission.
This happened last night.

Tonight when i got home, i did the usual thing. Ignore the dogs for 20 minutes and then went and let them in.
Mitchi and Hunta came to the back door but no Barks.
VERY unusual.
Went outside was calling and calling.
Called hubby to bring me the torch and for him to go out the front as Hunta was filthy - really muddy.
Start looking around the yard, thinking he has dug himself out, then i saw him.
Laying down on his side.
I just started screaming 'no, oh my god he is dead'.
While i am screaming i am looking down and touching him to see if he is still breathing.
I start calling my hubbywho had started to run to me when he heard th enoise i was making.
He was stone cold, wet and dead.
His collar had dug into his neck.
I thought he had been caught on a chair next to him that was turned over.
When we finally went inside and were checking the other 2 to make sure they were ok, we found Hunta has swollena dn bruised lips/gums/jowls.
THey have been playing and she has gotten caught, he has choked to death and she has been stuck for a time.
A while as she is very swollen and red.
I will eb taking her tio the vet tomorrow to maek sure that there is no long lasting damage.

I cannot believe that me putting their collars on because their council registration tags came caused Barks to die.
He was 16months old.
He was my boy, my good boy.
F&^k, i cannot believe he is gone. WHat the F&*K did i do for him to die like this,.
My poor poor boy, he would have been so scared.

This was just a normal flat collar, it has led to a discussion of using breakaway collars instead, and by reading through a few websites, it seems pretty common.
Here is a site on Breakaway collars, i think i'm goinf to buy buster one next week.

http://www.keepsafecollar.com/

 

[SisMorphine]

Why were the dogs out playing together unsupervised? And apparently it's not that they were just out playing together unsupervised, it was that the owners had even left the house with them being outside together. Sorry, though the collar may have been the mode of death, it was irresponsibility that was the reason.

If you want to keep your dog outside while you're gone, fine. But make sure that they have a securely locked kennel with a top and no way to dig out. AND make sure that each dog has his/her own space while gone.

My dogs are never left together unsupervised, and neither are dog aggressive, I just know that accidents and fights can occur with ANY dog and I want to be sure that I'm present if something is to go down.

I'm very sorry that this family had to learn the hard way. Hopefully in the future they will take such precautions with their surviving dogs.

 

[mrose_s]

well we have always left our odgs outside unsupervised. all day everyday, a lot less time now, only 3.5 hours a day on school days.

most people in australia don't crate train. our dogs would go mad if we locked them up all day.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

That's horrible.

Something like this can happen to even the most responsible of owners- Buddy and Banzai got caught like that.. Banzai started to turn blue... this family now has quick release collars. This happened with both my husband and I only feet away...

 

[mrose_s]

your right, i read on one of those sites, that people have lost their dogs even when their at home and havn't been able to free them in time

 

[Zoom]

This is why my dogs just go naked inside and are never left unsupervised.

 

[ToscasMom]

I had a really hard time understanding what was written but I did get the basic idea that a dog choked on his collar?

Breakaway collars have long been the standard recommendation for cats because of their ability to jump on things and get their collars caught. Many a cat has hung this way without a breakaway. Many have also gotten their mouths caught in their collars. I wasn't aware they had them for dogs. This is a good thing. I would definitely consider one for when I leave the house and tosca is left inside with her collar on. Tosca almost always wears her collar and ID tags as I am a paranoid that way.

 

[Toller_08]

That's awful.

My dogs always wear collars inside and outside. I'm too paranoid that they'll get out without ID so they always have them on, eventhough they've yet to excape the house/me. I do worry that something could happen while wearing them, but they're never unsupervised so I'd hope to be right there if something did. When we leave the house, the dogs are separated and/or collars are taken off. Fortunately, nothing bad has ever happened. Breakaway collars are definitely a good thing though. I've thought about getting them lots of times, but haven't yet.

 

[oc_spirit]

I used to leave the boys without collars on (especially since Ronan's fur has so much collar damage from before I got him) but ever since Ronan got out that one time, I don't like leaving their collars off in case he gets out again. He is tattooed but it's a lot easier to catch a dog that is wearing a collar than one without plus people usually dont think to check for tattoo or microchip anyways.

 

[Fruit bat]

I don't collar my animals when they are at home. And I always let them outside together and unsupervised. We have 5 ft. block wall fencing with locked gates.

 

[~Jessie~]

My chis never wear collars unless they are being supervised. When we go outside, they wear their harnesses which have their tags on them.

 

[bubbatd]

Never use choke collars unless for training !!!

 

[Gempress]

I feel so bad for cases like that. But despite them, Zeus and Voodoo always wear their collars. Always.

Zeus wears his because he has absolutely no recall skills, and I dread him getting lost.

I keep Voodoo's collar on him because if he ever gets loose, people may call the cops about the "ownerless, vagrant pit bull", or even worse, take a shot at him. (It's rural Texas...highly probable). At the least, having a collar on him helps show that he's someone's lost pet and not necessarily a maurading terror.

I know there are choking hazards. But frankly, I believe the chance of my dogs getting lost is the more probable hazard than choking on a collar.

 

[dr2little]

This is why my dogs just go naked inside and are never left unsupervised.

Mine too Zoom. I've heard way too many horror stories.

 

[RD]

Ugh. Poor dogs.

I leave my dogs' collars on all the time, but when they want to play I call them to me so I can take them off. I don't leave my dogs to play unsupervised ever, (collars or no collars) because I've heard too many horror stories. =/

 

[Sush]

That exact same thing happened to my boss and her husky Zoe They had two dogs who were always left together in the backyard while she was at work. One day, they were just playing as usual and the other dog got her mouth stuck in the collar and it strangled poor Zoe. We were all devasted because Zoe meant the WORLD to her.

That is horribly sad NOT having them wear collars would be dangerous because if they got out there would be no immediate ID (well of course if they were chipped, but not everyone knows to look for that) HAVING them wear collars is dangerous because of incidents like this...double edged sword I guess. I opt for not having your dog wear a collar while you are gone if you have multiple dogs who are prone to rough housing. Invest in a chip as well.

 

[J's crew]

I have always heard the stories so I no longer allow my dogs to wear collars unless under direct supervision. Even then things can happen. Just last month one of my dogs got her mouth stuck stuck on my other dogs collar. She panicked, started twisting and turning, all the while screaming while my other dog was being chocked and couldn't move. It all happened in about 30 seconds but it seemed like forever. I hate to think of what would have happened had I not been there.

 

[dogzrulez]

i never keep a collar on my dog while she's inside the house. the'ye unsafe and unhealthy too. but in the case where the dog is playing outside unsupervised, a collar is important for the tags and stuff. a breakaway collar should be used

 

[elegy]

my dogs are collared pretty much all the time. they're never together unattended, and they're absolutely never outside unattended. i am not comfortable at all with the idea of them being without visible identification, in part because they are pit bulls, and in part because an amazing number of people don't know microchips exist and don't know to take a found dog somewhere and have it scanned. a collar with an id tag requires nothing more than getting close enough to the dog to read it and making a phone call.

 

[mrose_s]

i agree, but i think in our situation, we'll opt for no collars, we have 5 ft wood pannek fencing and none of our dogs have an interest in leaving.

whereas harry and mac and buster play rough all the time and they spend a lot of time using collars as part of their game.

i just can't stand the thought of loosing another dog so suddenly for a stupid reason like a collar.