Collars

[pwhite48]

Hi everyone

This may sound like a stupid question :oops: , but the wife and I are having a bit of a debate over collars.  i.e. should they be kept on the dog all the time, or only when they go walkies?

I had always assumed she would keep her collar on all the time, but Sarah disagrees.  

Does it make a blind bit of difference/is it down to personal choice/or should we expect a better behaved woofer if we went with one way or the other?

Although we're not due to collect our pup for a few weeks yet, the plans are coming together nicely!

All the best
Phil                    

[Mary]

You're certainly trying to cover everything Phil which is good :wink:

I think it's a personal choice as to whether you keep a collar on at all times or not.  Many owners who show their dogs do not keep the collar on at all times as it is rather noticable when removed.

I personally have always left Lotties on all the time.  I fell into this habit after taking her to training classes where I was taught to always take hold of her collar after a recall before rewarding her with a treat.  The reason being for this was so that the dog doesn't just associate it's collar being taken hold of when being put back on it's lead after a walk.

On the whole, Lottie is a good girl but I often find having the collar on around the house useful to be able to get hold of her quickly if needs be (she has a habit of hiding behind furniture if she has something she shouldn't :wink:   ).  Also having the collar on is useful to grab her when she's tearing in from the garden with filthy paws :roll:  :wink:

On the other hand, some may say it's dangerous to have a collar on around the house incase it gets caught on something :?

The choice is yours :wink:                    

[Luvlylady]

..                    

[PennyB]

When they're quite young you have to be careful leaving them on if they're in a crate though.                    

[Jane S]

When they're quite young you have to be careful leaving them on if they're in a crate though.

Penny is right - I know of at least 2 puppies who strangled themselves when their collar got caught on the mesh of a crate :shock: So never leave a collar on a puppy if you are using a crate for housetraining, particularly not the stretchy kind.

For general use, a rolled leather collar is best for Cockers or the strong nylon ones (Canac is one of the best makes for these)                    

[Anita]

After hearing about puppies in crates and collars, we decided to leave Phoebe without a collar in the house. She only wears it when she's out.

I did notice that the collar leaves a ruffle around her neck so she looks mush smoother. The down command comes in handy if she did make a dash for the door but she knows not to go through unless told to.

We also had a cat that got her jaw stuck underneath a collar and it wasn't pleasant coming home to find her like that - or the cutting it off an taking her to the vets.

But it is personal choice and depends on your circumstances. AS with a lot of these things there's not right or wrong.                    

[*Jay*]

I used to leave collars on Vegas and Dallas while I was at work but read a story about a dog who was almost strangled when the other dog got stuck somehow to its collar. Obviously both dogs were panicking and made things worse. Luckily the owner was at home and I think she had to cut the collar in half to save the dog :shock:  Because my two play fight a lot, I only leave their collars on if I'm at home. Better to be safe than sorry                    

[english.springer]

My three spaniels only had a collar on for a very short space of time until they were hardened up a bit and could go on a slip lead. They never wear a collar now as they work. But if you are thinking about leaving the collar I think by law the dog has to have some sort of I.D. but don't quote me. If any one knows let us know.
All 3 are microchipped and had that done early and have the chip checked to make sure that it scans yearly.                    

[Luvlylady]

..                    

[PennyB]

I now have a baby gate in my hallway to avoid any of them running out. To be honest while it is the law to have a collar with id, as the police find it hard to keep up with a lot of crimes these days I doubt if they'd be worried about a dog without any obvious id (which is an old law when some of us now microchip our dogs for id).

I'm also reluctant about collars in the house at the moment as mine are quite young and love to play fight a lot, and I'd be worried that one or the other would get their paw stuck in a collar when I wasn't there.                    

[KellyP]

Millie doesn't wear a collar in the house - only if she's going out and about, either for a walk, or anywhere in the car.
She did used to wear it all the time but 2 things made us take it off her
1) it seemed to be rubbing the fur away around the front of her neck, it also irritated her which probably didn't help matters (it did have  agood '2 fingersworth' of space, but still it rubbed .. bizarre! perhaps it wasn't soft enough??)
2) prior to getting her to sleep in a crate she used to have the freedom of the bedroom and the landing to wander in and out of at night - her collar and ID tag constantly jangled and some nights she sounded like santa! it had to come off!!  

Now she sleeps in a crate, so its best for it to come off when she's in there.

As far as I know its illegal for a dog not to have a collar and ID tag on whilst in public places - however as Penny said - I doubt that the police would actually write you a ticket out for that!                      

[Luvlylady]

..                    

[shonajoy]

Hi everyone

This may sound like a stupid question :oops: , but the wife and I are having a bit of a debate over collars.  i.e. should they be kept on the dog all the time, or only when they go walkies?

I had always assumed she would keep her collar on all the time, but Sarah disagrees.  

Does it make a blind bit of difference/is it down to personal choice/or should we expect a better behaved woofer if we went with one way or the other?

Although we're not due to collect our pup for a few weeks yet, the plans are coming together nicely!  

All the best
Phil

My 11 week boy wears a very soft nappa leather puppy collar, during the day, so we don't have to keep taking it on and off for his many trips outside to pee. At night we take it off though, as like the other posters I worry about it snagging on something.                    

[Laura]

Hello all of you

I have recently joined COL.  I have a 6 month old orange roan cocker called Brogan.  When I got him I was also worried about keeping a collar on him as he is crate trained.  

I however found a wonderful American collar called a "Breakaway collar."  I purchased one for Brogan from America on ebay.  It cost me just over £7 but the best investment ever made.

Briefly the collar is designed to come apart if your dog gets it trapped, is pulled during a dog fight ect.  It simply clicks back together again.  You do need to grab the collar strategically though otherwise collar in one hand -pup on the horizon!  

For walking you simply clip your lead over 2 D rings to over ride the system.

There is a chance the collar could be lost if your dog strays but better than the thought of being strangled.  I have had Brogan microchipped to back up his collar and ID tag if ever he wanders off and loses it.  It does take a fair amount of pressure for the collar to separate though.                    

[Laura]

update on my reply:

on ebay do a worldwide search for "Keepsafe Dog Collar"  this should send you to the right place.  

Otherwise trying emailing direct:

betsy@bestfriendsgeneralstore.com