all the time, or only when you're going out??  I always take mine off when we get home after an outing, but should I be putting them on even when they are just going out into the garden?

My dogs wear their collars all the time. I have heard all too often of dogs who have escaped from open doors, gardens etc and not had a means of identifaction on them. I am always very careful with doors etc but mistakes can happen and I want to maximise the chances of getting my dogs back if they were to become lost. Even though both dogs are microchipped finders do not always scan for chips and sometimes chips are missed.

Only when we go out.  I totally understand the worry of escaping through open doors though, but I don't open my front door until dogs are secure behind another closed door, all my family members do the same too.  Not necessarily foolproof I admit, but it works for us.

Only when we're going out. They don't try to escape from the back garden, and they can't get to the front. If I need to open the front door they stand at the threshold but stay in the house - I never taught them to, it's just something they learned by themselves, but it's very handy!

why take them off though?

i mean, what difference does it make?

genuine question

In case you are out and they get the collar stuck on something and either panic or even worse strangle themselves.

I suppose there is a chance of them getting caught when playing and choking.  I personally leave my dogs collars on all the time, I remember as a kid one of our Afghans had been bathed so didnt have a collar on and he escaped out of the front door when the milkman came .... luckily a kid up the road chased him on his bike and managed to keep up with him until he stopped but if he had been picked up he would have had no means of identification.

>why take them off though?

They can get chewed or caught on things when the dog's unattended, especially if crated.

I always keep my dogs collars on, if for no other reason that if i needed to grab one of them there's something to get hold of.
Also if one got out, which luckily hasn't happened yet at least someone would be able to catch the dog.
None of mine have ever caught their collars on anything and i think the chance of that is decreased if the collar is properly fitted ie not too loose. 

None of my dogs wear collars at home.  All are microchipped so hopefully that gives them as much chance as any other found dog of getting back home to me, if they manage to escape through the doors and gates.

only when I take them out do I put a collar on them, we have an 8ft wall one side of us and fenced in totally the others, they are in the garden as I type as I leave them out all day they have a carpeted 8x6 shed as their kennel for shelter should it rain but they mostly sunbathe on the decking till I get in!

I was just thinking this morning about posting the same question, but for a different reason.  I've started showing my Leo, and as he gets older he should start growing a 'mane'.  I'm worried that with him wearing a collar all the time it may affect his hair growth.  I only put it on him loosly, and at the moment he wears it all the time, but was wondering if I should take it off when at home??

For show dogs then yes take it off - and if he must wear a collar the rolled leather ones are meant to be better as they won't pull out the hair like a fabric one could (this was what I was told anyway).

Mine also only wear them when out and about, mine for the same reasons as many have already posted, but also to avoid damage to the coat around the kneck area. Mine are also chipped and tattooed so have visible means of ID on them at all times anyhow.

see, thats the thing.

ive owned, fostered, rehomed, and kenneled hundreds and hundreds of dogs and never seen, or heard anyone else mention, that ever happening.

statistically, the odds are so rare, it would be akin to saying dont cross the road as you might get hit by a car.

No, two of mine nearly died when playing with collars on. One's mouth got caught in the other's collar and was strangling him, it was almost impossible to get the collar off, the mouth was bleeding on one, the other was losing consciousness slowly, both hysterical -nightmare. It took 3 people to sort it out, had they been alone or I been on my own, one dog would have died. I've never had collars at home since then. There was also a poster on here a few years ago who actually had a dog die this way.

statistically, the odds are so rare, it would be akin to saying dont cross the road as you might get hit by a car.

Well it happened to my dogs -has anyone here been hit by a car when crossing the road? There was also the other poster some time ago, they had utonagans or one of those "breeds".

Mine also only wear them when out and about, mine for the same reasons as many have already posted, but also to avoid damage to the coat around the kneck area. Mine are also chipped and tattooed so have visible means of ID on them at all times anyhow.

neither of those is 'visible means of ID' under the law.
chipping isnt, for the obvious reason you cant see it.
tattooing isnt because The Control of Dogs Order 1992 states that any dog in a public place must wear a collar with the name and address (including postcode) of the owner engraved or written on it, or engraved on a tag.

how do collars cause coat damage?
as i understand it, you can buy roll collars for long haired dogs?

Mine have very thin leather "necklaces" they wear all the time with thier tags on but they only have thier "Going out" collars on when they go out. The thin ones would snap long before they were strangled, and they are pretty loose (As loose as you can on a coated breed) Best of both worlds as far as I am concerned.
Aileen

statistically, the odds are so rare, it would be akin to saying dont cross the road as you might get hit by a car.

Well it happened to my dogs -has anyone here been hit by a car when crossing the road? There was also the other poster some time ago, they had utonagans or one of those "breeds".

My brother has.

I could use several analogies, such as dont drive a car, you could get injured.
Thats happened to me
The point remains.. the likelihood is so rare.
In my case hundreds and hundreds of dogs, not one example of collar injury.
Yet, about a dozen dogs escaped from premises after owner had removed collar indoors.
both examples offer a risk of harm to dogs (stray dogs can get killed by traffic, etc, etc)
I would surmise that removing collars at home is statistically a more likely risk of harm than leaving them on.
You can get safety collars anyway, including quick release ones

Nothing personal toward anyone here, just looking at it logically and by my own experience.

Mine for many years now don't wear collars indoors ever - we've had two accidents of them being caught on two different dogs, one on the end of a radiator valve which had we not been there to calm and disentangle the dog would almost certainly have proven to be a fatality.  Another time on a long narrow door handle, although the dog managed to free itself almost immediately (and I was already heading for it).  This, at that time, out of a total of 4 dogs - so that's IMO high odds of it happening.  Neither of these collars were loose fitting - just the standard of managing to fit 3 fingers under the collar as a guide.

I've also had one of my first two dogs rip out it's upper canine when it got caught in the ring of the collar on our other dog during outside play.  Collars can be dangerous!

I mainly walk the dogs on slip leads now although when at our static caravan they wear collars for safety and ID purposes although my heart's in my mouth everytime they start rough housing with one another that there will be a major 'dental' incident.

I'd certainly not have them on outdoors in our garden - apart from the fact that it's very secure (although my breed can jump very high from a standstill if it desired) - there are too many opportunities for collars to be caught on mature shrubs, trees etc.  They are micro-chipped and in the unlikely event they escaped and strayed from home turf they would, please God, be recovered if scanned.

regards, Teri

We have also had several near-serious incidents with collars and we would never leave their collars on when they are at home any more. Not only that, but Sibes can develop unsightly collar marks in their coats, which, if you show your dogs, can be a consideration.

Mick

> Yet, about a dozen dogs escaped from premises after owner had removed collar indoors.

My last dog escaped and got run over (he survived :) ), he was wearing a collar but that didn't stop him escaping and the little monkey ran like greased lightening so his wearing a collar never helped me catch him before he got hit :( Shortly after that I only put his collar on when he was going out, if he was in the house & garden the collar was off. It used to mess up his coat, he was a mutt, obviously not shown but I didn't like the way it ruined his coat when he wore it constantly.
My current dog has his collar on all the time, but I only have the 1 dog and he isn't the most active so him catching his collar on anything is a very slim chance, due to the size of him I feel better knowing I can grab his collar if I need to.

>I would surmise that removing collars at home is statistically a more likely risk of harm than leaving them on.

What harm can a dog come to in the house when it's not wearing a collar?

   Yet, about a dozen dogs escaped from premises after owner had removed collar indoors.

My last dog escaped and got run over (he survived :-) ), he was wearing a collar but that didn't stop him escaping and the little monkey ran like greased lightening so his wearing a collar never helped me catch him before he got hit :-( Shortly after that I only put his collar on when he was going out, if he was in the house & garden the collar was off. It used to mess up his coat, he was a mutt, obviously not shown but I didn't like the way it ruined his coat when he wore it constantly.
My current dog has his collar on all the time, but I only have the 1 dog and he isn't the most active so him catching his collar on anything is a very slim chance, due to the size of him I feel better knowing I can grab his collar if I need to.

I wasnt saying wearing a collar prevents stray dogs, I meant that if they arent wearing a collar and tag, they will likely take much longer to be reunited with an owner by members of public or dog wardens, increasing several risks to the dog, one of which is getting run over.
Another is getting PTS after 7 days.
By wearing a quick release/safety collar and ID, risks to unidentified dogs that stray can be avoid without any risk of collar causing harm.
I havent seen a collar ruin a coat, so dont understand what you mean?
Especially if the dog isnt a show dog anyway and you can buy roll collars which are designed to be fur friendly?
Like i say, I've kenneled and fostered hundreds of dogs together in my career, never seen a collar incident.
So the statistical likelihood is so low (equivalent to having an accident driving a car, but we still drive) as as to be not worth neglecting the other safety and security benefits wearing a collar gives.....so its all perspective, in my opinion

>I havent seen a collar ruin a coat, so dont understand what you mean?

On a dog with a coat like a labrador, wearing a collar (even a rolled leather one, if you can find one - they're becoming as rare as hen's teeth) fulltime will cause a worn area underneath the collar and the hair behind it to rise like a ruff. If you take the collar off, for bathing for example, it's very easy to see where the collar usually goes from the deep groove in the coat.

What harm can a dog come to in the house when it's not wearing a collar?

None

Im referancing all these stray dogs that got reclaimed by owners that told me they opened the back or front door momentarily and dog ran out, but he couldnt get reunited to them as soon as picked, as they took they always take the collar off when at home (which means indoors and back garden).

Very expensive mistake as well.
Once dog has been registered as stray by warden and kenneled, you pays your fine.
Whereas, if the dog is wearing ID, the warden can return your dog direct to your home, and you are likely to only get a verbal ticking off.

On a dog with a coat like a labrador, wearing a collar (even a rolled leather one, if you can find one - they're becoming as rare as hen's teeth) fulltime will cause a worn area underneath the collar and the hair behind it to rise like a ruff. If you take the collar off, for bathing for example, it's very easy to see where the collar usually goes from the deep groove in the coat.

Again, not trying to be awkward, but havent noticed that in all the hundreds of dogs i've worked with, including labs. I do see hair ruffled like you say, but nothing permanent, and nothing out of the ordinary compared to other bits of ruffled hair, and nothing that cant be brushed, for example.
Collars tend to move around on the neck, so they arent fixed on one 'neckline', as such. 
The only collars i have seen actually damage the hair are flea collars causing bald patches
 
I can buy rolled dog collars easily.

My dogs wear collars 24/7, no danger of them getting caught & strangling them as they are Breakway Safety Collars

> On a dog with a coat like a labrador, wearing a collar (even a rolled leather one, if you can find one - they're becoming as rare as hen's teeth) fulltime will cause a worn area underneath the collar and the hair behind it to rise like a ruff. If you take the collar off, for bathing for example, it's very easy to see where the collar usually goes from the deep groove in the coat.

This is what happened to my last dog (mutt - lab cross). His fur was really thick & 'plush' (bless him, like a fluffly teddy bear :) ), he had a ginger outer coat with a blonde fluffy coat underneath, where his collar had been on full time, there was a distinct band around his neck, very obvious as the outer coarser coat stuck up at the top & bottom, the fluffy blonde undercoat was flattened, he looked like somebody had chopped his head off and stuck it back on with a bandage It tooks months to grow back to normal.

They are micro-chipped and in the unlikely event they escaped and strayed from home turf they would, please God, be recovered if scanned.

hi teri

therein lays another risk.

By law, councils dont have to provide dog warden with scanners (although most do).
If you council doesn't employ its own warden, but contracts the service out to a private company, they aren't obliged to buy that company scanners, and the company aren't obliged to buy them either.
Rediculous i know, but ive seen this happen.
Its because the law states your dog must wear a collar and tag, so even if the warden does have a scanner, he still may charge you a fine anyway.
Thats assuming he is carrying his scanner with him. It might be back at base, meaning that he will scan your dog then and put it in the kennels whilst he phones pet id and then yourself.
Your dog is now a processed stray, you will be fined.
Whereas, if he finds the dog and sees an address on the collar, he will probably come to you house and only give you a ticking off without a fine, and at least your dog wont risk ending up in kennels for days or nights on end.
Not all councils have their kennels located in their own area, or even county, btw. 
Members of the public who might find your dog wont have a scanner, so your dog also ends up in the pound, and you pay a fine.
And if it ends up at a vets, your dog may still end up in the pound, as vets, generally speaking, dont microchip according to the manufactures guidelines, and chip under the scruff instead.
This causes 2 probs: the likelihood of chip migration is greater when implanted this way, yet vets only tend to scan where they chip - under the scruff - and dont scan all over the body, including the sides, where chips often migrate to.
I chipped a dog correctly once, the vet only scanned the scruff, told them chip was dead, charged them for a second chip, our chip was fine, he just didnt scan properly.

On a dog with a coat like a labrador, wearing a collar (even a rolled leather one, if you can find one - they're becoming as rare as hen's teeth) fulltime will cause a worn area underneath the collar and the hair behind it to rise like a ruff. If you take the collar off, for bathing for example, it's very easy to see where the collar usually goes from the deep groove in the coat.

Yes totally agree on this JG my lot used to wear collars all of the time and developed this. It took ages for the ruff to go donw and even now Moose my oldest still has a slight ruff after a couple of years.

This is what happened to my last dog (mutt - lab cross). His fur was really thick & 'plush' (bless him, like a fluffly teddy bear :-) ), he had a ginger outer coat with a blonde fluffy coat underneath, where his collar had been on full time, there was a distinct band around his neck, very obvious as the outer coarser coat stuck up at the top & bottom, the fluffy blonde undercoat was flattened, he looked like somebody had chopped his head off and stuck it back on with a bandage eek It tooks months to grow back to normal.

Ive never seen this, but accept it can happen.
But your scenario of actual hair loss must be rare?
I imagine the worse thing is hair growing oddly, which wouldnt really be a problem in the big scheme of things? (unless it was a show dog?)
Cosmetically might not look great, but not really a problem to outweigh all the risks i have listed of not wearing a collar?

> My dogs wear collars 24/7, no danger of them getting caught & strangling them as they are [url=http://www.breakawaycollar.com/index.cfm" rel=nofollow]Breakway Safety Collars[/url]

Mmmmm not sure that I would trust them not to break when you didn't want them to.

> But your scenario of actual hair loss must be rare?
>

No he didn't have hair loss, his hair was forced into an un-natural lay becasue of the collar. A bit like with people - if you have a hairband holding a pony-tail in all day, when you take the hairband out your hair remains kinked for a while, with dogs wearing a collar permenantly, the rubbing and weight of the collar against the fur will change how it lays.

Even with rolled collars worn just on walks, it marks my wire coated terriers coats.  More importantly than that, my dogs play at killing each other - it's just part an parcel of terriers so they only ever wear collars when they're on a walk - even then if they start playing whilst we're out, I remove the collars and replace them when they've finished playing. 

I understand that most people would totally disagree with that but having been in a situation where one dog has grabbed the other's collar, twisted it, got their jaw stuck, panicked - effectively strangling the other dog the more they both struggled, it's something I will continue to do.  They are only allowed off lead in safe area's and even if they went on a rabbit hunt, come back the minute they've finished. 

The risk of incurring a fine is nothing compared to coming home and finding one of my dogs dead through playing.

My dogs have been door trained from puphood, even bearing in mind that they're terriers, it doesn't even occur to them to walk out of the front door by themselves.

Hi krusewalker,

TBH if my dogs escaped the garden (which is highly unlikely and has never happened in two decades) then the least of my concerns would be a fine - my main concern would be locating them whether roaming loose (unlikely, they know the neighbourhood well enough to find their way back home PDQ) or located at a pound etc.  I honestly couldn't care less if I was fined so long as I got my dog back although it may, or equally may not, make me change my current regime.

IME my dogs are at greater risk - reasons as mentioned above - from wearing collars at home/in the garden than they are of escaping from there with or without collars.

Each to their own as of course we have to weigh up the pros and cons personal to our own experiences, location, dogs' opportunities to escape and likelihood of wandering if they did so - there's quite a lot to be taken into account really :)

I've simply contributed what suits me and mine
regards, Teri

Yes totally agree on this JG my lot used to wear collars all of the time and developed this. It took ages for the ruff to go donw and even now Moose my oldest still has a slight ruff after a couple of years.

Yep it's the same with Malinois. When I did use collars indoors I used to take the collar off Ripley several weeks before a show, bath her etc, but the mark was still there. These days with shows most weekends it would be impossible. It's the same with all animals that haven't got a really short coat. I have collars on three of the cats in case they sneak out -one moggy and two Maine Coons, they are normal collars, not all that tight, they are all bald underneath the collars from years of use.

mastifflover
No he didn't have hair loss, his hair was forced into an un-natural lay becasue of the collar. A bit like with people - if you have a hairband holding a pony-tail in all day, when you take the hairband out your hair remains kinked for a while, with dogs wearing a collar permenantly, the rubbing and weight of the collar against the fur will change how it lays.

Then, to me, that is just a minor cosmetic matter that is far outweighed by the safety and security benefits of wearing a collar (I understand its important for show dogs).

No offence intended.

Hi Moonmaiden,

I'd be reluctant to rely on these in case they broke away at a time when it was a danger for them - doubtless your dogs are better trained than mine :-p - but although it seems from the photo that the collars are secure while dogs are on the lead, I'd be worried if needing to hold their collars when off lead that the thing would do what is says in the spin...... so not ideal for mine.

regards, Teri

Teri

TBH if my dogs escaped the garden then the least of my concerns would be a fine - my main concern would be locating them whether roaming loose (unlikely, they know the neighbourhood well enough to find their way back home PDQ) or located at a pound etc.  I honestly couldn't care less if I was fined so long as I got my dog back although it may, or equally may not, make me change my current regime.

Hi teri, i would agree re the fine.
But also agree with you, my main concern would be locating my lost dogs, i would be going out of my head, especially if i knew finding them had been made potentially harder if they werent wearing ID, and they might spend the night in kennels.

> Then, to me, that is just a minor cosmetic matter

I agree but as others have pointed out there are safety issues in wearing them indoors too.  I am sure you will think is also trivial :-) but another thing I feel is I like to slip my shoes off and get comfy in the house and rather see my dogs wanting to do the same sort of thing!

I agree with you, Teri. In nearly 25 years of dog ownership, I've never had a dog of mine straying and I've had 2 near fatal accidents with collars. Both times they were playing and one got its teeth caught in the other's collar. After the first time, I removed their collars when they got home from a walk and only put them on as I was attaching leads, but it still happened again with excited youngsters in my hallway. Now we're lucky enough to have our own land so they don't need to wear collars when we go out :)

Mmmmm not sure that I would trust them not to break when you didn't want them to.

That was my thought on them as well

MarianneB..friends of mine had exactly the same with playing and one getting his teeth caught in the others collar..Lizzie was seconds from death the vet said, her eyes burst all their blood vessels and she was so very ill...could only get them free of each other by taking a scalpel (owners a sculptor)to the collar and in such a hysterical situation the stress was added to by trying not to cut Lizzies neck.

Mine never wears a collar in the house and never will.

Hi krusewalker

> especially if i knew finding them had been made potentially harder if they werent wearing ID, and they might spend the night in kennels.

I can totally see you POV and understand your concerns - my dogs have never been kenneled in their lives and I'd hate the thought of it happening which is why I now, reluctantly, use collars with ID (oh, and something to do with the law LOL) but I still prefer to keep their usage to a minimum.  Maybe I'm just lucky that the dogs never attempt to scale the walls or fence in the rear garden - but even if they did they'd find themselves in a neighbours fully walled garden too (old houses, 6 foot walls) and it would take a few 'leaps of faith' for them to find themselves truly loose.

They don't get taken into the front garden unless going out for exercise or going into the car so are already leashed up and the front is fairly secure too being walled and hedged with sturdy gates at the bottom of the drive. 

If our set up was different perhaps I'd feel similarly to you :)  Let's hope none of us are ever in the awful position of losing our cherished companions.

regards, Teri

> Now we're lucky enough to have our own land so they don't need to wear collars when we go out

That would be the ideal situation for me too - but OH likes the idea that 'our' extra acres are kept tidy by the Local Authority :-D  I tried to convince him some years back to buy a place with a field attached but he wasn't having it (and daughter and I sooooo hoped to get a goat to keep the grass short :-p )

>>What harm can a dog come to in the house when it's not wearing a collar?
>None

That's why I'm querying your comment "removing collars at home is statistically a more likely risk of harm than leaving them on. How can removing the collar at home put the dog at more risk?

I use them as ID collars & when they are away from home they have a second collar that I use with a lead. These 2nd collars have a push together fastener  & also have an ID disc. I much prefer my dogs to be "legal"all the time(which since the Bates case includes a vehicle being a public place & therefore dogs must have a collar & ID tag whilst in a vehicle)

All good cat collars are now breakaway type.

Hi Jean, i already answered you a few posts back