I have never found a good cat collar and don't have them on our two now as lost count of the times they have got their legs caught up in the collars and have come in on three legs

All bar one wear collars indoors. House collars (round leather) indoors, walking collars outdoors.

Only our spaniel doesn't wear a collar indoors as he would get dragged around when playing, and he isn't the kind of dog that slips through doors to bolt anyway.

Cats can't get their legs caught in the new style of collar, if the collar gets caught the fastener opens allowing the cat to escape unharmed

Seems to me there are now a lot more people on here that have had collar accidents than have been hit by cars when crossing roads, so can't be all that uncommon. :)

> Seems to me there are now a lot more people on here that have had collar accidents than have been hit by cars when crossing roads, so can't be all that uncommon.

I also think, depending on your housing arrangement, there is a lot more you can do to prevent escape than prevent collar incidents in the home particularly when you have more than one dog together.

Seems to me there are now a lot more people on here that have had collar accidents than have been hit by cars when crossing roads, so can't be all that uncommon. :-)

What about my case of hundreds of dogs and no collar incidents, including multi dog situations (in 13 years)?
There have been a few cases on here.
But Im betting that if you did a suvey on CD re number of people that have been involved in accidents involving vehicles, including incidents where CD member 'knows of someone' (as has been the case with some of the given collar incidents) the statistic would be round about the same

But you wouldnt stop driving vehicles or crossing roads?

Whoops!  Well I didn't meant to create such a huge debate, but I have enjoyed reading everyones experiences and opinions, I value other peoples outlook on things very highly.  I asked simply because I take my dogs collars off when we return from being out and about, and a friend thought it a bad idea re their safety.  I have another friend whose dog hung itself in a freak accident while wearing a collar - it was the most horrendous situation.

> But Im betting that if you did a suvey on CD re number of people that have been involved in accidents involving vehicles

But we are only considering where the lack of a collar played a part aren't we?  I know of a couple of dogs that have been hit by cars but they were wearing collars.

Sorry for the long post but i think its good to share experiences like this as they may prevent a tragedy for someone in the future

I have had 2 scary incidents with collars, one was two dogs playing and one rolled over with the others collar in her mouth twisting the collar tight so he couldnt breath, the collar was tightly twisted round my girls mouth, she was in agony and he was going blue! I was over the green and had no way of loosening the collar, no scissors or knife to hand and truely thought one dog was going to kill the other, some how i managed to lift up my girl (these were two rotties) and flip her whole body over causing the collar to loosen and free her mouth, then my boy could breath, both were fine but we were all very shaken!  Collars were always removed at playtime after that.

The other was another Rott when we first moved to new home, we have land so the dogs just have the free run, one of my boys loved lazing in the sun on the decking, he was at the time wearing a thin chain, everyone was indoors chatting when my mum ran in hysterical, Chester was choking, he had laid down on the decking and whilst down the loop at the end of the chain had slipped through the gap in the decking and twisted round, meaning when he went to get up he couldnt and the ring had jammed underneath the decking, he panicked and pulled harder to get up, choking himself more, we are ran out to him and i was trying to twist the chain but he was pulling it tight, i knew i had to get him down to loosen the chain and twist the loop back round but in his fear he was so strong, i ended up throwing myself on him to push him down and my mum twisted the loop, we freed him and his mouth was blue too, i was shaking and flopped on the floor and shout his name and he got onto my lap and we just sat their cuddling for ages, i think he knew he nearly died :(

We have now fenced the land off in seperate areas for the dogs to have playtime and sun bathing areas far away from any decking, anyone with decking please dont leave your dogs unattended with a collar on it takes seconds for a freak accident to happen :)

>All good cat collars are now breakaway type.

I keep threatening mine with a puppy collar, she constantly comes home without a collar

But we are only considering where the lack of a collar played a part aren't we?  I know of a couple of dogs that have been hit by cars but they were wearing collars.

Hi Isobel, i think you have misunderstood my earlier posted analogy.

i didnt say collars prevent dogs getting hit by cars - i clarified this point earlier when someone else misunderstood.

> Hi Isobel, i think you have misunderstood my earlier posted analogy.
>
> i didnt say collars prevent dogs getting hit by cars - i clarified this point earlier when someone else misunderstood.

Sorry :-)  I still can't see a big enough downside to not wearing a collar at home.

> I still can't see a big enough downside to not wearing a collar at home.

Nor me. Nor can I understand krusewalker's statement that the risk is higher in the home if the collar is removed than not.

You've said that twice now and I've answered once already that I've already answered! (this will be twice now LOL!)

in the very post you quoted the word "none" from

My dogs don't wear collars in the home, i do it so their coat isn;t ruined for the ring.

My father has collars on his dogs, but they are so very very loose, so if they decide to go into the undergrowth they don't get caught up and strangle themselves.. If i have to grab hold of one of them they can slip straight out of their collars, and the amount of collars they have lost goes to prove that they get themselves into places where they need to come off.

mistaken post, deleted

Sorry :-)  I still can't see a big enough downside to not wearing a collar at home.

Stray dog, no ID

I have posted it all in quite a lot of detail throughout the thread.

The car analogy didnt have anything to do with saying wearing a collar prevents dogs getting run over.

>I've answered once already that ive already answered!
>in the very post you quoted the word "none" from

No, you explained the risk of being without a collar when the dog has got out of the home and strayed from the property. Not when it's still in the home.

The first-hand experiences of people on this thread show that dogs can come to harm wearing collars in the home, so they're safer, if unattended, to have their collar removed.

My two always wear collars, but someone is at home at all times. 

I have a friend whose GSD was in a fenced garden.  The dog jumped at something outside of the garden and his collar caught on the top of the wood stockade fencing.  She came home and found the dog hanging, dead. 

Years ago two of my dogs were playing and one caught it's canine tooth in the other's collar.  I was there and was able to free it without difficulty. After that neither of them wore collars at home, even though one of them was a professional escape artist.  Both were tatooed (no chipping at that time.)

... so there are dangers but with my two now given they are adults, never crated, don't play with each other physically, and apart from an hour or two when I may go out they are always attended.   The risk for them in getting loose without identification I think is greater than the risk of having them injure themselves on their collars.  Both are chipped, but I would rather have easy identification for anyone to pick up than hope someone will take them to the RSPCA or wherever to have their chips scanned.

My dogs don't wear collars in the house for safety reasons.

Apart from the dogs who've been injured that I've heard about online or in magazines, I have 3 friends whose dogs have been injured/nearly killed because they wore collars at home.

The only way my dogs could stray from the house would be if they were stolen and no doubt the burglars would take the collars off if they were wearing them.

Have you had a cat come home without a collar on then to prove they work out or have you found one that has come off that has released ?

No, i wrote:

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

I didnt say in the home.

I also answered this question earlier, as well.

I said if someone leaves a door open the dog might run out and stray...i mentioned several people that reclaimed their dog where this had happened, and they explained the dog normally wears a collar, but they took it off as they were at home.

A few times builders left the door open, or suchlike.

Granted, if your dog is locked indoors, with no one home, it's not likely to happen.
But it could happen - break in for example, which I've also had.

So I would say the statistical likelihood of a dog escaping from a locked house when no one home is about as equally low as a dog getting damaged by it's collar alone at home...the examples given by me and other people for each scenario bear out this statistical low probability, which is where the analogy of cars and accidents came in.
We can have a car accident, its not likely, so we still drive, as the benefits far outweigh the risks.
Similarly, comparing the 2 low probabilities;
Dog escaping house sans collar V dog getting hurt by collar.
Weigh them up and the safety and security benefits of a dog wearing a collar indoors far outweighs the safety risks of dog wearing collar indoors (especially when you consider the risk can be lessened when a dog wear a safer type of collar)

... so there are dangers but with my two now given they are adults, never crated, don't play with each other physically, and apart from an hour or two when I may go out they are always attended.   The risk for them in getting loose without identification I think is greater than the risk of having them injure themselves on their collars.  Both are chipped, but I would rather have easy identification for anyone to pick up than hope someone will take them to the RSPCA or wherever to have their chips scanned.

Hi cairnmania

Thats exactly what ive been trying to say, but im obviously not as clearly spoken as you!

Agreed, many of us could probably give a story of a collar injuring a dog (stories of 'others' seem to outnumber CD members own experiences thus far), but we could all probably do the same with stories involving traffic, or anything else, for that matter.

(And like I say, i can give you the personal example of hundreds and hundreds of kenneled and home fostered rescue dogs (including mixed dogs) over 13 years in rescue with no collar accidents)

But we still drive, as the benefits far outweigh the likelihood of the risk happening to us.

> two of mine nearly died when playing with collars on

Someone we know actually lost a dogue when his collar got caught up on their gate. A freak accident, she was nearby but she couldn't save him because he was too heavy for her to lift while she undid the buckle. Unbearable.

Yes & I've had people, who have found the collars, ring me to collect the collars !

> The dog jumped at something outside of the garden and his collar caught on the top of the wood stockade fencing.  She came home and found the dog hanging, dead. 
>

The same thing happened to an old boss of mine many years ago.  His dog I should say

>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.

Hi krusewalker,

No they may not be, but they are the means of ID that I have registered and is accepted  by the European equivalent of Dog Lost, so that is why they are a valid means of ID for me personally.

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 neck area. Mine are also chipped and tattooed so have visible means of ID on them at all times anyhow.

Now where did I say that mine go out without the ID in a public place?

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

It does not matter how long or short the coat is, I found when I was in Boxers (short coated) that even wearing the rolled collars you could still see a mark when you took their collars off, not a good look in the show ring.
And believe it or not, not every dog wants to bolt and run off at every opportunity, some actual prefer to stay with the family. And dogs that are lost do not necessarily still have their collars/ID on even if they had them on initially, so I will stick to my form of ID thanks, at least that cannot get lost or removed.

> (And like I say, i can give you the personal example of hundreds and hundreds of kenneled and home fostered rescue dogs (including mixed dogs) over 13 years in rescue with no collar accidents)
>

Surely 'kenneled dogs' are at less risk by virtue of their surroundings and only having an 'enclosed run' as opposed to bushes, shrubs, trees, fencing etc?

I think everyone's experiences are equally valid and will, quite naturally, have influenced each contributor's decision as to whether or not wearing collars 'on home ground' is best practice :)

I've relayed my personal experience which equates to there being a 50:50 chance of my dog(s) being potentially strangled within the home and a 1 in 6 chance of them having a tooth caught when playing in the garden .....  Those odds are not exactly in favour of collars by many folks standards - but the reality is that others' standards/opinions don't matter to me in relation to this as it's my own judgement (and the mentioned negative experiences) which I've drawn on to decide my bunch remain collar free as often as possible indoors and out :)

IME the benefits of my dogs remaining collar free outweigh the risks of them going missing - they've never wandered but they have been endangered by collars!

> as opposed to bushes, shrubs, trees, fencing etc?
>

Exactly Teri,

That is why they don't wear collars when working!!
And no whilst they may not be working at home in the garden, certainly my breed will still go through every possible bush and bit of undergrowth available in the garden  it is what they are bred to do.

Krusewalker: "Weigh them up and the safety and security benefits of a dog wearing a collar indoors far outweighs the safety risks of dog wearing collar indoors (especially when you consider the risk can be lessened when a dog wear a safer type of collar)"

We'll have to agree to disagree on that one. Having had two near death experiences with my precious dogs, there's no way I'm risking it again!

>And believe it or not, not every dog wants to bolt and run off at every opportunity, some actual prefer to stay with the family.

A valid point that seems to be overlooked sometimes.

Mine generally do not wear their collars around the house or garden and never if they are in their crates
I will sometimes put them on when we have visitors or if the kids are in and out of the garden with bikes, just in case there is a lapse of concentration.

Wearing a collar for any length of time makes my mongrel look like his head has been removed and stitched back on, badly!  I show my younger dog and I wouldn't want him to look like a scarecrow either - it does alter hair growth round the neck in wire coated breeds.

My youngest dog lost one of his puppy teeth when he was playing (chewing) my other dogs collar/neck - he has also managed to pull that collar so tight
my older dog was starting to choke.  On both occasions it took only moments - once when I had put collars on prior to walking and was just lacing up my walking boots.

I'm mindful of my responsibilities regarding ID and would not leave them without collars in any situation where the risk of losing the dog is greater than the risk of injury through wearing a collar.  It's a judgment call but certainly at home I prefer them to go naked!

>should I be putting them on even when they are just going out into the garden?

I think a fair summing-up would be "it's up to you"! If your dogs are the Houdini sort then it would be sensible. If they show no inclination to try to escape then there's no need.

All the time because he looks so cute with it on! And just incase he does a runner! :)

I had a long-haired GSD who wore his collar all the time - he looked ridiculous whenever it came off as he had a band round his neck, not bald but the hair was really short.  That's why I leave it loose on my Leo, seems to be working so far, but hearing of all these accidents involving collars I'm starting to worry now!

I too know who you are talking about, very sad story and tragic loss of a young dogue, made me think alot about collars when i read about him :(

> What about my case of hundreds of dogs and no collar incidents, including multi dog situations (in 13 years)?
> There have been a few cases on here.
> But Im betting that if you did a suvey on CD re number of people that have been involved in accidents involving vehicles, including incidents where CD member 'knows of someone' (as has been the case with some of the given collar incidents) the statistic would be round about the same

That's a spurious arguement.  If someone knows that their dogs target each others collars when playing then the risk is actually very great indeed to that person.  Far too great for them to be wearing them unsupervised.  My terriers have never run off, escaped or gone missing but grab each others collars on daily basis - so whilst you fear the risk of escape and all the subsequent happenings - that risk is much less than to someone like me whose dogs don't want to ran away.  Ain't nothing in this world that's cut and dried.

> And believe it or not, not every dog wants to bolt and run off at every opportunity, some actual prefer to stay with the family.

Exactly!  Even after an attempted burgalry (dogs chased them off) and a kicked in back door and gate my terriers just hung around in the house and garden waiting for me to come home. 

>Have you had a cat come home without a collar on then to prove they work out or have you found one that has come off that has released ?

mine come home without collars on a regular basis, occasionally some kind person will pick one up and return them to me :)

> So I would say the statistical likelihood of a dog escaping from a locked house when no one home is about as equally low as a dog getting damaged by it's collar alone at home...

Interested in this statement as I only recently read an article which stated all vet practises were only too familiar with collar accidents, some fatal.

I think all of us have to make a decision based on what we perceive as right for our beloved dogs.

My Collies running off just hasn't happened.  Even when I took them down to Devon, the owner of the bungalow I hired, made comment that they just lay waiting while I unloaded the car.  There was no gate to the drive, and I expect them to wait.  When I take them down to the caravan, they lay outside on "my" bit of grass and I can be inside making a cuppa, knowing they will be outside when I get back to them.

Having said that, I don't have a gate on my own drive, and when someone comes to the door, they want to be nosy, but know they are not allowed to step out.  They have a huge, totally secure garden out back to do all the running around they want.  I had a friend with a Sheltie bitch found hung in her barn, got her collar hooked up and slowly strangled. 

I have a multi dog household which includes Chihuahuas, and they are absolute demons for dragging each other around by the collar, and I can see how easily a dog could be killed.  Given that I have owned a good number of dogs for over 50 years, and I have never had one killed in a road accident, or PTS by the dog warden, I will continue to remove collars when we all get in the house.  Anyone that has a pup from me is actually warned about leaving pups unsupervised when wearing collars.

Have used two collars for many years,the house collars are the soft braid type complete with id tag and microchip tag.For walking out we use round rolled leather choke collars,much easier to slip over the head than fumbling with clips when you have several dogs,and no danger of them slipping over the ears either,but they are not easy to find in the shops these days.My experience as a groomer has also taught me that leather collars can get very smelly when worn all the time,despite being bathed some clients would still have a doggy pong,because of their collar!

im another one who has a collar story. my boy and his brother were out on a walk and playing rough when the brother got his lower jaw caught on my boys collar and somehow moved round so he was choking my boy, at this time they were almost a year old and around the 45kg mark each. thankfully there were lots of people around and they assisted in getting them off one another. it was very scary and both boys were very shaken up, so i know remove collars when my dog is playing rough woth another dog, usually only others of his own kind, ridgeback play is VERY rough. would never leave a collar on in the house ever either, never have done.

The dogs collars only go on when we are going out.  Well, with the exception of grooming where I need a collar on them, for nails and such.  I had kept the collars on the dogs, until Cher got her mouth caught in the collar in her crate.  Or they can get their paws caught too. 

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

Taken from the National Statistics...  In 2007, 646 pedestrians were killed in road accidents in Great Britain

None of mine wear collars in the house since my young collie almost died. She was playing with her Mum and their names tags somehow got intertwined. Gem was choking, she wet herself and her Mum was in a panic too, if I hadn't been there she would have died I'm sure.

Its definitely made me re-think about my dogs wearing collars in the house.  We have 7 dogs and since i've been alive (26 years) all dogs have always worn collars day and night.  In 26 years we had one incident wear the buckles on 2 of the GSD's collars got caught but they weren't strangling each other or anything like that.

In the day the dogs do not all roam around together, they are generally in pairs or by themselves so they do not bounce around playing.  Outside in the garden or on walks they can be stopped from play with a one word command so i'm not too concerned about them being overexhuberant and causing themselves an injury but it has definitely made me think that I may take their collars off when inside the house and no-one is around.

I can imagine that anyone who has gone through losing their dog at home from wearing a collar would never let them wear one indoors again and in my opinion that is fair enough.

Wow, its definatly opened my eyes about collars.
My boy used to wear his collar all the time but being a poodle i found it just increased the knots and tangles in his fur, although the advantage was the reassurance that if he did escape the house he would be easier to return. However, now he is older (2+) and im positive he would not run away so he neednt wear one.
The other day as i was coming in the door with a huge load & i 'accidently' pushed the door onto him. Out of my sight Fred must have had to jump out the way and ended up outside. I didnt realise until id put my stuff down, taken off my shoes and looked around  - no dog to greet me. In a panic i opened the door and there was fred, calmly in a 'down' layed on the mat outside the door :-)

My three don't wear collars when at home, nor when working, they do wear them when required by law, any fosters we have wear them all the time, just in case they do have the wanderlust gene, my three don't appear to have that gene.

Does any one  have any details of councils that don't provide Scanners as a matter of course?

I know of one Northern council some time ago that didn't know how to scan properly, they signed a dog over to us to be re homed, we transported it down to Cornwall where we had a home waiting, on scanning it we found to our surprise a registered chip, the owners were pleased to get their dog back, the council weren't pleased to get a large bill from us for transport costs and threats of legal action against the council from the owner.

It is incumbent on any one finding lost property to take all reasonable steps to return the lost property to its lawful owner, with the wide spread use of chips now, I would think that includes scanning ;)

> with the wide spread use of chips now, I would think that includes scanning ;-)

It doesn't as a chip is neither a mark nor permanent, it doesn't prove ownership of anything other than the chip itself

That's nothing more then assumption, until in tested in court.

Edited to say that a lot  councils in England have issued statements to the effect that a microchip is irrefutable evidence of ownership, can't see them doing that with out advice.

It has been proved in court several times over, when a chipped dog has been transferred into the ownership of a rescue when the owner has moved or is not contactable.

In England & Wales, all efforts possible must be made to reunite a Permanently Marked piece of property to it's registered owner-not to do so is to commit "theft by finding"which I believe has a maximum £15,000 fine &/or 6 months in prison