I have just read on a website about someone was complaining that their puppy they bought from a breeder was not used to wearing a collar. This is an 8 week old puppy! How many of you collar train your pups before they leave? I have never done so nor do I expect any puppies I have bought to have been so trained.
I just felt that they were moaning about this unneccessarily.

Jesse

Mine don't wear collars at that age! They'd only last 5 minutes before they were chewed off by the others! :rolleyes: Pointless, and very expensive.

Heard of oven ready chickens - but street ready dogs - plain daft.

Now Jackie, don't beat about the bush, just tell it how it is :D  :D  :D

liberty

My Mum told me if you don't speak your mind people forget you have one ;)

I do try to collar train my puppies before they go to there new homes. I usually put a collar on one of the pups at a time for a couple of minutes. All the pups come to investigate at first but they soon get used to the new toy. I wouldn't say that they are all collar trained as I can never remember who had the collar on last I even pup the lead on the collar when I bring the pup for 'family orientation' in the living room. Again only for a couple of minutes. I feel that the sooner you start the easier it is for both the pup and the new owner.

With my very first litter (4) I bought them 4 litle blue leather collars. They wore them during the day & soon got used to them & I took them off at bedtime. One night I forgot to take them off & in the morning there were 4 sleeping angels & 4 metal buckles .............................

my puppies have rolled collars on from the day I get them & I have some old puppy collars that fit them up to about 9 months when they get a new one for their ID discs etc

nope - I don't, and my 2 youngest ones here - mother and daughter have never had a collar on in their lives either (and I know about the legal thing about collars and ID tags, but they are always walked on private ground - they are micro-chipped though!! - and I feel I could technically say they are gundogs working which are, I believe, exempt from this law if I was challenged). And I always stress to people that if they chose to use a cage/crate at any point in the day, to remove the dog's collar first after hearing so many horror stories of buckles being caught in the things....I really don't like collars to be honest and my house dogs don't usually wear them either...

Long coated breeds should not wear a collar all the time - it damages the coat, so "collar training" them doesnt really apply as they should only wear them when going out. Having said that, if I had short haired breeds I still wouldnt be putting collars on them before going to their new homes. It seems to be getting quite ridiculous what people expect breeders to have achieved with puppies at around 8 weeks old, They're babies and need the first few weeks of their lives to learn to "be" without too many additional pressures. As it is, they have a lot to contend with just being properly "people" socialised and coming to terms with how big and noisy their world is. 

I must admit. Although I never purposefully collar trained a pup.
I used to put different coloured 'thin rope' round the 'sold' puppies necks.
I know people now would not approve, the danger of strangulation, it was some years ago.
I would have thought that anyone who complained of a pup not being 'collar trained' must have a perfect pup.
There's are a lot more to complain about.
If you ever thought you were going to recieve a fully collar, house, child or socially trained puppy at 10weeks old.
Then again there are some strange people out there.

Put a fabric collar on the pup when I pick it up from the breeder to act as a handle in the cars, who ever has it on their knee they need something to grab it with. Not had a pup that objected to it. Never use collars in the house seen and heard of too many accidents.

Phew, I thought I was going to be alone here, but I'm with you workingcockers.  I consider that the dangers of having a collar on my dogs are far more than the benefits.  I just made sure that from a very early age mine were used to being held by the scruff of their neck (there's plenty of it!).

I wouldn't advocate this for pet dogs, but mine are working.  They are microchipped.

I'm glad most agree! I thought this was getting a bit ridiculous with what people expect when they buy a puppy!

Jesse

Glad I'm not alone - and yes - I too pick all my pups up by the scruff of their necks as you just don't know which ones will go to working homes or stay here at a young age and out of preference, I would rather pick my dogs up by the neck and drop them gently over than let them jump a fence with barbed wire on the top. I know to some it looks awful but if they are accustomed to this from day 1, then those that stay here or go to other workers don't bother. But, I put the dangers of collars being left on while in cages in my puppy packs just in case I forget to mention it!! Mine are micro chipped too

Thats odd I've got longish coated dogs & used to have Beardies & they have always had collars(rolled ones) on all the time & their coats have never been damaged Maybe I have just been very very lucky over the 40 odd years

Am going by what I was told for my breed (wheatens) and by groomers that I know - I suppose there are exceptions, but certainly in a lot of long or thick coated breeds, wearing a collar 24/7 breaks and wears away the coat around the neck.

If I was ever to take on a puppy from a breeder (I prefer my older dog's from rescue centres) I wouldn't expect it to be collar and lead trained, infact I would expect to train it in everything myself.  What are people expecting these days from their pup's?  If they take on a pup they must expect to put some hard work into training them surely?

My beardies had the correct coat with undercoat(not usual nowadays)& my Border collies also have thick coats No damage to their coats at all

Groomers are not always correct but as I said I just must have been lucky over the 40 odd years of owning dogs

Of course FLAT collars can damage coats by flattening it but rolled or round correctly fitted collars have never hurt any of my dogs coats including my Champion beardie who had the thickest coat I have ever seen & when we clipped it off when she was very old we took 8 lbs of coat off her & she still had a good length of coat left

My dogs only wear collars when going out of the house. But I still put collars on the pups when I feel they are old enough to wear them. This way it is not something new when they are in their new homes. The collars are only put on for a few minutes and I'm with them all the time. I personally feel that pups are stressed out enough when they go to new homes without new owners having to 'collar train' from scratch. They are not properly collar-trained but have felt one around their necks.

my litter of pups had collars on from 5 weeks, i bought 7 different coloured cat colllars mainly so i could tell the difference between the pups, by the time the pups were ready to go only about 3 had their collars left but by this time it was easy to tell the difference.
My dogs all have collars on with their tags, its normal only tess my lab that has her collar of at nightas she likes to scratch her back on hte floor, as we have a varnished wooden floor which my mum is very proud of, the collar comes of to avoid her scratching the floor
tanya

Our girls breeder had coloured collars on the pups purely as a means of indentification, ours was blue!! But it only lasted 3days at home (due to ever increasing neck size) :)

I also have wheatens & have never noticed any damage to the coat around the neck area - collars on all day every day.

I have a Cairn with a proper hard coat. She wears a collar all the time - no breakage.  However, it's a flat collar and it does leave a mark around her neck - sort of like a hair curler would do.   I've used round, rolled collars and they are much better, but I can't find any that are as sturdy as the flat collars. 

Anyway, unless a dog is a show dog, who cares if their hair is a little wonky around the collar?  It's not very noticeable when the collar is on anyway.

Stacey

All my Elkhoounds wear round leather half check collars permanently.  I have children with their friends in and out all the time, and live on a busy road with buses lorries etc along it all day and most of the night.

for me the dnager of having them collarless is greater than the risk of getting cuaht up with their collars.  they are always either supervised by me, or shut in kitchen if I go out, so would lie down and sleep, as not much scope for playing with five of them in there.

Have had no problem with coat waering with the lovely round collars made my Acolade Leathercraft.  I have used the 6mm and 8mm thickness round leather, predffering the thicker for stronger or larger membersof the breed.  I keep them oiled and restitche them every now and then.

I find that even labradors and dalmatians that wear a collar all the time have a noticeable 'ring' around their necks when the collar is removed.

we don't put a collar on Nell, our Lab unless were going out.

Barb

My boys have collars on if we are walking on public ground, but never at home.  If we are "at work" they have slip leads (so no collar there).

They are all chipped.

Mine wear collars from birth to new homes, but it's for easy identification not training. The firsr 'collar' is knicker elastic coloured with food dyes. Then they go into kitten collars and finally puppy collars.