Collars?

[Mrs.F]

Maggie has added a new trick to her wrestling repetoire - she bites onto Penny's collar and forces Penny to the ground that way. This seems to be part of their playful, good natured play, so at first we just laughed it off and mentally congratulated Maggie on her ingenuity. However, 4 broken collars later, I don't like the new trick quite so much. 3 of the 4 collars snapped at the plastic clasp - the other (a Lupine with a good strong clasp) was chewed so badly that I replaced it. Because that clasp didn't break, I've put another Lupine collar on Penny, but I go back to school next week and I'm worried that perhaps Maggie could choke Penny during a wrestling match? I'm thinking of putting a little bitter apple on Penny's collar to discourage Maggie from biting it, but I don't know if the Bitter Apple will bother Penny. I'm tempted to just say the heck with the collars, but we have so many friends and relatives coming and going that I like having collars and id tags on the girls "24/7" in case they ever accidentally get out.
Any ideas?
PS We have harnesses that attach to our seatbelts for car trips. I tried using them in the house to see if they'd work better than the collars. You wouldn't believe how fast Maggie can wrestle Penny to the ground when she has a harnesses on! http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/frown.gif

[~8DachsieAngels~]

Well i know that the bitter apple wont hurt Penny but it doesnt seem to phase any of my doxies they will chew things with bitter apple on them in a heart beat... im trying to think of something that would work what about a chain collar like they use for trainning... do u think something like that might work then she cant chew it up at least ...lol Sorry i dont have any better idea's good luck http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/smile.gif

Jen

[Owen's Mom]

I don't want to scare you... but I would suggest that you remove collars when they safely at home. A friend of mine was on a dachshund email list and one day, she got an email about a pair of dachshunds who were wrestling like you've described. One dog was found dead (Choked to death) and the other had a broken jaw that was stuck in the other's collar. After reading that story, Kris will not keep collars on the dogs in the house. Period.

How about having the girls microchipped and removing the collars in the house. Let me know what you decide.

~~Amy~~

[~8DachsieAngels~]

Thats a much better idea then mine...LOL good thinking Amy http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/smile.gif

Jen

[LisaH]

When I was a kid we had a long-haired dachshund named Cindy. One day we were driving in the car with Cindy in the back seat, and she started making weird gagging sounds. I told her to BE QUIET, and when she didn't, I turned around and found she'd hooked her collar onto the door lock and was sort of hanging from it! Did I feel small...<IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm36.gif" border=0>

(She was okay, by the way, and got lots of cookies.)

[Jean]

My own personal experience...

Late last Friday Debbie and Star were playing. Like Mrs.F's puppers, they began grabbing each other's collars. They were having one heck of a good time! The next thing I knew the house was filled with dachsie screams! Somehow Debbie got her mouth caught on Star's collar and couldn't get loose. They both panicked and struggled to free themselves. As I was trying to free them, the other four dachsies joined in the fracas. I don't know if they were trying to help, protect, attack, or what, but, wow, being in the middle of six upset little dachsies was something I don't want to experience again! I was scared to death! Not for myself, but for my babies. I thought they were going to kill one another.

I managed to free Debbie and Star and to calm the others down somewhat... it took at least a hour before things finally settled back to normal. Fortunately none of the puppers were hurt. I sustained some minor bites.

As much as Debbie and Star love each other, there is no doubt in my mind that the results would have been tragic had I not been home when this happened.

Never in my wildest imaginings had I thought something like this could happen!

[Mrs.F]

Yikes! Am I ever glad that I asked!

Our new routine as I leave the house will be "into the pen, off with the collars"!

Right now I feel like ditching the collars completely - but I don't dare. The very things that make me love life in Maine ("Life in the Slow Lane" as the t-shirts say) can also be frustrating! My local vet doesn't implant chips or have the equipt to scan for them - neither does our local shelter (a.k.a. the backyard of the local dog officer). If my girls get out they'll need old fashioned tags to get home quickly. Each has REWARD engraved in very large letters on her tag to be sure that she's brought home and not left to wander where woods creatures might think dachsies are a tasty treat....

[Baileys Mom]

Whatever you decide about the collar, here's a tip for the bitter apple. I've not had much success with it in the past either. Here's how I've gotten it to work this time after Bailey chewed through a lamp cord (fortunately not plugged in) I've sprayed every cord in the house and respray weekly. I sprayed a GOOD amount on a cotton ball and gave it to Bailey to chew on. Made sure she got a really good taste. Now all she has to do is smell it and she doesn't even attempt to chew on anything that's been treated with bitter apple. <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm10.gif" border=0>

[Mrs.F]

Thanks Bailey's Mom!
Luckily, both of my girls are wimps - I've had really good success with Bitter Apple and I've never had to purposely put any in their mouths as the directions state. I've used the ointment on chair/table legs, electric cords and the puppy playpen. The spray doesn't seem to be quite as repulsive as the ointment, but it's worked very well for us on HUMAN feet, doggie wounds and a fabric cushion that sits on the floor in my daughter's room.
I lost quite a bit of weight during my recent hospital stays and I had such high hopes of keeping it off. I'm thinking of spraying a little Bitter Apple on the contents of my cookie jar....

[Krista]

Thankfully my boys do not chew on eachother's collars. I do use the ones with the clip, though since I know that if the collar is put under enough stress, the clip will break. And when I am not home, they are separated. (Rudy hates to be crated but does not mind the x-pen, but Roscoe can climb out of the x-pen so he has to be crated.)

Has anybody tried the saftey break away collars for cats???

And Heidi, even if they were microchipped, you should still have external ID on them to visibly show "yes this is someones beloved pet." I know that our local animal control does not scan for chips, so I have ID on my boys at all times. If I did crate them together I would remove the collars though, just to be safe.

[Penny's Aunt]

This is not the only dog board where people say that their local shelter doesn't scan for microchips.

The old excuse that no one scanner can scan all the types of chips is no longer true. The AVID scanner (& probably most of the others) can scan all the chips ever made in America, & several of the English ones.

And the scanners are usually FREE TO NON-PROFIT ANIMAL ORGANIZATIONS. All they have to do is ask. What are these people waiting for, an ingraved invitation from God?

And the local vets had better get with the times, too. INSIST! They vaccinate, don't they? How is this much different? They make a profit on it, & it's good for the animals. They can do dogs, cats, horses, pigs, parakeet, iguanas, & fish, etc.

[Krista]

It's the County animal control that will not scan here. The local humane society scans and chips all adopted pets, but no one has been successful in convincing the county to scan -there is some big controversy inside the organization and they won't say what it is. The major problem is that the county is the only org. that can legally search and pick up strays in our area. The HS and SICSA must rely on the kindheartedness of people to bring in strays. The vets here will chip, but they tell you that if AC gets them, it wont help anyway.

I feel safer with external ID in this area for that reason. My pets will rarely be without their collars - you just never know when they might dart out the door, or when the gate might break.

[Penny's Aunt]

If they refuse to scan, the first thing I think of is that they sell the animals to labs, which is legal in many places. Is there any way you could find out what they do with the animals? After all, if they were concerned with getting the dogs back to their owners, they would be scanning. There is apparently something else at work here, & like my friend Henry always says, "Follow the money".

p.s. The labs prefer home-raised animals, as they are easier to handle. Makes your skin crawl, doesn't it?

[Krista]

I was thinking that too, but a friend's daughter that had worked there in the past said they euthanize those that do not get claimed/adopted within a certain time limit. Whether that is true or not... I do know that stats show that my county euthanizes something like 17,000 cats and dogs each year.

[wireweiners]

Please, please, please, never use a chain training collar as an everyday collar and leave it on the dog at all times. They are training tools only and can be very dangerous if left on an unsupervised dog.

I don't know what to do about the chewing problem other than separate them when you aren't there. The safest collars to use are field collars that are made for hunting dogs. Instead of a D ring to fasten the leash on they have an O ring. The buckles is curved so everything fits close to the dog's neck so there is less chance for them to get caught on something and hang up. Trouble is, you can find them small enough to fit standards but not minis. The name tag's even are flat and fastened to the collar with brads. If some crafty, enterprising soul wanted to start manufacturing them for small dogs, I think it would be a great niche market.

[~8DachsieAngels~]

Good point WW i never thought of the fact they could choke to death with those things i really have never used them ... but was the only thing i could think of that was un-chewable ... i have plain leather buckle collars with the flat brass plates on them as u mentioned my father in law recommended these because he has hunting dogs that use them and they work great. The only bad thing is the rabies tag still has to dangle on them i asked my vet... why they were so big this year and he said its the 2000 style i hope they come up with something better for 2001 because i think these long metal tags are dangerous.

Jen

[Penny's Aunt]

If the tag is too long or too large, get a hole drilled in the opposite end from the original hole. Then stitch both ends to the flat part of the collar itself.

[Krista]

As I said in my post about neat ID tactic -I removed the rabies and dog license from the collars. I personally have seen dogs get the tags stuck in the grates of their crate and effectively strangle themselves trying to move their head.

I put the information off the tags inside a small steel ID tube. The tube does not rattle, and they cannot chew off the info like they can on the softer metal tags. And the info in the ID tubes can be easily changed. Just type up a new slip of paper for it. These tubes are too small to get stuck in the grates of their crate. -I also have their name and our phone number written directly on the collar with liquid embroidery -it is non toxic if they should happen to chew on it. I do have their tags on their harnesses, so when we go out they have them on too.

BTW -another thing that can be dangerous is those "s" style links that many people attach the tags with to the collars. They can easily become hooked on things since their ends do not completely close. I read on a BB where one dog got his eyelid stuck on another dogs "s" link while they were playing. I use very small o-rings like the kind on a keychain. The ID tubes I bought came with that kind of attacher too.