Tragic Error - Page 3

Wow! I had no idea this was such a common occurance. I had never thought twice of putting the dogs out in the yard before I left for work without removing the collar until one day I noticed the rott liked to grab the gsd's collar and drag her around by it, it was a game so after I saw that I started taking the collars off before they go in the yard. I am in a small rural subdivision, if they got out there isnt far they could go and everyone in the neighborhood knows them, the biggest thing I worry about is them getting out and getting shot :(  I have a hotwire to prevent them getting out tho.

Therese

This concern is also a reason I've never put any color-coded collars on our litters. I tried it once with an early litter and the pups were entirely too interested in each other's collars and their play style was getting their jaws in each other's collars. I removed the collars almost as soon as I got them on!!

The few times I've had to mark puppies, i've used a dab of fingernail polish on their toenails or somewhere on their fur. Whenever I see pix of litters with collars, I get nervous just thinking about it.

Changing the subject a tad, best thing ever for marking litters of pups is good old TIPEX, you may need to re mark every few days but it just crumbles or rubs off the coat when not needed, I-ve been using it for years on my litters.

I also cringe at the thought of baby pups with ANYTHING around their neck

Another good thing to use to mark litters,good old fashioned sidewalk chalk, the crayola kind, non toxic. They have the small packages ( like the 12 crayon size) at walmart for 68 cents, Choose the colors u intend to use, get a coffee cup and put hot water in it, stand the chalk on end Let it soak a while ( about 15-30 minutes is best) then just mark the pup run out of color just dip it back in the water.. A quick blast of hairspray will help it stay longer ( about a week to a week and a half) and is easily brushed out when desired. Here is what chalk can do :) Another thing u can use is the crayola nontoxic washable markers, lasts longer but still washs out easily

I  think the best way to mark your pup is with an electric beard trimmer, each pup gets a shaved spot in a different area and you mark it down, touch up as needed............ The breeder I bought my lab from did this and I thought it was an awesome idea...... My pup had a shaved spot on his left hind leg..............

Why shave hair off a puppy when there are other easy alternatives, daft idea to me as on coated breeds it looks aweful

Still reckon the tipex idea is the best