Tragic Error - Page 1

I was told of an incident today that just breaks my heart. An officer that purchased one of my pups last year had been given another gsd, about 2 yrs old. The dogs got along great and there were no issues between then. He left for work one day and kenneled them in the 10x10 kennel as was customary. His fiance and future step children were at home.  He never left the dogs loose while he was gone and unable to supervise ( very wise of him) He got a frantic call from his fiance about 2 hours later, Aramina and the other gsd had been playing and somehow Aramina got her lower jaw twisted in the other dogs collar, the fiance and children were not able to get it loose, both dogs were panicing and snapping. The owner raced home lights and sirens running but it was to late, by the time he got there the other gsd had strangled and Aramina was dragging her trying to get away. He had to cut the collar off of Aramina to get it off. He is lucky it didnt snap her jaw. She is not small, she is 80 lbs and very thick boned as well as tall. She just turned 1 year old.

Please Please, always remove the collar when you have to kennel or crate your dogs, accidents happen and he had no idea it could result in tragedy. Luckily Aramina's jaw is fine, no physical injuries, I can only imagine if there will be mental issues.

Therese

Oh Lord, I hate to hear of this happening.......mine do not wear collars except if taken off the property.  Had horses and never left there halters on either.

Had a shepherd have a very loose choke on many years ago, took off running in Maine woods and was not found  until spring when a fisherman found him int he river that ran through my property with his choke caught on a tree downed across the river, fell thru the ice, tried to get out and caught his collar.  Very sad and desperate 4 months for me searching for that dog, then to find that,..........so sad

Rebecca

so sorry to hear of this.

thank you for sharing as this serves as a reminder to us all.my dogs only wear their pinch collars when working obedience or going somewhere, even then i am careful to take the collar off once they are secure in the truck.

rebecca as a rider it is my experience that when turning out always remove the halter for the same reasons.

thanks,

ravenhawk

I sure feel for you, but do have to say there is a "flip side" of no collars/tags on your dogs. Last winter I had been given a retired AKC champion male by my handler, to use for breeding to my females. He did have a flat collar, but no tags on. I planned on getting one made for him in the next day or two.  I, on the other hand, have three females who are housedogs who have their ID tag, rabies tag, and AKC CAR tags, all attached to loose fitting flat collars. Well, the male slipped out of the house from my husband while I was at work, the third day with us, and not knowing us or his new home/property, ran away.  We looked EXTENSIVELY, ran ads everywhere in the vicinity, put posters up, etc. for three months with only 2 callers saying they had spotted the dog, but couidn't get ahold of him because he was lost/scared and unapproachable. Needless to say, we never saw the dog again, and I hate myself for not puttting ID tags on him quicker, maybe someone would have called me after finding him. I'll never forget him or what happened!

All of my pups and dogs are microchipped, I really need to get my bitch tatooed but even then, no one would have a clue of how to locate owners off of a tatoo, I know, I have a Mastiff at the shop rightnow with an ear tattoo and no way to match it up with anything. Sure wish there was a centralised  tattoo database like there is for microchipping

Sad stories all around.   We had a collar entanglement once at dog daycare and we went collarless from that day forward for group play.  Thankfully we seperated the dogs after a lot of drama and fearful screaming, and some sore teeth for a couple of days.  Even with the "quick release" we couldn't get it off...  the snap was in the dog's mouth, and he was biting and snapping his teeth frantically.  

My dogs rarely wear collars at home either, unless we are going walking.   My girl is tatoo'd and microchipped though, so hopefully she would be safely returned even without a collar & tags.   I haven't tried any of the new velcro or breakaway collars yet.

Heather

Have you guys ever heard of the "Keepsafe" break away collars?  This is another option for those who like to keep tags on their dogs at all times.  Might check them out, could save a life.

www.breakawaycollar.com

There is always a flip side to these issues and for what it is worth, this is my practice. My dogs, all the dogs, wear collars at all times. The facility is built to minimize the chance of a collar getting caught on anything. Dogs together are ALWAYS personally supervised at all times, whether mine or boarders. Personally, I would much rather have a collar and tags AND a microchip on a dog than worry about the very rare instance where there is an accident. Of course, in five years, I have only had one dog jump a fence and I was right there at the time and got her right back in. From that time on, she did not go outside without a leash on her. Compared to the number of strays that cannot be identified because they have NEITHER a collar or a microchip, the risk of wearing a properly fitting collar is worth it, at least for me. All my dogs are microchipped as well. 

Great point hodie!

thanks

So odd that you bring that up now...I just had a jaw stuck in a collar 2 days ago for the first time in my life.  It was no biggie, we got them apart, but I always, always supervise play between my dogs. Someone could have really been hurt if they were alone.