Horrifying experience that nearly killed my new dog

[alcina]

Ber - so glad you kept your head and that the family is all OK! I can't even imagine how scary that must have been.

I don't keep collars on our dogs except when we go out walking on the lead (no collars on the beach walks we do as we are so remote there's not much need) so I can't help with which type works the best. Maybe you'll have to get a few, put them around a stuffed animals neck and really work at twisting them to see which one suits your needs the best?

Be interesting to hear what you decide to use as I'm sure this is a timely reminder for us all!

Again, so very happy that you are all OK.

 

[offroaddiver]

when i had a dog she almost strangle on a tree branch. after that made a collar that is much like common safety collars now... Mine used simple button snap. I have seen everything from horses to cattle get caught up.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

did you see the safety collar a few pages back?

I saw that one and stopped by the local giganto-petstore to see if they carry them but no luck so we're going to order them online. I was just wondering if Mr. Alaska was familiar with anything (including that one) since he hunts with dogs.

I keep the tags on the collar, but the collar is hardly ever on the dogs. I've never had a dog that would run off so never had to worry about that. I guess chipping is the new "in" thing.
I guess if you live in an area where "laws" dictate what you need to do, your choices are limited. I'm relatively new at this city dwelling thing, but in the country, let them play in the back 40....
Sounds like they were playing and things went bad, according to your hubby saying they went to the spot and investigated, they are smart animals.

Our new dog came to us with a chip, the rescue organization chips all their dogs and said they could put a chip in Katie for $25 or something like that and we plan to have one put in her too. The dogs don't usually run off when we're at home since we have so much property but they spend their days at "Grandma's" in town and she doesn't have a fence but has several acres, a creek and a pond. While the dogs usually stay pretty close to the house or pond Katie has a friend who lives across the road and sometimes she goes to find him. There are also apartments nearby and since she loves kids the temptation to cross the road and go play is sometimes more than she can resist. Luckily my in-laws are good friends with the police The dogs wear a double sided ID tag, one side with our home info and their name and one side with the Chevy dealership where Bruce works (his parents live behind the dealership).

Hubby said it was strange that morning when they went over to the site because Katie would approach Lindy and start to grab her neck then she would suddenly back off and just look at Lindy. They've started playing together again and the 5 inches of snow we got yesterday meant big fun for them.

It looks like Katie lost a tooth in the struggle, she has both lower canines and the little tooth beside the canine but the right side looks to be missing the next tooth. She still wants to play ball and tug with Lindy so it must not be bothering her. She has a nice lump on her lower lip and a skinned spot on top of that near where the tooth is missing. That's probably where the collar was exerting the most pressure. Lindy really doesn't look or act any worse for wear other than the "mask squeeze" red eyes.

My dog wears a collar from www.tazlab.com for the exact same reason.

Would that collar let go if it were twisted?

I need to work on getting the replay of the awful noises they made out of my head. While what I saw was disturbing it's the choking noises and desperate screaming yelps that sneak back and haunt me.

Ber :lilbunny:

 

[tedj01]

Way back when I was young, we used to raise and hunt bird dogs. We would cut leather collars in half and single rivet the collar back together again. The rivet was placed close to the edge of the cut where the leather would fail if put under stress, such as the dogs weight. We did this to prevent hanging dogs going thru barb wire fences. The cut was done at the top of the collar at highest point of dog's neck. This placement was so you could grab the collar at the cut and hold the dog if necessary. We used copper rivets. I have seen the same thing done with staples and strong thread or weak string.

We took the concept to our horses also and did bridles the same way. To test placement and ability to break we used old leather reins. Testing was important because you do not want them to break apart too easily or take too much force.

 

[erparamedic]

Oh, my! Ber... when you mentioned the "excitement with the dogs" in you email... I hadn't seen this post yet.

What a horrific experience. Good for you for keeping a level head and getting them freed up. I'm glad that you and the pups will be ok. You did an awesome job saving them!

 

[Surly]

Would that collar let go if it were twisted?

Yup. The elastic is heavy, but will stretch a LOOOOOOONG way. I think the collar opens to 2x its normal size. Also, the nylon on the inside of the collar is pretty "slick" rather than rough, like a lot of the cordura and such.

It's a small company--if you call, you'll talk to the owners. Rick & Noelle can give you the details on the exactly how far and whatnot. As a matter of fact, my brother in law tried to walk our dog with only one of the "rings" clipped to the leash and he couldn't figure out why the dog kept slipping out. We had to show him how the collar is supposed to work.

I was initially skeptical, but have been convinced. It really is a well designed product, and they back it with a lifetime warranty.

 

[Scuba-Jay]

Believe it or not I've found this post to be very helpful! I'm giving my pup (a 12 month old bully / boxer mix) to some friends of mine in Houston when I leave for Utila next month. They will have him for at least 6 months if not forever. They have three dogs already to Sarge will be their forth. Ive never had more than one dog so the threat of tangled collars had never occurred to me. I'll have to keep this in mind and make sure they take precautions before handing him over. Thanks for bringing this one out into the light I'd never have known!!!

Jay

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Scuba-Jay, glad the post was helpful. I promise you, you never want to go through that or put your friends through it. A bit of money for prevention is well worth it!
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[D_B]

Wow Ber ... got a very big lump in my throat reading this .. so glad that it turned ok ... great thinking .. give em a hug for me too

 

[tedj01]

Scuba-Jay, glad the post was helpful. I promise you, you never want to go through that or put your friends through it. A bit of money for prevention is well worth it!
Ber :lilbunny:

I started doing rigging our horses' bridles to break, after one got a leg hung up in reins when tied to a barb wire fence and was fighting it badly. He was cutting himself and about to get hung up in the barb wire. He had completely lost it and was screaming hideously. I had to go in with a pocket knife and to cut him free. It was a close call as he pinned me against the fence also. When pinned against the fence with the horse screaming in my ear, I almost had to decide whether to go ahead and cut horse's throat. It was getting that hairy. He had two posts almost out of the ground and I was concerned he would knock us both to the ground and roll us up in the wire. I was able to cut him free. Neither of us got cut too bad; though I did have to walk home as he ran free. Then I got to do first aid to horse, me, and fence.

Back to topic, no it is not something anyone wants to go thru. Lots of people cause these situations by having dog collars too loose. I have had to cut dogs off fences where they tried to jump the fence and get their collars hung. Thats fun to trying to cut a dog loose thats doing its damndest to bite you. That was also the problem with the horse above, I did not tie him up properly.

Oh by the way for those who understand, it was a glass eyed horse. Hmmm, kinda reminds me of panicked divers though their kicks and teeth are not as strong.