Last week I wrote a post, Expect the Unexpected. I asked if your dogs wore collars in the house and what you thought about it.
Opinions vary as to whether a dog should wear their collar in the house. There is definitely a choking/strangling hazard especially if you have more than one dog and they interact with each other.
But there is also a very real risk that a dog can either escape or accidentally get out of their house or yard.
Last Tuesday Hubby walked out the door and left his keys inside. We’d had some really nice weather and our bedroom windows were open so I happened to hear him outside our room asking the dogs ‘where mommy was?’ Like they could have told him. 🙂
Well he asked me to let him in and I did, then I went about my business of getting ready for work. The dogs decided they wanted to go out so I opened the door and left it open a crack so they could come back in without disturbing me.
I was just about finished when I wondered…where are the dogs?
I went to the door and Sampson was just lying there waiting, but Delilah was nowhere about. I stepped out on the deck and called her, looking up into the backyard but I didn’t see or hear her. Something made me look to my right and the gate was open.
My heart just about stopped. I immediately looked over into the neighbor’s yard and sure enough there she was foraging for nuts and anything edible.
I figured it was breakfast time so I wouldn’t have a problem getting her back, I called “Delilah, Delilah breakfast!” She looked up at me and walked around behind the house.
I ran to the front and called her again and she ignored me.
I ran into the house and grabbed the bowl of food and ran back out to the front.
“Delilah, breakfast!”
She looked up and ran toot sweet to me.
Luckily for me she didn’t wander too far, but if she’d gotten farther than the neighbor’s house, I could have had a serious problem.
Strangely enough, Pamela at Something Wagging had a post The Year of Living Dangerously – What’s The Real Risk? where she mentioned her husband had left the back door open at lunch and her Golden Retriever, Honey had gotten out into the back yard. Thankfully that is where she stayed.
The next day I read My Dog Ran Away Last Night t by Lauren at Life With Desmond. Somehow Desmond became an escape artist and managed to get outside their stockade fence. After a frantic sprint around the block, Lauren managed to safely retrieve Desmond from the neighbor’s yard. You have to read it to believe it.
As if that wasn’t enough the very next day Kim at Life At Golden Pines had a post Out Of Sync And Unusual. Kim came home from work on Friday to find her dogs upset. Upon closer investigation Kim discovered three screens had been removed from windows she’d left open for the dogs to enjoy the nice weather. Apparently someone had tried to break in.
Delilah’s little adventure combined with these three other stories reinforces my decision to make sure my dogs have name tags on them at all times.
Delilah and her identification 'necklace.'
It also makes me wonder, what in the world is going on?
Have you heard or experienced anything weird going on with the dogs in your world?
I actually have collars made at http://www.gotags,com with the dogs names and my cell number on them. This way they do not have to wear the long hanging tags around the house but they still have id. I do worry sometimes because Lulu tugs on Sofie’s collar in play, but it is the long hanging loops that I worry the most about with collars. Glad your puppy is safe at home. – DOgDaz
I just googled these and I love the idea. In fact, I’m measuring the dogs tonight and ordering collars immediately!!
Thank you so much.
I worry about something getting caught on the collars, but since I’m almost 100% certain they don’t play when we aren’t home, I have to weigh the risks. In my opinion the risk of them getting out and not being able to get home to me is outweighs the harm.
Oh, Jodi, Our Best Friend LOVES to zoom into the neighbours’ yards! That’s why we have to take him out on a leash!
Three years ago our foster dog raced out an open front door. She had no ID and we were just lucky to find her only a block away. ID always– not everyone checks for a microchip!
And if we didn’t have a fenced in yard trust me, that Delilah would be out on a leash as well!
Microchipping is good, but if she is picked up by the dog warden, they may or may not have a scanner. I know that most vet’s offices do, but I’m not sure about shelters and pounds. They would have to contact a vet and have her scanned that way.
I’m glad you got your foster dog back, that would have been devastating.
I have always kept my dogs’ collars on them at all times. I make sure the collars are snug, but not tight. I have almost always had more than one dog and they’ve always played and rough housed. The two girls that own me now have a tendency to get loose on me a couple of times a year and have always (knock on wood!) returned safely in their own good time. Always with their collars intact, unharmed ~ but FULL OF BURRS!
I’m not sure that I understand what is meant by “long, hanging loops”. My dogs have their tags on (I for one actually LIKE the jingle that they make) and Bella even has a small bell on her collar. One safe way to MAKE SURE that your dog is always identifiable (if someone steals your dog, the first thing they’ll do is remove the collar and tags), is to have it micro-chipped. That is something that I do for all of my rescue dogs. I figure once in a shelter is more than enough for any dog!
Yes microchipping is good, but if someone finds her they can call me instead of the dog warden. Which saves me in the long run. 🙂
I’m not sure about the “long, hanging loops” that you speak of, so I can’t comment on that.
I’m glad your dogs always come back, I know Delilah would have too. Eventually. But I can’t deal with the worry of her being gone. 🙂
I’m a collar person myself – however if I need to put a dog in a metal wire crate – for any reason – I take their collars off ( I prefer the vari type kennels…)
Oh yes, I would never crate them and leave the collar on.
Pearl just recently got away from me outside too… its an epidemic! She lunged at a rabbit and I got caught by surprise and somehow let the leash go. Her recall is terrible- I chased her all over my neighborhood before I caught her and then had to act all happy when I finally got her even though I wanted to wring her neck! I keep a collar with id on her in and out of the house, but some of these posts make me think about taking off her collar when we leave her in her crate- she has a wire one. What is weird about Pearl is that she gets SUPER anxious when we take her collar off, she hates going “naked” for some reason
I sympathize. It is so hard to act all happy when all you want to do is throttle your dog. Hubby scolds me when it takes the dogs a long time to return and yet I still reward them, but I always try to be positive when they’ve returned. Honestly why would they want to come back if there wasn’t a party when they got there. 🙂
I’m glad you got Pearl back. Hmmmm anxious without the collar? You could get her a break-away collar, the point would be if she somehow managed to get hung up in the crate the collar would break apart and she would be safe. Something to consider. 🙂 Thank you for the comment!
Bella gets all wiggy when we take her collar off as well. We think she’s convinced we’re going to send her back to Puerto Rico when we take it off. We made a point of doing so occasionally to get her over that. (Glad you got Pearl back, too!)
Oh poor Bella!!
ha! desmond also gets a little nutty when we take his collar off, which we only do for baths, grooming, and sometimes bedtime (i am far too paranoid about him getting out or getting stolen to take his collar off at other times, even when we’re not home).
i think it’s because he has absolutely no clue what is going on or why it’s happening or anything. he also immediately starts sniffing the collar like mad, and we’re sitting there saying, “yes, desmond, that’s what you smell like.”
on a side note, the dude is also microchipped and we have both a blanketID and a regular ID tag that we keep on separate rings, just in case. like i said–paranoid.
Lauren, I don’t think you can be too careful!! I’m the same way, oh and Sampson sniffs his collar too. 🙂
I was always one of those people who let their dogs be “naked” at home. No collars, no tags. Then the mega tornado devastated Joplin, MO – about 1 hour away. (Google Bring Hannah Home.) My dogs now wear collars and tags 24/7. Their everyday collars are loose and they’ve removed them a couple of times in rowdy play outside. I’ve got their tags – ID and rabies – on Rubit clips so I can change them to their “going to town” collars easily. I should note that my dogs have microchips.
We live in the country in a very rural area, however, we’re less than 2 miles from the Interstate. Jeffie once bolted out of the front door to chase the UPS truck. Luckily our lane is 1/4 mile long and our UPS driver is a really good guy. He stopped and I was able to call Jeffie back into the house. Another time we’d had wicked storms with high winds that blew open a backyard gate. Lucky again because I noticed it before the dogs had left our house area.
You bring up a very good point, if the dog has a collar on the chances are you will be reunited quickly in the case of an emergency.
I worry about fire, what if there were a fire and the dogs needed to be removed? If they had a collar someone could clip a leash or tie a rope to help keep the dog safe.
I have a Rubit clip for Sampson’s tags too. It’s a great idea.
I’m glad you were able to get your dog back and that the UPS guy was so nice.
Thanks for the comment and for stopping by!
Phew! You were lucky Jodi.
Thanks Bassa, I know. It was scary for a few minutes though. 🙂
Oh my. At least Delilah came back…lol…you know food will always get her. 🙂
I do know of dogs who have strangled in their crates with collars on. But if left out, I think they are fine. In my opinion buckle collars are best. But our dogs do not wear them all of the time, only when out playing/hunting. They are chipped and that will have to do. 🙂
They wear the buckle collars when they are outside walking. They have run of the house when we aren’t home so them getting hung up in a crate doesn’t cross my mind. If I did have to crate one of them though, I would definitely remove the collar. No sense in taking chances. 🙂
I tend to forget to put Gwynn’s collar back on after grooming him in the evening. It’s kind of hard to see except for the half hour or so after I put it back on again (during which time he has a really silly tiny head and enormous lion mane neck), so I rarely notice until I go to put his leash on. He’s microchipped, though, which will help if he does end up being found by someone who doesn’t know him/recognise him. He got out of our back yard once (of course, when I’m not around), and my dad and sister ended up following him down the sidewalk until the lady down the street grabbed hold of his collar – we were lucky she was working in her front yard.
Sometimes following them only makes them more determined to get away. You were very lucky the lady was working in her yard and had the sense to grab the dog.
I admit sometimes I forget to put their ‘house’ collars on after we come back from our walk, but for the most part they constantly have them on. 🙂
You just have to make it a habit, like brushing your teeth. Did I brush my teeth? Did I put Gwynn’s collar back on? LOL
Wow – I’m so glad you got Delilah back! That’s such a heart-stopping event (been there with Beau, luckily never with Bella.)
Re: Bella – Ha! Bella isn’t just collared at ALL times, she’s ‘chipped as well. And when she’s outside, she’s also in a harness. Of course all this is mute in Bella’s case because, were she ever to actually get loose, no one other than me could ever possibly get their hands on her and we could easily lose her completely. In this regard, we live our lives with extreme care.
A tip we’ve learned from our trainers though for those who do find themselves needing to get their dog with poor recall skills to come back to them: run in the opposite direction calling them to play with you. While we have only ever tested this in our agility class, it did actually work even for Bella who has the recall skills of a gnat. 😉
I’m glad you’ve never experienced this with Bella, it really does scare the heart out of you.
Running in the other direction only works with Delilah…..sometimes. If she is focused on something it doesn’t matter what I do, she is going to finish her task. 🙁
We don’t keep a collar on Indiana, but we live in an apartment building. (The one time he got out the front door, he stopped at the elevator to wait for it.) When we move I’ll have to reconsider keeping his collar on all the time. It just seems so uncomfortable 🙁
That makes sense. If we lived in an apartment building my dogs probably wouldn’t wear them either!
I love that he waited for the elevator, I probably would have laughed my a$$ off at that!
I think everyone knows that horrible feeling when a dog disappears. My husband usually picks up me up when I teach a late class and helps me clean up. One night a few years back, he was half an hour late. It turns out Shadow had gotten away from him on a walk and he spent 45 minutes looking for her.
He told me later that if he hadn’t found her, he would have hopped right on a plane because he knows I’d never let him back in the house. I’m glad we never had to find out.
That feeling is one reason I’m always on the look out for stray dogs. I always stop and check out their situation and try to figure out where they’d belong. I’d be grateful if anyone else did the same for me.
Oh Pamela, I’m so glad we aren’t the only ones who feel that way. Hubby took the dogs out to the woods once and Delilah took off and Sampson followed her. Hubby wouldn’t dare come home until he had them back, because I would never have forgiven him.
I really believe it would end our marriage if either one of us lost one of the dogs. 🙂 I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.
I’m with you about trying to always stop and help a stray dog too.
Every once in a while, Sage decides to take of out the front door and find something really stinky to roll in. Fortunately, she doesn’t go far and comes home, but, I’m glad she wears her tags at all times. I never know when she gets a notion to repeat this rather bad behavior!
I’m glad that Sage comes back to you, but you must be worried in the meantime!
Gone our the days when we could let our dogs outside and just let them be dogs. Sometimes I yearn for those simpler times.
Luckily for us Delilah still loves exploring the neighbors yard, but at some point I’m sure she’ll get bored with that and then what?
Holly wears her collar and choke chain at all times except at night when we are sleeping. The collar hangs by her kennel. Since she can slip out of the collar she wears a choke chain in case we have to leave the house quick. Or her grandfather needs to get her out of the house quickly.
Do you leave it on her in the kennel? We don’t kennel the dogs but if we did I might be nervous about them getting hooked on something. But then we have a wire kennel and I don’t know how I would feel about those big plastic ones.
Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the comment!
Oh the collar dilemma!!
My Mum doesn’t like the noise of my collar at night, so she takes it off, but she does worry when I haven’t got my collar on – I am microchipped, but she likes it when I have my collar on….
Ideally, if she could justify the cost, I think my Mum would love to have the GPS on me, especially as I would also chase the UPS van given the chance!! I’m totally obsessed with it!! Tee Hee
Have a fun day,
Your pal Snoopy 🙂
The GPS is an awesome idea. Their little collars they were in the house have one tag with their name, my name and phone number. They also have silencers on them because I don’t like the jingling while I’m trying to sleep.