Question:
today i noticed that dakota's collar look too small. she's had it since she was 6 wks old and it is now as big as it will go. so i changed it to the new one that i had for her. i got it several months ago although it was too big, but SHE had to have it. i put it on the tightest notch and could fit two fingers under it and it looked like it fit good. well i put her in her kennel and went to run a few errands. thanks god i was only gone about an hour and a half. when we got home i walked into "her room" and my poor baby had the collar stuck in her mouth. it was around her neck but she had somehow gotten her lower jaw under it and it was stuck in her mouth forcing her mouth wide open. i was horrified!!! i yelled for my boyfriend to come help me get it off....it was really tight! then i noticed blood and i freaked! after searching and searching i finally realized that it was where one of her teeth was coming out. she is ok, but it scared me so bad and i feel horrible! i just wanted to warn everyone not to put a collar on a dog even if you think it is the tiniest bit too big.

lesson learned!

Answer:
Just for future reference, you should never leave a leash/collar/harness on an unattended dog. They can easily hang or strangle themselves, and no one would be there to help (someone here taught me that!)

Also, it's best to have buckle collars (that look like a belt) as they can't tighten/get stuck in an emergency. I believe I read here or somewhere else of two dogs who were playing, and their collars got stuck. They were the clasp type that tightens/loosens to make it bigger or smaller. The dogs were freaking out trying to get free, which just tightened the collars more. And because they were so tight, the clasp wouldn't come undone. I believe that one dog died or almost died, and someone had to cut off the collar which was very hard.

Answer:
I tried collars with my cats for a while and the same thing happened to both of them. I'm not sure how they managed because I thought they were tight enough. And no matter how much tighter I made it they would still get it stuck in their mouth. One time I came home from work and my cat rocky had drool all over his poor little chest! It was horrible, he looked so pathetic. I switched to the collars that snapped if they got stuck (the other ones were just the ones that stretched a bit) and they just manage to get them off all the time. So in the end no collars for my cats. But they are indoor anyway.

Answer:
I am soooo glad Dakota is ok.

I can honestly say I have never had any problems with collars.My dogs collars only came off when they were having a bath.Even when my dogs were pups.I did the "tug" test...This meant tugging at the collar(while on the pup)..If the collar rises up easily and goes up towards the head part,then the collar is way to loose.Another way to test it is see if you can move it.What I mean is,with the collar around the neck can you move it around.What you do is take the "buckle" part(lower neck part)and do a full circle back to the neck part...Geez I hope that mad sense.LOL

What you can also do is get the breakaway collar.The kind that they have for cats..This way if they do get caught,the collar comes apart.Many pet stores carry it.

Answer:
I'm glad to hear that everything turned out okay.

They do make special breakaway collars now for dogs. They have a mechanism that you can bypass the breakaway portion when going for walks, but the breakaway part is great for those times when you are not there and the dog gets its collar caught. This way the collar breaks free under pressure and the dogs can get away from whatever it has been caught on.

Here's the link to that breakaway collar for dogs.
http://www.breakawaycollar.com/

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That's the one.....

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thanks for the information!!!

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Dogs should not be placed in a crate with a collar on for the reason you have had happen or the chance that they hang themselves.
When sizing a collar the two finger test is with your two fingers flat against the neck. Once the collar in sized and on, try to pull it over the head. If it moves up too far or comes off it is too big.

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If the collar can rotate around the neck, is this too loose?

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No, not necessarily. You want to have some space but if it moves up and down too much then it is sized too big.

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Collars should have some play. They should be able to rotate around the neck, but not slip past the ears and over the head. I always test my dogs' collars by moving it around the neck and then trying to slip it past the ears. If I can move the collar but can't take it off without unbuckling it, then it is perfect.

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None of my dogs wear collars in the house.

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You know what is odd? In the last year I have not ONCE forgot to take Odin's collar off before work, except today! I came home and there he was, all jingly from the tags. I'm so glad nothing happened!

Answer:
Originally Posted by Beaglemom
Collars should have some play. They should be able to rotate around the neck, but not slip past the ears and over the head. I always test my dogs' collars by moving it around the neck and then trying to slip it past the ears. If I can move the collar but can't take it off without unbuckling it, then it is perfect.


THANK YOU,for rephrasing what I was trying to say....LOL

Just to add.I don't let the collar get up close enough to the ears.

Here is a pic.

Now don't laugh at the way I did it......LOL

The line is roughly where I don't let the collar pass.

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Sorry, I guess I should have read the posts a little better!

When I try to take Misty's collar off to do "the test" she looks at me as if I've gone absolutely nuts!

I guess with Misty, you can't help but to get close to her ears. Being a beagle, they are pretty hard to miss! LOL

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