Breakaway collar to prevent injury in dog?

Question

We came home today to one dog's jaw stuck in the others collar. It got stuck while wrestling and was stuck for hours. There was blood and poop everywhere. The bigger one with the collar was flinging the smaller one in the panic and hit walls, furniture. (Miniature dachshund vs Standard)

We took them to the vet, no fractures but the one's nose was lacerated inside, his neck was raw and the others jaw was swollen and bleeding. They are well medicated now and fine but my question is... how can we prevent this from happening again? Should we put breakaway collars on them? They've been microchipped.

Or is there a way to use regular collars safely so we dont have to worry when we are gone all day. It could have been so much worse. The little one's teeth almost came out and the big one was strangled. He had pitichial hemorrhaging and a bleeding nose, bruised and raw neck.

What can we do to prevent this? We feel so awful! The poor things. We came home early and just in time! What to do!?

BTW the reason we dont keep them in crates is because we are gone from 8am to 5pm. We dont pen them cos they dig out under it. And we keep collars on because they have dug out of the yard a few times and Id hate for them to be picked up and their microchips not scanned.

Madame Exx: Did you mother never teach you manners? There is a nice way of telling people things without resorting to ridicule and name-calling. Your answer had the LEAST influence on me, based solely on your attitude.

Answer 1

This is a rare but serious problem that can and dose occur.
I don't think a break-away collar is necessary because the odds of it happening again are astronomical.
Just make sure that your dogs collars are fit properly and not too tight. Depending on the size and type of dogs you have, proper fitting of the collar should allow proper restraint with out allowing the dogs head from slipping out of the collar.

Break away collars are availble, how reliable they are I don't know.

There are anti chew chemicals that can be applied to the collars that will help prevent dogs from placing their mouth on other dogs collars because they taste bad. But I don't think that necessary either. I'm sure it won't happen again.
Another consideration is that if the dogs are only wearing the collar to hold their ID tags and really only need them when you walk them or take them out consider RF-ID chips or lip ID tattoo and only use the collars when necessary.
A TATTOO is a permanent identifier. When a shelter, animal control, or veterinary employee examines the dog, they will look for a number on the inside of the left thigh or on the abdomen, then call to a dog registry can help find the owner.

Answer 2

First off, yikes! I'm so sorry this happened. I'm glad it turned out okay though.

Yes, a break away collar would have prevented this. Although removing the collars altogether would stop the problem, I prefer to have identification on my dogs at all times even though they're microchipped. I've just seen too many situations where people didn't get a "stray" dog they found scanned and just decided to keep it.

Premier (who makes Gentle Leaders) has a nice break-away collar for dogs. They have a snap that pulls apart with pressure. It can just be clipped back on once it's pulled off. You can still use the collar with a leash because there is a loop on either side of the break-away snap. Just clip the leash through both the loops and it disables the snap for walking.

I've used the break aways on my dogs and I really appreciate the peace of mind since I've also heard of dogs getting their collars stuck in decks, fences, crates, etc.

The only downside is trying to catch an energetic dog. When you grab it by the collar you'll end up with the collar and not the dog.

Answer 3

To reiterate what Curtis said, Yes, they do work. It's really quite simple, the dog learns - collar on, no barking - end of story. Most dogs only have to get a stimulus a couple times and they're perfectly happy to NOT get it again. They know what the deal is and they shut their mouthes. Simple as that. As mentioned above, the contacts can cause irritation if the collar is left on 24 hours a day. They're not designed to be worn 24/7. The irritation, though, is NOT a burn. The stimulus on a collar is not enough to burn the dog by any stretch of the imagination. My only disagreement with Curtis (if you could even call it a disagreement) is that I will no longer us Innotek collars. I have multiple collars of theirs that no longer work and the company has no interest in doing anything to rectify the situation. I use Dogtra and Dogtra only. I have 2 training collars, one bark collar, and will be getting invisible fencing this summer - all Dogtra. I'm happy with all that I own. One other really nice thing about the Dogtra collars is they are now making them with vibration/page built in. This means my dogs really never even get an electric stimulus, one quick vibration (like the vibration of a cell phone) and they are perfectly happy to do exactly what they are supposed to be doing, no questions asked. This also means they don't use the 'beep' warning tone, which I don't like at all b/c there are other things in household life that make high pitched beeps and it confuses the dogs - only the collars give them a vibration right on their necks - they know exactly what that means.

Answer 4

I have 6 dogs & I use the type of collars that have plastic snaps. One thing to keep in mind is be sure you have them on tight enough. You should only be able to put 2 fingers under them. But they will come off if they're pulled on (hard) or stuck. Your other option is to remove their collars while they are home alone. I know alot of people do that so this type of accident doesn't happen.
I'm glad they're alright. This is one of those accidents that you could not have known would happen & will probably never happen again. But it is better to be safe than sorry.

Answer 5

If you must have collars/id on the dogs, maybe a harness for each would be better in the house. they work well on doxies, since they have such a fragile trachea area anyway, ? Sorry about the incident, but soooo glad you got home before anything really awful happened to your babies. Take care, and
hydrogen peroxide will help get the blood out, and nature's miracle works for the poo

Answer 6

WOW! How horrific! I wouldn't have collars on them unless they are supervised. Break-away collars would be fine if they are allowed out of the house into the yard while you are away and would certainly prevent this from happening again. But breakaway collars should not be used to walk your dogs with. Please take care!

Answer 7

Hello..you need to Crate train them in seperate crates for sure ....what happens is when dogs smell the blood of another it can send them into a frenzy & NO DOGS should be collared all day & without supervision @ all times for just this reason & death from entanglements & hangings..crate or space training, more details on my 360 & definately 2 crates ...seperate for these two ..breakaway collars are for cats, cuz they climb & have been known to hang..they are not for dogs ..a dog would bust right out of them !! Take Care :)

Answer 8

don't leave collars on your dogs, only time my dog has a collar on is when he goes for a walk. other than that no collar. the collar is attatched to leash, and i remove collar and collar is always attatched to leash no exceptions

Answer 9

keep them separated when your not at home. they are just like little youngun's ya can't leave um in a room unattended vary long before they are weaseling are just right out fight en,and tiring up the room and some times getting hurt.just keep the little bugger's apart when ya ain't home.

Answer 10

http://breakawaycollar.com/

with your size dog you probably can use large cat collars,whichis what I used for years on my whippets, putting a different collar/lead combo on for walks.