Someone asked if tugging on a leash can cause a collapsed trachea and now I have ?'s about my own practices!?!

Question

I have a hybrid who's bout 155 pounds. I have a license and therefore certain requirements have to be met. In order to have her outside at all I am required by law to have her in this pen that you would think we built for King Kong. I do this...however...... I have to clean the pen regularly and sometimes she insists on being outside. I have gotten in a habit of chaining her with a tow chain, to the outside of the pen while I clean it out. She's only there for say, half an hour..and of course I am right there. BUT. I just saw this question posted. Is it "true your dog can suffer a collapsed trachea from tugging on a chain?"
I've never heard this in all my years of owning and rescuing animals. Several people replied that is IS in fact true. I'm worried about chaining my Naomi while I clean her pen now. She's a 'puller.' I feel like a shmuck because I had no idea. Could she have damaged her throat? OMG I feel like an *sshole. I'm always the careful one. Should she see the vet?

Hey *Charlie* (sorry, I just can't let this go)
I don't "walk" the dog on a "collar" retard and if you read the question before you started typing you just might know that.

My husband is picking up a super Naomi sized harness right now. THANKS GUYS :)..no more chaining while cleaning!!!

Hybrid, for those who don't know is a cross between a wolf and a dog

Answer 1

A crushed trachea would come due to abuse of a collar and lead or horrendous amounts of pressure put on it by the animal. A weak animal could quite possibly do this on their own, but I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. I think where you are getting this information from is from people who have used choke collars and such.

Teaching your animal to be used to a collar and a harness is not a bad idea. It is good practice for her.

Answer 2

Just curious, what is a hybrid?

Dogs have very strong necks particularly towards the base which is why people like Cesar Milan advocates the tall collar where the pressure is up right at the head for more control. Dogs can pull and pull using the bottom of their necks and pull even more when put into harnesses.

Improperly used choke chains, prongs and Haltis can cause problems but, with such a big dog, I doubt you can do harm with a regular flat collar. The problem with harnesses is that dogs can sometimes walk out of them by going backwards.

Answer 3

I am not familiar with large breeds so I can't really help you with your dog.
But, I do have a dog here that does have the collapsing trachea condition. Whenever she gets excited, stressed or drinks too fast she starts honking/choking for a minute and finally she gets better after a few minutes.
Also if you pull to hard on the leash she also can get a collapsed tachea.
I use a harness on my dogs but, I will mention to you my dogs are only up to 7 pounds and very easy to control.

This is common in toy and small breeds.

Answer 4

I think it is great that you are concerned. If you dog has been fine up until this point I don't think you need to take her to the vet. Maybe use a harness the next time you tie her up while you clean her crate.

Keep in mind too that smaller dogs are more likely to have these problems. I use a harness on my dog becasue he is only 15 lbs and his neck is so small. I grew up with large dogs and we never used harnesses.

Answer 5

It can happen, but it is FAR more common in very small toy breed dogs. If you do decide to try a harness, please keep your current restraint system on her as well (just make the tie out for the current system longer than the one you use on the harness) in case she breaks or chews through her harness.

Harnesses, in my personal experience, typically INCREASE the pulling behavior in dogs unless they are trained not to pull in harness (my friend "accidentally" trained her dog not to pull by using the harness when she took the dog rollerblading with her...if the dog pulled, my friend fell down and her dog thought this was a horrible thing and quickly learned not to pull). Also, harnesses are VERY easy for a dog to reach around and chew off, the one time I used a harness to tie my dog out she quickly chewed through it and met us at the door when we returned home. I generally do not recommend them being used as tie-outs for this very reason.

Answer 6

I suppose YMMV, depending on the breed. I took my German Shepherd to obedience school wearing a choke collar (no the collar wasn't on me; it was on the dog!) and watched the instructor yank so hard that he broke a very thick leather leash. The dog was completely unfazed. I recall reading somewhere (although I don't have a cite) that dogs' necks are constructed very differently from humans' and are extremely rugged. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Answer 7

My pit bull is massive and strong like that. I use a harness on him. I heard the same thing, that you can shorten their lives by using a choke collar on a dog. Try the harness, I can control by dog much better.

Answer 8

Not just toy breeds..Great Danes, Grey Hounds, Afghans, Saluki's, Whippets..etc..these dogs have graceful and fragile necks and walk safest and best on harnesses. Since your hybrid is so strong, she may hurt herself..through no fault of yours. I say try the harness and see if you both like it.

Happy Walking!

Answer 9

Hi Tammy,
I am sorry that I cant help you on this question but.... You gave me some fantastic advide for my paralysed kitten the other day and we tried to Hankie him up which seemed to work, but I just wanted to thank you again for you suggestions. Unfortunatly despite us feeding him every few hours he continued to loose weight and Prince passed on at 5am two morning later cradled in my husbands hands :( I guess it wasn't meant to be. But thank you so much again he really did seem to improve over that night and following day, his legs started to move one at a time while sliding on his own without the handkie and at least he had that walking experience with the hankie! Your a Gem, x Princes other Mum

Answer 10

well i never heard of it but anything is possible then again if that is the case why do they sell choke chains hmm ask a vet or just buy a harness then u have no worries.