At a recent adoption event I had a conversation with a woman who told me about a close call with her dogs. She came home to find one of her dogs almost strangled to death due to using adjustable collars - The other dog had somehow tightened it by accident. Here are some Collar Safety Tips:
* Attach an I.D. tag with your address and phone number to the collar. This information is more important than the dog's name. Even a young pup can slip out a door, and even the most well-behaved "velcro" dog can get loose and lost. Take the effort to eliminate all opportunities for escape, but just in case, your dog should always have at least one form of I.D.
If the dog has an I.D. on the collar, there is a much greater chance that a neighbor or shelter will be able to contact the owner/guardian. Micro-chipping is highly recommended, but it is not a substitute for standard I.D. tags, because most people, and some shelters, don't routinely check for chips. Tattooing the inner thigh is another way some people I.D. their dogs. Another choice is to have the address and phone number stamped on the underside of the buckle collar, although some people may not think to look under the collar for such information.
We recommend using both a physical tag and an implanted microchip. Microchip I.D.s are now very affordable and available at most animal hospitals and through an increasing number of animal shelters and humane society clinics.
Remember, never attach I.D. and other tags to a training collar, leash or harness, since the tags should be on the dog at all times. Lack of I.D. is, sadly, what keeps so many lost dogs from being united with their owner/guardians.
* Adjust the buckle collar snug enough so that the dog cannot get a paw, limb or jaw stuck in it... another dog can't get entangled in the other pet's collar while playing... and the collar is less likely to catch on something. Such situations can lead to injury, trauma, suffocation or strangulation. There should be room enough only for you to slip two fingers between the collar and the neck of your pet.
* For people who have two or more dogs, adjustable collars can be problematic because one dog might yank on the other pet's adjustable collar, tightening it to the point of danger.
* Crates and collars: Most people who crate their pups with collars on have never had a problem, but in a few tragic cases, dogs have gotten collars and tags snagged on crate wire, leading to panic, neck injury and even strangulation. The risk of such a situation occurring is reduced if the collar is fitted snugly, as described elsewhere in this guide.
A slight majority of trainers and dog handlers interviewed noted that they always keep collars and I.D. tags on their dogs except during bath time, because the risk of a dog getting loose and lost without identification is greater than a dog being strangled by a collar. However, strangulation is a tragedy no matter what the frequency, so some people remove the collar when crating their dogs.
If you keep a collar on a dog being crated, make sure the collar is snug and minimize the length of the tags that dangle. Make sure there's a tray, mat or other material covering the bottom of the crate so that the dog is not on, or right next to, the crate wire/rails/grid when he is lying down. (This will also keep the dog from getting his toes caught in the bottom grid, which has sometimes happened to a few unlucky dogs.) Some folks who crate their dogs use rolled leather buckle collars; if those collars get caught on something, the dog can usually break away because the part where the buckle attaches is weaker and can be broken.
If you remove the collar while crating, remember to put it back on as soon as you release the dog. Keep it close to the crate, but not so close that the dog could reach it and pull it into the crate.
* Check adult dogs' collars as well, since collars can get tight or loosen over time.
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