Does Your Dog Play Naked? Sleep Naked?

EverythingDogBlog #61: Does your dog play naked? Sleep naked?

Is a 'Naked Dog' the right dog for you? For your lifestyle?

By Skye Anderson, MS

The Naked Dog, part one of two

Does your dog play naked?

Many dog daycare facilities will remove a dog’s collar when Rover reports in for a full day of play with other canines.

“Why?” you might ask. “Don’t they get all the goldens mixed up?”

With many dogs in a big room or a fenced-in outdoor area, dogs will eventually bump into each other. It has happened on occasion that one dog will get his toe nail, toe, or paw caught in another dog’s collar.

Possible result: a torn, bleeding toe nail which is painful - or a torn toe pad, hurt paw, or even a broken leg.

Worst case scenario:  in attempting to get free, the dogs try to pull away from each other but can’t separate and only twist the collar tighter until the collared dog chokes.

This happened in 1995 to a dog named Chinook. In order to prevent other fatal accidents from taking other best-friends away from their forever families forever, Chinook’s person, Tenney Mudge, designed a collar that would ‘break away’ (under pressure).

Thus, the first break-away collar was born.

(Much of the following may seem to be an endorsement but only because I could find only one such product on the market and I highly recommend it. As a matter of fact, break-away collars are being used more and more at dog shelters across the country, including Small Miracles Cat and Dog Rescue in Ellicott City, Maryland.)

Premier Pet Products (www.PremierPet.com) was the first to sell the original Chinook or break-away collar now called the KeepSafe collar (also sold by www.dogstuff.com, among others, including the creator’s website, www.breakawaycollar.com).

“The KeepSafe collar has two adjacent D-rings (see photo) that, when attached to a leash prevents the collar from breaking away but, when the leash is removed, the collar can easily break away and free the dog when pulled,” explained Michelle Mullins, Manager, Training and Behavior Education Department at Premier. “In addition, the KeepSafe has a patented safety buckle.”

Mullins goes on to say, “This is such an important topic and deserves the attention it has been recently receiving. Tenney is passionate about the KeepSafe collar and I believe it is one of the most beneficial products on the market. We see stories every day about how it saves lives.”

Veterinarian John Pacy* writes “. . .dogs are injured or killed in collar strangulation accidents every year. . . in addition to two dogs getting tangled together, buckles or tags can get caught on fencing, furniture or chair legs, in heating vents, or on branches. Or, a dog can snag the collar when jumping up by a fence or fence post, door handle or tree or branch.”

PremierPet also sells a day-care collar called the PlaySafe collar (also available from DogStuff) which, instead of a buckle or snap, has two Velcro release points so it can release from either side. It is intended for only supervised play since the Velcro is easily released by a person but does not break away on its own.

Of course, you can always take off your dog’s collar when he plays with another dog in an enclosed area like a dog park or someone’s backyard. Just remember to put it back on!

Read more about it:

* http://www.healthypetshousecalls.com/collarstangulationarticle.html

www.breakawaycollar.com

www.dogstuff.com

www.premierpet.com

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/16_5/features/take-it-all-off_20740-1.html

www.smallmiraclesrescue.org

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U92rSks9j3U&list=UUIU4xEiopqYioSfcKl6y5mw&index=2&feature=plcp - although this is an ad, the KeepSafe BreakAway collar is the only one on the market and this video explains why it is necessary and how it works

Dog Fancy magazine, Collar Dangers Exposed, March 2003

Whole Dog Journal, Better Safe than Sorry – Products and Practices that can Save Your Dog’s Life, May 2003

Dog Fancy Editor’s Choice Award - 2001