Do you take your French bulldog's collar off at night?

[Olivier]

Athlon keeps his collar almost all the time, excepted for his bath time of course ;)

Olly

[roxyluv]

Like Athlon, Roxy's collar only comes off at bathtime and as a special treat, I will let her go "au natural" for the night afterward. But otherwise, she always keeps it on because if she needs to go out in the middle of the night I'd have trouble finding it in my sleepiness and she'd end up peeing on the floor....

[adora's mom]

I take Adora's off when we aren't home.

[Borgan]

Luna's is never on, except to go outside. I also take it off (her leash, not my top) at the beach becasue the ocean mixed with wet fur makes the harness smelly. Pee-ew.

[ginaldo]

Aldo only has his for outside as well.

[cookiesmug]

Cookie used to have her collar on most of the time, but now I only use it as needed, like going out for walks, etc., same for Dobby. I just don't want to take a chance that their collars might get caught up with something while inside the house when I'm not noticing.

[paulabeans]

Molly also only wears hers for walks.

[Solo_dog]

Solo is a naked dog inside the house! ;)

[piper's~mom]

Piper only wears a harness outside - he's naked when in the house.

[Hudson]

Tank only wears his on walks off our property, not inside and not on potty trips to our lawn.

[evangelie]

I do it because theres always the chance of them getting stuck and choking to death.

[joycegil]

I heard a harness was better. I only use it for walks. Otherwise he is naked. :D

[miserlou]

Elsi and Iida also only wear theirs for walks.

[Jani29]

I used a collar, but changed to harness recently..red in books it is better because of their throat..but still, we wear it only for walking..

[Linnysmommy]

Lenny and Sweetie only wear theirs when they go somewhere or just out to potty.

[roxyluv]

Reading all these responses, I'm thinking now I might take Roxy's collar off more often as she gets a little older! I always take her harness off, but as far as the collar goes, I only keep it on because her not having her ID on makes me nervous. I get these crazy thoughts like, "what if she somehow got away from me, opened the front door herself, and managed to run outside.....someone would snatch my baby up in a second with no tags/ids on! But I'm a worry wart, and the likelihood of her getting out of the house is slim to none, the way I watch her. :lol:

You're all giving me something NEW to worry about -- her possibly getting caught up with her collar and/or choking.........I cannot even bear to think about it :(

[cookiesmug]

Roxy's mum -
I had Cookie microchipped so hopefully if something bad happens (knock on wood) people who found her would have her scanned and returned to me. But having the ID on visibly (either tag or tatto) is still a good idea, so that people know who to call right away. What I do is I have this breakable chain with a small ID tag on, Cookie wears it like a necklace, but will not run into a situation where it gets caught up with something since it breaks up with a small force.

Not to scare people, but I've heard this terrible story where two Labs were playing, both with collars and/or harness on, somehow during the course of action, their collars/harness got caught up with each other, the dogs couldn't get away, so they got all freaked out and started biting. When the owner finally came back and saw the horrible (and bloody) tragedy, it was too late, one dog survived but the other didn't make it :(

[Jani29]

I always take her harness off, but as far as the collar goes, I only keep it on because her not having her ID on makes me nervous. I get these crazy thoughts like, "what if she somehow got away from me, opened the front door herself, and managed to run outside.....someone would snatch my baby up in a second with no tags/ids on! But I'm a worry wart, and the likelihood of her getting out of the house is slim to none, the way I watch her. :lol: (

If someone would really snatch your dog he would not mind a collar and ID tag..microchipping is the answer, can not take it off and not visible at first sight..
I worry more about choking than snatching..

[roxyluv]

[QUOTE=Jani29]If someone would really snatch your dog he would not mind a collar and ID tag..microchipping is the answer, can not take it off and not visible at first sight..

That's very true....thanks for the feedback. I definitely want to get her microchipped, but had completely forgotten to ask her vet about it. That would certainly give me more peace of mind.

Do they have to be a certain age for microchipping? I did a search on the board and read about Home Again and Avid, so I'm going to find out if my vet uses one of them and get it done. She's going to be spayed in about a month and a half, so I may wait until then and do everything at once.

Thanks everyone!

[Piperloo]

Piper only wears hers when she's outside. A few times when she's scratched her neck her back toes somehow have gotten stuck in the collar. :eek: I'd hate to have that happen when no one's home.

[Piperloo]

The problem with micro chipping is that the veterinarians generally don't scan the dogs for no reason. If your micro chipped dog was stolen you'd have to alert every vet and animal shelter to the fact that he is chipped. And then you have to hope and pray they will scan him, and that they have a scanner that coincides with the chip in your dog. Some brands of scanners won't pick up some brands of micro chips. And then again, if the thief doens't take your pup to the vet a micro chip, a collar or tags won't matter anyhow. :(

[franp]

The problem with micro chipping is that the veterinarians generally don't scan the dogs for no reason. If your micro chipped dog was stolen you'd have to alert every vet and animal shelter to the fact that he is chipped. And then you have to hope and pray they will scan him, and that they have a scanner that coincides with the chip in your dog. Some brands of scanners won't pick up some brands of micro chips. And then again, if the thief doens't take your pup to the vet a micro chip, a collar or tags won't matter anyhow. :(


I disagree with this statement completely.
Several years ago a prominent breeder (Roosje, Carolyn and I were on a list she owned) had a dog stolen.. It was taken into a vet who had never seen it before..The Vet scanned the dog just because it was the FIRST visit.. He found that the people that brought the dog in and the information on the chip did NOT match..The real owner was contacted and the dog returned.Indeed a Vet that does NOT check a chip on a dog that is a first time patient is negligient...

As for different brands; Avid and Homeagain both respond to the scanners. The Banfield chip does not and that is NOT in common use..

Microchipping is the ONLY method that is foolproof and acceptable evidence of ownership to the authorities.Itcan not be altered or removed...

fran

[gmacleod]

I think it is crazy, CRAZY to take the collar off at all (except during baths of course).
Well, there's pros and cons either way.

Dogs have been killed by their collars - especially when left on in crates, or when you've got multiple dogs and one dog gets his teeth stuck in the other's collar during play. Sounds improbable? Well, there have been several threads on Boxerworld over the years where precisely those things have happened and dogs have died as a result.

On the flip side, I've heard of one occassion where a house fire and no collar on the dog was a problem. In that case, the dog panicked and the owner was unable to force the dog out the house sans collar and leash.

It's up to you to figure which you think is the greater of the two probablilities. My dog wears his collar quite a lot - but he isn't crated, and he's an only dog. He's not often home alone either.

If it's just permanent identification that bothers you, there's always tatoos ;)

[phoebesmom]

Phoebe only ever wears a collar when we go for a walk, and it comes right off as we come into the front door. I am really afraid that it could get hooked onto something, especially if I were not in the house and she was all alone.

[franp]

If anyone lives near or knows of a shelter that does NOT have a scanner; Homeagain and AVID will GIVE the shelter a Scaner for FREE!!
Yes you read that correctly: FREE... microchipping is so effective in identifying and reuninting animals and thier owners that the companies give the scanners to shelters..

This allows the shelter to scan EVERY animal that comes in to see if it is chipped..And can be reunited so much faster with the owner.


It is also a requirement for any dog traveling from North America to the EU to be chipped...

To our European members; is it a requirement of the EU to travel within the EU that a dog be chipped?

fran

[gmacleod]

...is it a requirement of the EU to travel within the EU that a dog be chipped?

It depends where you're travelling. The requirements for all EU countries are not the same. A dog coming from the US to the UK, Ireland or Malta, for example is going to require rather a lot more than just a microchip before it's allowed in without a six month quarantine ;)

But notwithstanding that, pets can travel relatively freely within and between EU countries providing they meet the requirements to be issued with a pet passport. The requirements include either being microchipped or, until 2011, a tattoo will be adequate identification.

Incidentally, there is one standard for microchips throughout the EU (and quite a few other countries). The issue of some chips not being able to be read by some scanners thus rarely arises.

[miserlou]

To our European members; is it a requirement of the EU to travel within the EU that a dog be chipped?

Not yet. But most of the people get their dogs chipped, (and at least in Finland breeders usually get their pups chipped before they go to their new homes) and in Greece there's a law (valid since last summer) which requires all the people to get their dogs chipped. If your dog is caught without one, the owner has to pay several hundreds of euros (I just can't remember the exact amount right this minute :confused: ). The idea of this legislation is to make the common practise of dumping of dogs on the streets more difficult, as the chip will tell the owner... Great idea, but not likely to work.

Both of my dogs are microchipped. Elsi came to me already chipped.

More about EU laws concerning microchips: http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/animal/liveanimals/pets/qanda_en.htm

In short: An electronic microchip (transponder) will allow for easy identification of the animals, to connect the pet to the passport. Until 3 July 2011, a tattoo will be allowed as a way to identify the animal, except for the UK, Ireland and Malta which already now require the transponder.

And yes: dogs, cats and ferrets have to have passports to travel within EU! :)

[miserlou]

Well, well - wasn't I slow... :rolleyes:

[franp]

Thank you both..
I know that to travel to The EU we here need more that a chip...

And the Avid and Homeagain chips are scanner compatible.. It is my understanding that they are the same as what you all use..

Dari came to me chipped; her breeder chipped all his own pups for a long time. for a while the vet was doing it ; now he is again.Most reputable breeders chip dogs here as well.
.Most of the shelters here chip dogs before they are adopted out..


fran

[gmacleod]

I meant that all chips can be read by all scanners (chips inserted in the EU or other countries that follow the same standard, anyway). So the issue of one brand of chip not being read by another brand of scanner does not arise - which is one issue some people in the US have with microchipping: not all scanners will read the chip.

[gmacleod]

No, not all vets do (although over here at least, I think most do - it's a while since I met one that didn't). Most shelters do though, and if a dog is "found" the finder can always shop around till they find someone who can scan for the presence of a chip. If the finder doesn't want to find the owner, of course, the no number of tags, tattoos or microchips is going to help. A microchip or tattoo can prove ownership though, if the pet is finally located.