Collars on or off?

[Luvs]

Do you leave your dogs collars on all the time?

We keep our puppies collars on all the time except when they are in their kennels. The reason I keep their collars on them (besides being able to grab them easily) is that their tags are on them and if they get loose they have some identification on them. I have noticed lately though that Akasha's undercoat is showing on her neck. I think her collar may be rubbing the hair on her neck.

Should I leave her collar off? Will the undercoat showing through make any difference when I attempt to show her next month?

[Rottlva]

Collars are off in the house, On everywhere else short of training, where a tagless leather collar is used for competition and class.

I do keep a preventic collar on at all times now that the ticks are out.

I don't care for keeping a collar on in the house as it does leave indentations from where it lays.....

[Rott-Wiley]

Collar on when she is not in her crate. I can't see where the collar had been on her neck at all.

[Judi W]

If you have a dog that might bolt out the door and down the street, or if you don't keep the gates to your yard padlocked, then keep the collars and tags on. Then start your training program and lock your gates.

If you are not showing your dog, a collar mark is not important. If you keep a tag collar on it should always be a buckle collar, never a slip collar. It should also be sized so that it is not hanging so loose as to be able to get hung up on something.

[SABELLESMOM]

If there is hair rubbed off (missing) it may make a difference at the show. You can try to wet the collar worn area down and rebrush before the show. Your show collar shouldn't fall in the same area as an everyday collar. (which, I would leave off, for now) Show leads are generally right next to the head, way up high, so as not to interfere with the overall look.

Is your undercoat gray or black? While either is supposed to be techincally acceptable, a black undercoat would certainly make missing hair less noticable.

At any rate, show anyway! Have a good time and chalk it up to giving the dog and you much needed ring experience.

How old is she? Would this be fer first show, I take it? Have fun and "GOOD LUCK!":)

[SABELLESMOM]

Silly me! I see now, by your signature Akasha's 7 months old... Sorry.

[Carina43]

Do rolled leather collars leave a collar-mark? I don't show ( and my dogs wear their collars all the time) but I did get a rolled leather one for Cooper because he's got pretty long fine hair and it tangled around a regular collar. The rolled one works great for him.

In addition to tags, my dogs are microchipped for extra security in case of the unthinkable!

[Brooke&Ryan]

Julius has his collar off of course when he's in his crate. He's not the type of dog that will bolt for the door like Judi said in a previous post. So sometimes he has his collar on in the house & sometimes we take it off. Usually I leave it on though. He's never left unsupervised in the house though. He's doing VERY good with his potty training BUT I still like to keep a close eye & having the collar on makes it very easy to get him outside quickly....

:)
Brooke

[BostonRott]

If I don't have a leash attached, they don't wear a collar. Too much risk of injury/hanging. As to "if they got out," well, that's why they're micro-chipped. :D

[SABELLESMOM]

Carina43,
It doesn't seem as though rolled leather collars would leave as much of a mark. Perhaps slight enough that it would take very little to wet and straighten before a show. And it would certainly seem there would be significantly less hair loss.

[Emme]

Emme wears a rolled leather collar. It does leave a "dent" in her coat, but not nearly as bad as the wide flat one's used to make. However because we leave her collar on all the time, (she is no longer crated) the dent is still quite signifigant and there is no hair loss. I put the pinch on only when training or walking. Our other dog is in his crate when not supervised - we take his collar off before bed each night, and put in on in the morning. If he's in his crate during the day, the collar remains on him. Its a flat collar with a tag that is rivited onto it (the big tags looked silly on a 5 lb dog!)

[Kit]

My show/obedience dogs do not wear collars except when training or in the ring-they are microchipped but they are also always under voice control. Then it is usually a fur saver so it doesn't mess up the coat.

My older pet dogs wear orange reflective collars all the time with my phone number on them in case they wander off and can't remember where they live. Oh yeah, I live in the country on a dead end road, so I don't have to worry about traffic.