Broncoholics Posted June 15, 2004 Posted June 15, 2004 (edited) About a month and a half ago, I purchased a few travel bugs. I gave a few tb's away and put a copy of the tb that I did keep, on the collar of my dog Jake. I didn't think nothing of it and even made a joke at Sax man's campout a couple weeks ago. I said I that I was going to make my dog into a traveling Travel Bug. Every time you seen Jake at a cache event, you would be able to log him in. LOL So the point is that Jake has been wearing this tag around his neck for a while. When I was in my room last night, Jake managed to get the tb tag stuck in between the boards on our deck. The dog let the tag slip through the 1/4 inch gap, then get twisted. Jake was choking until one of the kids heard him making unusual noises, then ran outside and freed him. Jake is ok accept his eyes are still a little red. I am not sure how long Jake was actually stuck for, but thank god one of the kids heard him. Our family has already lost one Geocaching dog and don't need to lose another because of a freak accident. Has anyone else ever had a freak accident happen like this? Upinyachit Edited June 16, 2004 by upinyachit Quote
Jamethiel Posted June 15, 2004 Posted June 15, 2004 Yeah, but our one wasn't so lucky. My cousins in law lost their dog during Thanksgiving dinner when it was tied up on the upper level of the deck outside. Their deck is about 10 feet off the ground and our best guess is that it was jumping at something outside and managed to get over the railing. Nasty suprise for their 6 year old when he went to let the dog in to have some leftovers. They had only had the dog for 3 weeks at that point and had not realized the leash stretched that much. Happy to hear your dog is gonna recover. -Jennifer Quote
uperdooper Posted June 15, 2004 Posted June 15, 2004 About a month and a half ago, I purchased a few travel bugs. I gave a few tb's away and put a copy of the tb that I did keep, on the collar of my dog Jake. I didn't think nothing of it and even made a joke at Sax man's campout a couple weeks ago. I said I that I was going to make my dog into a traveling Travel Bug. Every time you seen Jake at a cache event, you would be able to log him in. LOL So the point is that Jake has been wearing this tag around his neck for a while. When I was in my room last night, Jake managed to get the tb tag stuck in between the boards on our deck. The dog let the tag slip through the 1/4 inch gap, then get twisted. Jake was joking until one of the kids heard him making unusual noises, then ran outside and freed him. Jake is ok accept his eyes are still a little red. I am not sure how long Jake was actually stuck for, but thank god one of the kids heard him. Our family has already lost one Geocaching dog and don't need to lose another because of a freak accident. Has anyone else ever had a freak accident happen like this? Upinyachit you might want to get some sort of covering for the floor of your deck. something that will let rain through, but not small items. we are always losing something under the deck of our pool. "pier one" might have something. jute is a good choice. hope jake's ok. Quote
+Team GPSaxophone Posted June 15, 2004 Posted June 15, 2004 Duane, how about using a shorter chain to attach it, or use a keyring? That way it wouldn't be able to slip beneath the boards Quote
+TEAM 360 Posted June 16, 2004 Posted June 16, 2004 Just drill a hole in the other end of the TB tag and mount BOTH ends of the tag to the collar, that way it will lay flat and not dangle down. Quote
+Stunod Posted June 16, 2004 Posted June 16, 2004 A lot of vets recommend breakaway collars for dogs and cats. Of course, you need to use a regular collar (or a choker) when you are walking them on a leash. Quote
+zygote2k Posted June 16, 2004 Posted June 16, 2004 I tied up old yeller to my bumper to test the theory of breakaway collars. He got up to about 25 before the collar broke. These things are great! Quote
Keystone Posted June 16, 2004 Posted June 16, 2004 Duane, I am glad to hear that Jake was rescued in time. I still vividly remember reading the news of your previous caching companion. I am also glad to see the sensitivity and constructive suggestions in 5 out of the 6 replies to this topic. Let's keep it going that way. Quote
+Nazgul Posted June 16, 2004 Posted June 16, 2004 I only use breakaway collars on our cats these days, in case the collar catches on something. They have ones with built-in stretch sections too, which probably reduces the risk of the collar getting lost, but I prefer the breakaway type. Quote
+PSUPAUL Posted June 16, 2004 Posted June 16, 2004 Youch! Great to hear that Jake is OK. I don't know what I would do if something like that happened to our Chloe and we didn't find her in time. Quote
+Sparky-Watts Posted June 16, 2004 Posted June 16, 2004 One of our cats suffered a similar fate when I was younger, but didn't survive. She got her rabies vac tag stuck in a fence and couldn't get loose. Glad your pooch is ok! Quote
+carleenp Posted June 16, 2004 Posted June 16, 2004 Scary! I am glad you got to the dog in time!!! Back when I had cats that went outside, I always used breakaway collars. Now I keep the cats inside. With my dog, I guess I never considered how tags could get caught on things. I do have the tags attached directly to the collar though so that they are close and not really hanging in any way. I have a few times accidentally attached the leash to the ring the tags are on instead of the ring built into the collar. That resulted in Molly breaking the ring and running off down the street, so I am very careful about that now. Quote
+woof n lulu Posted June 16, 2004 Posted June 16, 2004 Good thread Duane...glad to hear your dog is alright, but sorry for your familys scare Quote
+Ambrosia Posted June 16, 2004 Posted June 16, 2004 Not to discourage anyone from breakaway collars, because I'm sure they work in most situations, but we had a beloved cat die while trying to get over a fence. She had on a breakaway collar and it didn't work. Quote
+clearpath Posted June 17, 2004 Posted June 17, 2004 The breakaway collar my wife uses on me works great. Quote
+Webfoot Posted June 17, 2004 Posted June 17, 2004 Our older dog Rocky (age 17) got his toenail caught in his collar one night and ended up stuck in that position all night. He never whimpered or yelped at all. We've since replaced the collar with a flat leather collar that he has less of a chance to get his nails stuck in. Quote
+Bull Moose Posted June 17, 2004 Posted June 17, 2004 The breakaway collar my wife uses on me works great. For you or your wife? Quote
+Seamus Posted June 17, 2004 Posted June 17, 2004 (edited) ...and what exactly is wrong with collars? Edit to stay on topic: Yes, break-away collars can be good for saving pets, as can stretchy ones (don't hold up very well in my pets' experience). We usually just made sure that our cats always had a loose-fitting collar. One of our cats who was continuously getting into trouble would get it caught somewhere, squirm loose from it, and show up at home without it. The collar would usually follow a few days later when someone would find it stuck in their bushes, on a fence, near their rabbit hutch(!), etc. Edited June 17, 2004 by Seamus Quote
+Robespierre Posted June 17, 2004 Posted June 17, 2004 suggest buying the WHOLE dog! a simple piece of aluminum shouldn't stop him. Our never last many months - we have half/tags at our house. Quote
+2Wheel'in Posted June 17, 2004 Posted June 17, 2004 Good to know your Jake was rescued...that would have/could have been so sad. Thanks also for posting, I was thinking about doing the same thing...met a Cacher at one of my caches a while back...their dog (Gus) is a Travel Bug with a tag attached to his harness. No chance of the tag getting caught that way, but I was just planning on hanging a tag on our dog's collar - not now. Regards, Bill Quote
4Mergansers Posted June 17, 2004 Posted June 17, 2004 I spend a lot of money on break-away collars (and bell and name tag) for our cat. I can't decide if his coming home without his collar every two months or so is saving his life or just wasting my money. I never thought of using one for my dog! I can't even remember seeing a breakaway collar for a dog, but I'm sure they make them. I'm really glad that your dog is going to be okay! And this happened when people were at home. Hate to think what might have occurred if you'd been away all day or all night. Something to consider!! Think I'll give my dog a big hug now. Quote
Ferreter5 Posted June 17, 2004 Posted June 17, 2004 Awhile ago I'd thought about attaching a travel bug to my dog's collar, but I didn't think she'd like wearing it all the time. So, I never got around to actually doing it. Now what I might do is attach it to her backpack. That way she won't be wearing it all the time, only when we're out walking/geocaching as she usually wears her backpack when we're doing that. Also, I'd use a split-ring or mini-carbiner to attach it instead of the ball-chain that comes with the travel bugs. Glad your Jake is alright! Quote
CoyoteRed Posted June 17, 2004 Posted June 17, 2004 Glad you and your pooch came out better than we did. It really hurts when you do something that can hurt a favored companion animal. Be very careful of even the stretchy collars--they can kill, too. Make sure they can't tighten around the animal's neck. Quote
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