# Help please with collar issues...



## daycaremom2002 (Feb 3, 2006)

Maya wears her collar all of the time with her bell and id tag on it. She wears a harness for walks.

We have gone through 6 collars now in the last 4 1/2 months. She is obsessed with chewing on her bell. When she can, she will get her whole lower jaw under the collar so it goes through her mouth. When she started doing this, we started buying cat safety collars. (Besides they came with the bell!!) This way, when she got her mouth stuck in the collar, eventually she would pull hard enough for it to release. (In case we weren't home)

Anyhow, she has destroyed 2 collars in the last 2 weeks. When she gets them off, she chews the clasp up so it won't stay on at all. I just bought another collar, but got a regular dog collar this time. I am afraid though that she will get her mouth caught when I am not home, and be stuck like that for a while.

Any ideas on different collars, or ways to get her to stop doing this? I thought about putting the bell on her harness and leaving it on all the time, but I think she would chew on this too and it would be easier. We have tried tightening her collar, but it doesn't seem to help at all. She finds a way!! 

I thought about a leather collar, just because I don't think she would ruin it as fast, but she could still get her mouth in it.


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## foxywench (Feb 7, 2005)

sounds like the collar isnt tight enough.
with big dogs you should be able to fit 2 fingers side by side between the collar and the neck, with a dog as small as a chi 1 finger should fit between the collar and neck.
it try rubbing the bell with a little bitter apple (a little on the collar itself will help with chewing) keep ontop of that for a few days and it should take all the fun out of bell chewing.

hope this helps.


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## Jangles021204 (Sep 20, 2006)

Maybe you can try spraying Bitter Apple on the collar? That's all I can really think of at the moment. I don't know what you do with her while you're gone (i.e. leave her loose, or crate her...), but maybe you can just take the collar off when you leave, unless there's some reason she needs it on while you're gone. Anyway, I hope you figure something out!


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## rachel (Jun 16, 2006)

Stewie used to do this ALL the time when he was a puppy! We went through plenty of collars as well! I agree with foxywench. I used to the the 2 finger rule...but that allowed him to fit his little mouth in the collar, so I tightened it up a bit. Its not too tight to choke him, but tight enough so that he couldn't get it stuck in his mouth. Now, I don't think he even tries, so we actually get to buy nice collars now!  I used to take it off when I left the house too, just because I'm incredibly paranoid! I did the same thing when we got Gracie even though she never tried chewing it off!


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## Katie (Apr 9, 2005)

Jack does the same thing with collars. It doesn't seem to matter how tight it is he STILL manages to get his lower jaw underneith. I stopped puting collars on him because of it  The leather probably isn't a good idea because it takes a LOT of chewing to get it off. I was out one night and my brother saved Jack after finding him with his collar stuck in his mouth. The sides of his "mouth" where the collar was pulling back had actaully bled some  He could have had it stuck in his mouth for a couple hours before someone found him, poor baby. I decided to tighten his collar after that and I'd catch him doing it right in front of me and knew it wasn't safe. I thought if I took a collar break for awhile and introduce it back when he's older he might stop but I doubt it. I haven't tried again yet but the cat collar idea sounds like the best way to do it if the collar is an absolute must. Goodluck! If you find the secret to this let me know :wave:


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## Marie (Apr 22, 2006)

Daycaremom,
Since collars are such a problem with your dog, why is it so important that she wear one in the house?? Is she at some great risk of getting out and needing ID on or something?? If not, why not just put her tags on the harness and only use the harness by itself when she's out of the house and just forget about trying to get her to wear a collar. Also, maybe that bell drives her nuts...their hearing is so much more sensitive than ours. Is that bell really necessary too?


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## daycaremom2002 (Feb 3, 2006)

Thanks everyone. I have it pretty tight now, it was a little looser, but I don't know if it will help. I will try the bitter apple on it. I hope she grows out of this soon.

The cat collar does exactly what I wanted, but she destroyes it when she gets it off, so it is getting expensive. 

She needs the collar and the bell on because I do daycare, and for her safety, the kids and I need to know where she is at all times. She is only 5 pounds and I don't want her hurt. She has had a bell on her collar since we got her and she really has only started chewing off her collar in the last couple months. Before that, it was just the bell every now and then.

I will try the spray and tightening it.

Sidenote: She is soooo funny looking when she does this!! She sits back on her back legs, leaning against something, crosses her front paws (like she is praying) and uses both feet to push the collar into her mouth!! It is the funniest thing!


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## tofu (Apr 18, 2006)

maybe the bell noise is what make her trying to chew it. i know it can be annoying if i have to wear a bell around my neck  i hear Lupine brand (http://www.lupinepet.com/index.html) has guaranteed on there collars and leashes. if it ever break they will take it back and replace it for you.


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## daycaremom2002 (Feb 3, 2006)

Those are nice collars. One of the small stores near us just started carrying these apparently. (They are a fish store...go figure ) I am definately going to look at them.

Katie:

Did jack have a bell on his collar? I think it is just that she is still trying to lose ALL of her baby teeth. Who knows.


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## trixiesmom (Jan 31, 2006)

We had been gong thru the same thing with Rainbow. If she wasn't getting it in her mouth to chew it she was always scratching it, which in turn frayed it. Being half chewed up and frayed she always looked like a little bum. Anyway after going thru so many different collars, I saw one at the 99 cent store and bought it for her. That was over a mont ago. Something about this 99 cent collar, she no longer puts it in he mouth to chew or scratch it. Go figure, I guess she not the kind of girl that exects expensive material things. lol


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## daycaremom2002 (Feb 3, 2006)

Wow, I wonder if there is something in the nylon material that is irritating. She does scratch at her collar too. I wonder if there is such thing as a hypoallergenic collar?


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## tofu (Apr 18, 2006)

tofu scratch and scratch when i put collar on him, so now he doesn't wear it anymore. he only wear collar and harness when we go out. he still has his Lupine harness and it seem to be very durable, but Tofu doesn't tried to chew on it just scratch.


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## trixiesmom (Jan 31, 2006)

Ya, we were wondering if that was the problem, she was allergic to the material the collar was mad out of. We even bought her a nylon harness, she destroyed it also. But this cheap one is made out of the same kind of stuff. The other dogs never had that problem adjusting to the collars. After a few days or so, they were fine.


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## foxywench (Feb 7, 2005)

the lupines are nice but i prefer leather because anything woven can frey and get caught on nails when they have an itch.
my guys both wear kitty bells neither are bothered by the sound.

I personally belive for ANY dog a collar with a name tag is absolutly important at all times.
you never know if theres gonna be a situation and your dog gets out. they could slip out while bringing the groceries in, ect. Its also good incase of emergency, in all that rush and hupbub many pets actually get lose from the home and with no collar or tag its unlikely youll get your dog back. (even microchip is not certain because different chips require different scaners and some animal services dont have scanners...and most people who find dogs with no tags just keep em.


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## Tinksmama (May 23, 2006)

I think you should remove the bell, then there's nothing for her to catch in her mouth if it's tight enough.... Tink loves to catch her sweater in her mouth and chew it if I'm not looking
also- if the tag hangs down and she can grab it, you can buy these little tags that stay flat on the collar for id-no hanging tags- I like to keep the dogs collars on in case they slip out the door....


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