Thanks everyone for listening to my babbling after this morning. I am not finally calmed down and taking a deep breath. The very worst part was they were ALL gone and then getting one back at a time. I just kept thinking OK I have Pebbles but now where the other two. When I had Doodlebug and Pebbles I felt absolutely panicked because I was felt like my LUCK had run out and I would never find Bogey. :(

As for the best type of collar I really don't have an answer which would be the safest for choking, catching on something or being injured. In the past I was totally opposed to regular dog collars and used breakaway CAT collars on them but Doodlebug got his mouth caught because it was elastic and stretched. By no means did anything as horrible as what happened with LOU but he did have an "incident" with the cat collar. They now all have Coach collars and ENGRAVED tags. Their last tags were only PRINTED and one day I noticed that my phone number had rubbed off.......so what is the point of a tag that the letters comes off :confused: So I bought tags from Etsy.com there are copper and hand engraved. That is what they had on today-Coach collars and Etsy engraved tags. My three are also BIG so a Coach collar would be huge on a little 5 lb pup. Everyone has an opinion about collars but I can't imagine what would have happened if they didn't have them on today. :(

Oh my that had to be really scary. I'm glad you got them all back and they are ok.

OMG that is a nightmare but thank God they are all back home with you safe and sound !!!
:animal36

So glad they are a safe at home!

I'm so sorry you had to go thru this...SO SO SO very happy that all of them are safe in your arms again!! I Love happy endings!

Collars and tags are VERY IMPORTANT! My Yorkie and Westie wear them all the time, not just when we are on walks. WHY? Because they can slip out at any time.

My Westie slipped out of the house one night when one of my guests was leaving. About 20 minutes later I got a call from a neighbor saying, "I have your dog." I NEVER EVEN KNEW SHE WAS GONE!!! The tags saved me a lot of heartache.

It's funny, because we only take the collars off at bathtime. After I dry them, I hold up the collars. Both dogs come to me and stand very still. THEY KNOW they are supposed to be wearing the collars. I think it is funny--kind of like a woman wearing jewelry.

My dogs are also microchipped. But tags will bring your babies home sooner.

Thanks for your story. I am so glad it turned out well. :thumbup:

I am so glad your babies are home safe and sound. I was afraid to finish reading the whole post as I thought it was going to be terrible.

Thankfully, great people found your babies. :)

Glad you found all 3 of them. I too have their collars and tags on full time since the same thing happened to us and thanks to their tags, they all found their way home. Of course not before I had a total melt down. :eek:

I could feel the panic as you relayed this story, I'm just so relieved it had a happy ending!
I do think it's important to have tags on them. Everyone just needs to do it in a way that is safe for their baby!
Thank goodness your babies are all home safe and sound!

That was scary!! So glad you had a happy ending and I am going to put tags and microchip my puppy for sure!

The buddy belt harness is another great option, the tags lie on the side and the soft leather doesn't mat hair. Here's a picture.

I have never seen a harness like the one that Joey is wearing. Do you have a link for the site? Is it a step in?

Jodi, my heart is racing after reading all this. Thank God it has all turned out ok, and so quickly. I know it will take a while for you to recover from this scare.

You bring up again a very good point, collars do enable honest people to help get your pet back to you quickly. I will once again have to re-think the whole collar issue, even considering possible risks.

My fur kids are not street wise, and I am so afraid if they ever got out they would immediately end up on a busy nearby street (dead), so a speedy return is very important.

Hugs to all, including your son who must feel terrible.

OMG -- my heart was racing reading the story. How SCARY!!!

At my dad's house, he has a big fenced in backyard so when I'm there it's 3 dogs total. We always just open the door and let the dogs outside to do their business. We always peek from the windows to make sure they're okay or we're out there with them... we got lucky this morning because I had just let all 3 in, and through the window, I saw the gate blow open! It must not have been locked/closed all the way, and I was so glad all 3 were inside or we could have had the same dilemma.

I'm with you on collars-- growing up, I remember several dogs roaming around that would come from seemingly nowhere and we returned probably about 10 dogs to their owners just by calling them on the phone from their collar tags!! Jackson wears a collar 24/7 minus bathtime and sometimes I'll take it off while we're sleeping at night just for comfort, but his harness also has tags on it, even tho he doesnt wear the harness 24/7.