Collars on all the time!!! Thank Heavens!
 

So this evening the wind kicked up and blew the back door open. Marvin and Titus decided to take leave of the house. I didn't notice it was open until I came out of the restroom. Found Marvin ASAP and got him in the house. Titus was nowhere to be found...freaking out I started walking the neighborhood. As I came up to Far Hills Ave (the busy street) I decided to stop at Petco and let them know there was a missing Yorkie. And there was my son's fifth grade teacher leaning over talking to Titus. Her husband had found him and brought him to the Oakwood Petco. They put him in a pen with water and a bed and called Puppy Pals (his tag has that number) His Chip has our address on it. Thanks to the Oakwood Petco for thier kindness and Thanks to Mr Eubanks for taking the time to catch the little guy. They are home safe and sound and I am very relieved!!! Tutus starting spinning in circles as soon as he saw me...glad to see me and not the least bit penitent:) But having his collar on was huge. I keep it on all the time. And he is an indoor potty pad boy. This proves I made the right choice for him.

Wow, what a synchronized story! That's awesome!

SO glad that he's home with you now :) Love the names! :D

Congrats on such a good outcome. I'm so happy for all of you!!:D

:thumbup: :thumbup:
What a Great story!! So glad it had a Happy Ending!!!!

Am so happy he was found and that his collar was on. Bless the people who found him and took him to Petco.

This is exactly why I don't understand some people not putting collars on their babies... "They are always inside and go outside only with me." But what if they get out when you don't expect it or get stolen? I have made sure to give my pups the best chance to get back to me... Collars, microchips, watch them when they are outside, etc but I do not think any method is foolproof... Why do some people not feel the same?

I am so glad to hear that Titus made it home! Wahoo!

I don't like using collars but since Laddy's last escape his tags with all the info are pinned to the back of the neck of his shirts which he wears all the time.

Awesome story. I imagine you were so worried and upset. So glad you found him. :)

I just got one of mine chipped today. She doesn't normally wear a collar, but she will. Thanks for sharing your wonderful story.

chester has his harness on all the time when Im gone, the best chance of getting him back is best

Makes Sense
 

I will rethink this, for sure. We debated the pros & cons of wearing a harness inside. We decided against it after reading horror stories about little ones who accidentally hang themselves after getting caught on something. Actually, both possibilities are terrifying.

I too have heard so many horror stories... I ended up buying Riley a few collars but I still don't have him wear them. His tags are on the D Ring of his harness anytime we go out though...

I found an old thread I had posted a while ago... It's interesting seeing what everybody thinks.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...ar-collar.html

I figure you hear more stories about dogs getting lost and never found than those that end up hanging themselves. I have had dogs all of my life and not one has ever had any problem with their collar... However, several have gotten out and all returned because of their collars.

Break-Away
 

In that thread, Concretgurl mentioned a cat break-away collar. Could this take care of both concerns of identification and avoiding hanging? Hard to even type that word without shivering...

Yeah... I Think So.
I know... So Scary!!

a cat break away collar is definitely the way to go

How Easily do they break away?! They won't lose the collar will they?

Well, they will break away if the pull against it pretty hard. I suppose they could lose it if they have to do that, but I would rather them lose it than choke or get stuck somewhere. I definitely would not only rely on them as they could come off and lost - but that with a microchip is a good combo.

Tibbe wears his collar 24/7 now with his ID tag on it ever since Bengi got lost last year. That scared me so badly that I keep his lightweight collar and ID tag on him all of the time. It's got his Home Again tag and 800 number on it with his chip number on so if I'm not home or in the hospital or something and Tibbe should run off, me and my secondary contact are both listed.

I'm so glad you were so prepared and good, responsible people found him and did the right thing.

Anything I put on Huey... collar, shirt, harness, all matt his hair within seconds. I just can't stand making him so uncomfortable by having to detangle him so often. As much as he loves going for walks, he hates me getting the tangles out afterwards. This is why he is usually naked, too. I absolutely need to get him chipped. I have been hoping for a GPS tracking chip to become available, but just need to get an id chip for now, I guess.

I keep the hair on Tibbe's neck clipped short so he can wear a collar and 24/7 ID. Even a dog that tangles wouldn't if the hair there is short. I'm terrified of Tibbe getting out and our not being reunited and going to bed that night wondering where in the world my Tibbe might be - if he's out in the cold or the rain or some horrible person might have captured him - someone with huge, big, awful dogs or just a person that hates dogs or someone who wouldn't ever clip his toenails and feed him food that makes him vomit and be sick or not help when he has panic attacks or wants to keep him in a cold garage nights and not beside his mommy on her pillow, warm and loved. Those thoughts make me do everything I can think of to try to keep him as likely as possible to ID him should he get out. So, besides his chip, he wears that ID tag so there is a phone number to call Home Again and they can contact me.

So glad you found him! :)

So glad everyone is home and safe! I leave Callie's collar on all the time for fear of the same thing happening.

One of the things I do that I would not suggest with a new puppy who might chew on the collar is I make Callie's collar lose enough so if she got stuck she could pull her head out if necessary.

Nothing like snuggling with your dogs, remebering this is where they belong.

I used to have regular buckled collars on all my babies....then I came home from work and found one "hanging" from the side of his carrier....his tags had slipped tru the slits in the carrier and he couldnt get them out....fortunately, all that was happening was a terrified, horribly restricted little dog, restrained right up against the side of the interior of the carrier.....he was not strangling, but it taught me a lesson....that is when I got cat break away collars for all of them...used strictly to put tags on, so that is by some unfortunate event they manage to get through 3 baby gates/barriers and actually get out a door into the unfenced front yard, they will have ID besides microchips, in place!.and the collars are embroidered with my ph. # .

Just schooled my Mom on microchips
 

I am absolutly astounded. I just found out her dogs are not chipped. They will be soon.

Stories like this remind me how important it is that I go ahead and get this done. We are so strict with his outdoor activity and he is not a door dasher, that we just havent done it yet, but recently I had some work on the cable and I tethered Huey on 3 leashes end to end inside the house so he could move freely but not get out, since I feel it is MY responsibility to keep him in, not expect the cable guys to not let him out...that isn't their job. But, what if I were lax and didn't take these precautions? What if we were away from the house and he somehow got away? I could lose him... :eek: I think my greatest fear is the next door neighbor and her 60 cats, and no chip will save him if he got on her property...she has threatened that I would never see him again. :( I dont know why we haven't chipped him yet other than not having a sense of urgency about it. :confused:

Oh, how scary!!!! It's things like that that make you want to sit and watch them 24/7! They are likely to do anything at any time! If Tibbe were confined to a crate or some type of carrier while no one was home, I would remove any collar or scarf or sweater or anything not born on him just for that reason. An unobserved dog can get into so much trouble so quickly. Jilly got her collar stuck on her jaw and if I hadn't been there would have been in serious trouble no doubt by the time I got home, had I been away at the time. But, I've had many dogs in this house in my lifetime and all wore ID collars most of the time and she's the only one that happened to in this way. I think Jilly would have had a heart attack or something from the stress as she just went postal and was going around in circles and foaming at the mouth somehow - she was a mess. I could barely get her stopped circling fast long enough to get it off! After that, I take off collars if I have to confine a dog when I am gone. Thankfully, with a housebroken dog, I no longer have to confine Tibbe but when I'm gone, he still gets de-collared as he could possibly hang it up on something. Scares me to death but these dogs can get into more trouble than we can imagine when we are not watching them.

You need to search and read the Bengi is lost threads and go on Facebook and read that. Her dog wasn\'t chipped then and is was only by the grace of God and Disney workers that her dog was found 3 weeks later and returned to her. But in so many cases, like with the current lost dog found on YT, they aren\'t returned as the owner and the new finder don\'t connect with each other. Without a chip or if they lose the ID tag, how are you ever going to connect with whoever finds them. With a chip, at least the new owner knows the owner cared enough to chip and keep their contact info current. Here on YT now, we have a lost dog found and the finder fears the former owner didn\'t care enough and is scared to give her back if found. If that dog were chipped, at least the finder would know the owner cared that much at least and maybe feel better about looking for the owner. I\'d make it a priority to chip. It\'s that much extra chance to reunite if ever there is a disaster in your area, God forbid, or you are taken to the ER and the dog gets out while EMT\'s are wheeling you out or tragedies such as that. Be prepared. A good moto.

Thank God for the happy ending. Micro chipping and collars are life savors.