To wear or not to wear, that is the question

My dogs don't wear collars unless we're leaving the house. Then I have collars with ID on them. The show dogs wear their serpentine chain collars when we go to shows but they're microchipped (all my dogs are) so I hope if something ever happened that would ID them.

I did find when I used collars on my Shelties years ago that the fur tended to mat and break on their ruff and sometimes the tags would discolor it, so I gave up using collars on all the dogs. Plus I've also seen them get caught on things like cabinet door pulls that you wouldn't think could be a problem. So no collars here when we're home.

As someone else said, it's your choice for your dogs. You decide what's best for them and your lifestyle.
 
When Missy was a puppy and I took her back to the breeder to get her ears glued, the breeder said something to me along the lines of, I shouldn't leave her collar on all day because it would damage her fur. It was more of a suggestion than anything. Also, hearing stories about collars getting stuck in crates made me a little paranoid. Missy is microchipped, but I think when lost dogs are found wearing collars, people are more willing to help out. So she wears a collar with two tags outside of home, but when we are home, she goes without the collar. I don't have to worry about her darting out the door or anything because there's only one door to get in or out.

We actually did have an incident where she got her rubit tag clip (http://www.rubitclip.com/) caught on her crate at flyball practice. She managed to break the clip.. without hurting herself as far as I could tell. Unfortunately flyball practice is outside in an unfenced area, so I have her wear a collar with tags despite being in the crate. She barking and carrying on because she wanted to play... :rolleyes2:
 
Olive has a slim neck so she wears a cat collar (http://www.amazon.com/Tulip-Red-ADJUSTABLE-SAFETY-COLLAR-BREAKAWAY/dp/B0002C9DFE we ordered from NLC's site and in green but I can't find the link now) which sets well within her coat so only the tags depress her coat.

She's microchipped but she has other information by city law, HOA by-law, and our adoption contract that she needs to keep on her and it's too much hassle to put it back on her 4+ times a days. You see the tags but you can't see the collar since it sits so deep in the coat. She has a martingale lead so there is no pressure on the collar.
 
Shelby only wears her collar when we leave the house. At home she is always naked. I am too paranoid of her collar getting stuck and her getting hurt.

Sh is also chipped. But beware not all places will scan for a chip, even though they are supposed to. My parents rescued a beautiful blue female pitbull from the local dog shelter. She was there for a few weeks before my parents got her. The shelter had her spayd before my parents could take her. My mom took her to her vet to be checked and to be chipped. Only to find out she was already chipped! The dog shelter gave some lame excuse as to why they didn't check. Needless to say my moms vet was not happy, especially since he bought the scanning equipment for them. To make a long story short the original owner was no longer interested since she was spayed (I think he was going to breed for fighting). So sh got to live her very short life of 1 year in a very happy and loving home.
 
I use to not keep collars on the dogs all the time until one of the dogs in our club got lot (and is still missing 6 months later but with very recent sightings). After that I decided to keep collars on them at all times with, at a minimum, their name and our cell phone phone numbers.

What they wear is a 1/2 wide flat buckle collar with a flat tag that slides onto the collar rather than dangles. It disappears into their fur so you don't know it's there.
 
I made it a habit to keep collars on my dogs when Dad and Mom were alive - that way it gave them something to hold on to and if they got loose, then there was contact info on the dog. I can see both sides of the coin - should I or shouldn't I?
 
Hanna is microchipped - she wears her collar only when we go out on walks. I find she gets more tangles behind the ears with it left on. Just bought her a really nice soft rolled leather martingale and they sent the wrong size, it goes on but it's heck to remove so not doing that again :gaah
 
Collars stay on in this house. Yes, it ruins the coat a little, but better safe than sorry. Ruutu begs for his collar when I take it off for bathes or when I'm brushing him. Honey could care less. We also use the collars frequently since we don't have a yard. So to potty, they must be on leash. We also use their collars when people come to the door so we can grab them away from it... to be honest, it would be more of a hassle if we didn't leave them on. We don't leave tags on though. Honey has never worn a tag in her life. When we used to go to PA while Ruu was little, I'd put his rabies tag on, but not anymore. Our collars say their name and my phone number. They're also chipped, but in this area of NC if you find a dog, you can claim it as yours...
 
I think it's just about what you personally are comfortable with. I've heard horror stories about dogs getting their collars stuck in their crates and dying, and I've heard of house fires or burglaries where dogs get loose and are killed or lost without identification.

Personally I choose to leave them off--feels to me that the chance of a house fire is smaller than them getting stuck on their crates, but of course it's just my opinion.

Collars are on when we leave the house 100% of the time.
 
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