Holy cow, I hope this helps someone else. This could have been tragic. You know those emails where it gets forwarded forever, and you never know who it came from. This isn't that email. This happend to me tonight, 4/3/07. I don't ever want to feel like this again.

If you use a dog slip collar (choke collar), never leave it on when you are not with the dog on a walk or in a training exercise. It is common sense, but I left mine on my dog because I thought it looked cool. It almost cost my dog her life.

We've got a 1 1/2 year old German Shepherd named DJ. A very sweet dog. I've been working with a dog trainer to get her to come back without bothering walkers and joggers. She's got that herding instinct in her. 7 days ago he mentioned that I shouldn't keep the slip chain collar on her all of the time, because it can get caught on something and possibly choke the dog. I agreed with the concept, but thought to myself "what are the odds of this happening".

7 days later (tonight) my wife and I are sitting in the hot tub, and all hell breaks loose in the yard. We are dog sitting for a friend of mine, who has a an even bigger dog. They're apparently wrestling (not unusual), but it's sounding real weird. About 10 seconds in, we realize they are stuck together, and not in the good way that dogs sometimes do. Now it gets tough. I run down there (20 yards) and realize that my dogs choke chain is wrapped around the other dog's incisor. He's pulling away as hard as he can, and the more he pulls the less my dog can breathe.

I try to pull off the chain, but it's so tight I can't move it. I'm worried about breaking his incisor off, and also can't get enough leverage to move the chain. I run to my shed, grap the pruning shears, and run back. A complete waste of time. By this point, my dog is almost lifeless. She's not even moving, and Nick (the other dog, our best friend's dog) is dragging her backwards and is just scared to death.

I realize that I need to cut this chain immediately, or DJ is not going to survive. I run to my truck, and grab the side cutters and my Wiss snips. Fortunately, my side cutters do the job. This has probably been about 3 to 4 minutes from start to finish. I've never been so happy to see a tail wag in my life. Man, you talk about guilt. I thought my vanity about how cool I thought her chain collar looked just cost her life. It makes me realize how terrible it must be for a parent to lose a child. I was completely distraught tonight. I can't even imagine how I would have felt if the situation had ended differently.

__________________
Jim Robinson
New Mexico, USA

Jim,

Glad to hear you only got a good scare on that one.

Yes pets can get under your skin very much so.

I have two cats, and I couldn't imagine loosing one of them. They are both declawed and indoors only. The other week I accidentally left one of them on my screened in porch over night. This something I never, never, never do. Although it is screened in, I am terrified that a stray dog will come through the screen and attack/kill one of them when they are out there so I always leave the sliding glass door open enough so that the can run in and at lease hide under the bed if needed. Well I woke up early one morning to the sound of my other cat meowing constantly. I thought that was strange since he never meows. I got up and found him looking out the sliding door at my other cat who was left out there all night. Scared the crap out of me and I was very angry with my self the rest of the day. I always, always, always make sure they are both inside and accounted for before I go to bed or leave the house. I could have swore that I saw them both inside before I went to bed that night.

I got a very good scare and wont forget it for a long time.

Makes you appreciate them all the more when something like that happens.

I could not imagine what a parent must feel when they loose a child. Hope I never find out.

__________________
Tim Moreira
Suncoast Home Inspections
Suncoasthomeinspections@yahoo.com

As an amateur retriever trainer and a hunt test judge, that is one of the more fundamental rules that are enforced. Heard many stories of hunting dogs out of sight of the handler getting the choke collar hung up on deadfall timber or a fence and basically choking the dogs to death.

Choke collars are a training aid and nothing more, and should not be used unless you are in direct control of the dog.

Glad everything worked out for you.