When our dog Gretchen died in a collar strangulation accident while playing with one of our other dogs a week and a half ago, at first we thought it was a freak accident (see my blog on 3-28-08).  Well, it turns out it wasn’t a freak occurrence at all.  The day after I posted the blog on her death, my cousin and cousin-in-law (Trikki & Thomas on my top friends list) called me and told me that the exact same thing happened with two of their dogs earlier in the year.  They were fortunate enough to get the collar off just in time, unlike us.  After hearing that, we started researching the internet and learned that tons of dogs die this way every year in the exact same scenario, where two dogs are playing, one dog gets their bottom teeth or jaw stuck in the other dog’s collar and the other dog is strangled to death or it’s neck is broken before the owner can get the collar off.  Below is a quote from one website:

… one of the greatest risks of collar strangulation occurs when one dog’s lower jaw becomes entangled in another’s collar during play. The collar twists and tightens as both dogs panic and frantically try to free themselves from one another. Even when pet owners are supervising play, they often aren’t able to undo or cut the collar in time to save their companion.

Here is a website with many stories of the same exact scenario from owners who lost or almost lost their dog -http://www.breakawaycollar.com/yourdog.cfm.

Collar strangulation is not just limited to two dogs playing together, either.  It can occur when a dog gets their collar or tags hung in a crate, on a fence, etc. and the dog twists and turns to try and free itself.  Gretchen was wearing a nylon collar that easily twisted and turned and that was easily caught on our other dog’s teeth.  We now have thick hard leather collars on all of our dogs making that scenario or the risk of strangulation much less likely.  We are also considering buying the break-way safety collars for our dogs that are advertised on these websites.  If you are a dog owner, please get rid of any nylon or soft type collar that can be easily twisted or caught on something.  If Gretchen had not had that type of collar on, she would still be alive.  You wouldn’t think those collars could be harmful, but obviously they can and are often. 

We had Gretchen cremated so that we could keep her remains at home with us.  Below is a photo of her urn.