Dog lovers: don't do what I did

kelsey-K

Be smarter than me--if you don't have tags on your dog, please put them on!  Today, I was getting my lab puppy out of the car when she saw a squirrel and totally pulled her leash out of my hands, ran into the neighbor's yard (over a barbed wire fence) and disappeared. By the time I caught up to where she was (I'm 39 weeks pregnant, so am very, very slow) she was GONE.  All I could think about was how her tags have been sitting on the counter for days.  Thank God she showed up 30 minutes later, muddy and happy.  I am doing better, but can't believe how close I came to losing her :-(  I will now climb off my soapbox--thanks for listening!

Rooette

Oh GEEEZ! I have black Lab and sometimes I forget she's not a human. I can imagine how scared you must have been. I'm glad she's home safe! PS I *just* posted on my blog about a similair incident in my 'hood. But the dogs I saw weren't even wearing collars!

jannypie

yeah, i take Rose's collar off a lot to scratch her neck, and take her outside. i didnt think about it until a friend of mine found a stray without tags, and said since he didn't have tags he must not be loved and took him to a shelter (a no kill shelter, she's a huge humanitarian and i love her). so now i always make sure rose has them, just in case.

LittleHowell

Yikes.  My dogs aren't wearing their tags right now because they had a bath yesterday.  I better go put them on now...

buckeyebabe99

Oh my!! I'm glad you got her back safely. 

I'll admit, I let Smokey out without her collar one a lot. Not so much in the Spring and Summer just because she does run after cats and squirrels (yes, even though she has her very own cat inside!!).  However, Smokey is chipped and I keep the information current so if something does happen to her, we'd pray that the finder was smart enough to take her to the shelter or vet who would scan her.

YourSong

Thanks for the reminder.  It never hurts to get them.  I'm glad she came back, and I hope that you are doing better this morning.

angiesue_234

Yes, it is so important to have a collar with tags on your dog.  And a microchip.  In the past year I've found 3 lost dogs with no tags or chips.  Luckily I found the all of the owners.  It would have been much easier to get them home if they had tags and/or a microchip.

Mrs.SabrinaM

Don't forget about the option of microchiping as well.  It can help protect against thoes times where your dog isn't wearing their tags or manages to slip out of the collar for whatever reason.  No it's not cheap but there is no way for the dog to slip out of it or forget it.

stephpalmerface

Good post!!

IMO, microchipping is not that expensive and definitely worth it!!  I think we paid $60 about 2.5 yrs. ago.  We're guilty of not keeping a collar on our dog - he's a bullmastiff and his neck is pretty darn thick.  So, when he is inside - he doesn't wear his.  But we also never let him run free because of his size and when he goes on his walks he always has his tags on.

Thanks for the reminder - glad your pup made it home.