Friday morning we had a terrifying incident involving our dog's collars.
Right before I was getting ready to leave for work, the dogs started howling (which they do a lot of) but it didn't sound right. So I went out to find two of my dogs in a strange tangled pile on the ground with their littermates nearby, freaked out. Buzz was making a terrible sound but Whip, the other one in the tangle, wasn't make much sound. Whip couldn't breath because Buzz's tooth was caught on her collar (must have happened while playing, see the picture below...they play pretty rough and tumble). They must have flopped around so much after getting caught that they twisted her collar tight. I initially tried to free them but I couldn't get them untangled.
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| Buck and Whip playing the yard |
My first thought was a knife and I yelled to husband to bring one. Though after a quick thought I realized that wouldn't work because it was too tight and I would risk cutting Whip. So after calming down, I found that Whip got her paw stuck over her collar, probably trying to free herself. So my first action was to simply try and get her leg out. It was a little difficult but after getting her leg free they quickly, and miraculously, untangled.
Whip took off panicked and stumbling. I called her back and she snuggled up to me shaking. She was pretty terrified after that ordeal and was thankful for some petting and reassurance. I was thankful everyone was alive!
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| No collars now |
All the collars came off after that. I know other mushers who insist on removing collars because of this, I just thought it was too rare a risk. My mind has changed. The dogs are now in the yard without their collars on.
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| Happy Buck and Whip! |
