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Old April 18th, 2014, 02:29 AM
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dogmelissa dogmelissa is offline
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Question Alternative to collar for city-issued tag?

My 10 yr old Maltese dog, Cube, had dental surgery a year or so ago and ever since he often has major coughing fits, especially in the morning. He sleeps in a kennel with no access to water at night and when he drinks first thing he sometimes gags up all his water. But worse than the "old man" coughing fits in the morning is that generally he seems to have trouble with his throat. At first I thought it was because of having many teeth removed (all his incisors), but now I believe that his throat was injured or at least became more sensitive due to the intubation and/or anesthetic during his dental.

This morning around 10am I took his (rolled leather) collar off & haven't put it back yet - and he seems to be better. Less coughing/hacking for sure. BUT I live in a city where dogs are required to wear a license tag (and he also has ID tag, rabies vax tag & microchip tag) so leaving his collar off is not a good idea. I think I will leave it off @ night at least until a solution is found but am uncomfortable with a "naked" dog all the time, in case something bad happens and he needs to be ID'd. (This has happened when we were out of town and he was accidentally let out in a strange town.)

So what alternative tag-carriers are there for a dog who apparently can't have something around his throat? I've considered martingale but am unsure if it would help with the weight of the tags. Will it? When we walk on-leash we use a figure-eight harness but it doesn't have a place to hook tags unless I somehow attached them around the webbing.

Any suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks,
Melissa (and Cube)
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Old April 18th, 2014, 03:22 AM
MaxaLisa MaxaLisa is offline
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I used to use a loosely fitted nylon collar for tags, and a harness for everything else, until later, when I took a big key ring round thing (just the silver ring, and threaded it around the webbing on my dogs' Comfort Flex harness, and kept the ID tags on that.

It's not a great picture, but you can see the blue tag on Max's harness below. He had neck issues.

My dogs though tend to go naked a lot.

Awhile without a collar, he might heal up some and tolerate a collar better for short periods of time when it's a clear safety issue?
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Old April 18th, 2014, 11:05 AM
rottysrule rottysrule is offline
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Might just try using a harness.so that there no pressure on the neck
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Old April 18th, 2014, 12:07 PM
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marko marko is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MaxaLisa View Post
I used to use a loosely fitted nylon collar for tags, and a harness for everything else, until later, when I took a big key ring round thing (just the silver ring, and threaded it around the webbing on my dogs' Comfort Flex harness, and kept the ID tags on that.

It's not a great picture, but you can see the blue tag on Max's harness below. He had neck issues.

My dogs though tend to go naked a lot.

Awhile without a collar, he might heal up some and tolerate a collar better for short periods of time when it's a clear safety issue?
Fabulous idea +1

I wonder if a very thin wristband on a leg might also do the trick. You could attach the tag to the wristband....but I love MaxLisa's Idea
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Old April 18th, 2014, 01:27 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rottysrule View Post
Might just try using a harness.so that there no pressure on the neck
I use a harness on Marty for the same reason he get SOB very easy and being a small dog finding a collar that fixed him correctly was next to impossible .
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Old April 20th, 2014, 02:40 PM
Mustluvdogs66 Mustluvdogs66 is offline
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Dog Tags

I have small dogs too. One wears rolled leather & the other a small nylon collar. They are on 24/7. A collar will not make them cough as long as you don't ever put the leash on collar. Could he have collapsing trachea? Have you ever walked him without harness(collar only)?
Does your city ask for Rabies on the spot? We are required to license dog but i don't keep lic tag on collar. You could combine some info onto one tag so there's not a bunch. I only keep ID tag with phone # & name on it for emergencies.
You could attach the tags onto your leash! My rabies tag is on leash handle. That way they will always be with you on the walk. Keep collar on with ID tag (phone #) only.
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Old April 20th, 2014, 07:50 PM
MaxaLisa MaxaLisa is offline
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Thanks marko
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  #8  
Old April 21st, 2014, 11:36 AM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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I wonder if you could put the dogs tags on leash . Some leashes come with a metal ring to attach poop bag holders.
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  #9  
Old May 10th, 2014, 02:30 AM
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dogmelissa dogmelissa is offline
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Sorry, meant to update.
He has had leash on collar, but not recently, and the majority of coughing/gagging is always in the morning, after sleeping all night. He's never had problems with collapsing trachea that I know of.

The city requires the license tag be affixed to the animal anytime they're off the owner's property. They use the license info to get animals home, often a dog found wandering won't even go to the shelter but straight back home. I honestly don't care about the other tags that much, though the ID tag is important to me in case I'm out of the city (my cell ph # on it).

I was able to put the entire ring on his harness, there's a metal ring where the 2 straps come together, and though it doesn't lay flat, it doesn't seem to bother him. He can't escape the backyard and we live on a quiet cul-de-sac so if he gets out front its not much danger. I can get used to putting his harness on anytime we're away from the house. I guess just the idea of a naked dog makes me feel weird. I think if he was left alone anywhere other than home though, I'd leave his harness on, just in case. Its happened before that he escaped away from home - it took 4 hours and the local rescue organization to find him.

Anyways, since I took off his collar, the coughing has been greatly reduced. Not gone, but about 80% improvement. At least he hasn't gagged up his morning drink since.

Thanks,
Melissa
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Guardian of Taz (10) & one-eyed wonder Cube (11).
Forever in my heart: Patches Gizmo (1987 - 2008), Sierra (1999 - 2010), Rusty (1999 - 2012), Aubrie (1999-2014)


"If you can't afford the vet, you can't afford the pet."
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