When Irie and Tiki were about a year old, I was upstairs working one day when I heard a sound…a strange sound. It wasn't particularly loud or alarming but something about it made me get up, leave the computer, and go down and check on the dogs who were playing in the yard, just like they did every morning after our walk.
And that saved Irie's life.
I came down to find both dogs wrapped together–and blood coming out of Irie's nostrils. Tiki's lower jaw had gotten caught beneath Irie's collar and then her head had twisted, literally strangling Irie.
Unable to reach the release because of Tiki's jaw, somehow I was able to simultaneously pick up both dogs in a hug, repositioning them just enough to release Tiki's jaw. Irie recovered with no ill effects and, since that day, both dogs wear their collars extremely loose, like a necklace. We walk them using a Martingale collar that we add just for the walk.
That was our lucky day but many dogs aren't so lucky. According to the American Pet Products Association (APPA), more than 19 million dogs wear a collar daily–and upwards of 26,000 collar strangulation accidents occur yearly. Along with playing with other dogs, other common strangulation hazards are crates and kennels, fences, heating/cooling vents, shrubs and branches.
This week, October 16-22, is the second annual Collar Safety Awareness Week, sponsored by PetSafe® Brand as part of National Animal Safety and Protection Month.
One way to help keep dogs safe is the PetSafe® KeepSafe® Break-Away Collar, invented by Tenney Mudge after the devastating loss of her beloved dog, Chinook, to a collar strangulation accident.
The collar features a patented break-away safety buckle; if your dog's collar is caught and pressure is then applied, the collar's safety buckle releases and the collar falls off, saving your dog. You'll also see that the collar features a metal D-ring on each side of the breakaway buckle; you can use these to attach ID tags or clip them together with a leash for a dog walk.
Now one DogTipper reader will win a PetSafe® KeepSafe® Break-Away Collar!
How to Enter
You'll enter in the widget below; as always, you may return to the widget any time during the giveaway for more entries. Good luck!
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