Sunday, June 14, 2015

Sporty Sunday: Quick Release Collars

While crossing a stream below Twin Lakes today, Jackson caught his collar on a tree branch. Jasper and I were sloshing across the low water dam, but Jackson had chosen to swim across the pool on the upstream side. I noticed his distress immediately. His ears pinned back and his paddling took on a frantic pace as he found himself stuck in deep water. Thankfully, the branch held him above the waterline, but the force of the creek pulled his body downstream, against the dam, where he frantically clawed at the surface, unable to pull free. His collar was pulled tight, and the water was numbingly cold, so it took me a good fifteen seconds to unclasp his collar and release him from the trap.

Both Jasper and Jackson wear simple nylon collars with quick release buckles, but I only purchased those because they are the only collars permitted by our daycare. Jasper has a lovely, studded, leather collar that fastens with a prong buckle and I’m so glad we stopped using it and that we never put a collar like that on Jackson. Their quick release collars win no style prizes, but are far safer than the traditional buckle style.

I can only imagine how much longer it would have taken and how much more panicked I would have been to try to force wet, cold leather through a metal loop and then back from a prong, underwater and under force. Fancy collars have their place, but, if you have adventure dogs, like mine, please make sure they are wearing quick release (or no) collars around water.


Sporty Sunday is a recurring feature in which I share my fitness routine and offer and solicit advice. While this content might seem a little out of place in an outfit diary, a healthy, strong body is the foundation of my wardrobe. I hope to inspire my readers to be fit as well as stylish!

4 comments:

IzzysMom said...

Thanks so much for this story - I was just in the market for a dog collar and never considered the benefits of the quick release. So glad everything turned out OK.

Anonymous said...

Glad Jackson is ok! We gave up cute for functional too, though with our little girl (5.5lbs) I've been able to find some semi-cute yet functional quick release collars and harnesses.

~J

C said...

since my dog occasionally runs away, he is not allowed off leash and he actually has a harness because he can hoodini out of a collar :(

Red said...

Poor Jackson! I'm glad he's okay. Not much of a swimmer myself! All my cats are strictly indoor now, but back when I had outdoor kids I always got them breakaways due to their predilection for getting themselves caught on tree branches. But then my little disabled kitty Weemus, who has a bad leg from a fan belt incident as a kitten and who's always been indoors, managed to get her collar caught on a coat hanger that had fallen on the floor--wth? Cats! So now she doesn't wear one either.

How was the rest of the hike? I know you said it was long, but it sure looks beautiful!!