# How do you license tag/and or collar your Havanese?



## Deacon Blues (Nov 22, 2013)

My county has a licensing requirement and her tags arrived today. In the house she's not collared, and when I take her out she's in her Curli halter. Is there a set-up that works best for Havanese coats? And how many of you keep it on 24/7?


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## Colbie (Feb 9, 2013)

Here she is required to wear her license when she is outdoors. Plus we have her rabies tag with her vet's information and her name tag and our numbers so 3 tags in all. Her harness at the time had large rings and it was a pain to attach the tags to it so we have her collar on with the tags attached whenever we go out but the leash is always attached to her harness.
We never keep her collar on indoors because she tries to chew on the tags.


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## emichel (May 3, 2012)

I do almost the same as Ron. I put the same 3 tags on a collar, and use a separate no-pull harness for walking, which I remove when we're in the house. I do leave the collar and tags on him indoors, though. There have been sad cases of dogs escaping out the door or otherwise getting away with no ID tags on, and even if the dog is microchipped he or she is more likely to be returned if there's a phone number. I do take them off for bathing, grooming, and at bedtime.


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

I have three dogs. When I'm not home, I leave the sliding glass door open do they have access to the full fenced yard.

b/c I've heard so many horror stories of dogs with collars getting hung on up something or another dog, none of my dogs wear collars while at home. only when they walk out my front door. All are micro chipped.

a few yrs back, one of the fences, smack in the middle, one of the top nails came off, making a skinny V if you will. Back then my Cosmo (125 lbs mellow but big white dog), he showed interest in crossing the threshold. I scolded him and thought it was enough, and honestly, I didn't think he'd fit through. two days later, at 2:30pm while at work, I got a call from animal control, that a retired couple (backyard neighbors but not directly behind me), to their surprise found a big white dog, sitting on their backyard stoop.

So I sprung him from doggy jail (no collar), as they read my info off his microchip.

My 1/2 hav, Ollie is a certified therapy dog, and often comes to work with me. He wears a local ID tag (I don't work and live in the same city), which has the school name on it and my cell phone. He's pretty much the school mascot and almost all 650 students know him so if he did decide to take a stroll, I think most of the kids would know who he is, plus his silver sable coat and scruffy look is pretty unique.

anyway, I ramble...


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## emichel (May 3, 2012)

I see your point, Jacqueline. I only leave his collar on when I am at home with him, and we do not have a situation where he would have access to the outside when I am not home. Last summer one of my neighbors went to answer his door and his little white dog ran out, and was not wearing a collar. There were flyers all over the place, many people driving and walking around calling her name, for days and even weeks, but as far as I know he never found her. I can't even imagine the heartache. There may be some times when someone not too knowledgeable about dogs would find one with a tag and call the phone number, but not think to take her in to be scanned for microchip. Or of course the dog could be stolen or have some horrible accident, but as usual, everyone's situation is a bit different and we just have to use our best judgement about everything. I do know that dogs getting choked by their collar is a very real possibility, so it's important to keep an eye on him.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

If I had a rescue who was new to me, or didn't have a secure "wait" and recall, I think i would consider keeping a collar on at all times. In Kodi's case, though, he has a very reliable recall, and wouldn't THINK of running out of the house without me releasing him to do so. So he doesn't wear a collar (or tags) in the house. He doesn't loose on our property either. We are far from the street, he is always supervised, and he is under reliable voice control, so there is no need.

When we are off our property, his leash is attached to a harness, and he wears a collar just to hold his tags. I had his ID tags printed with my cell phone number, so i can be reached even if we were to lose him while on vacation. He also wears an AKC "findr" tag, and AKC maintains a database including his vet's contack info and alternate people to call if I can't be reached.

One place that people don't always think about, and I think is VITALLY important is in the car. In an accident, there have been many cases of dogs thrown from cars, or otherwise getting loose. Even very well trained dogs sometimes panic and run if involved in an accident. And if the owner is unconcious, there may be no one who even knows the dog was in the car. So Kodi ALWAYS wears tags in the car.

I used to only use rolled leather buckle collars for Kodi's tags, as they seemed to cause the least matting, especially when he was blowing coat. Now that his coat is mature, it seems to tolerate the soft braided leather collars made by Stibbar with no problem. and these collars are So much prettier! . They also come in both buckle type AND a quick release snap version that's handy forf just quickly hanging tags around his neck.


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## Diann (Apr 25, 2011)

Thank you for posting this question. I am so guilty of not having tags on Lucy. She's micro chipped (twice in fact). I think I'll look into the quick release collars you mentioned, Karen. I've never thought about the car accident scenario.


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

I only put their collars on when going outside of the house. I don't have their license or rabies tags on their collars. I keep their license in my purse but the rabies tags are at home. If I get stopped I will just have them talk to my vet


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

yeah just make sure not to collar in a crate.


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

My dogs don't wear collars in the house or secure garden. They always wear a collar in any public place, and in the car - they are both microchipped. In the UK it is illegal to have a dog in public who does not have identity, and illegal to walk them on public streets off leash, although plenty of people do - I think it's totally crazy; a squirrel crossing your path, or a car back-firing and your dog could so easily be killed hurtling across a road. 

Dave, I agree about not wearing a collar in a crate, but what about Karen's very sensible caution about traveling in a car and possibly being involved in an accident? I suppose microchipping would eventually identify the dog….?


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

the safest way to travel in a car is on a short tethered harness in the back seat or a tethered crate.. and the crate has to be small so the dog doesn't bounce inside too much if there's an accident. I personally would leave a collar on the crated dog in this instance.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Lalla said:


> My dogs don't wear collars in the house or secure garden. They always wear a collar in any public place, and in the car - they are both microchipped. In the UK it is illegal to have a dog in public who does not have identity, and illegal to walk them on public streets off leash, although plenty of people do - I think it's totally crazy; a squirrel crossing your path, or a car back-firing and your dog could so easily be killed hurtling across a road.
> 
> Dave, I agree about not wearing a collar in a crate, but what about Karen's very sensible caution about traveling in a car and possibly being involved in an accident? I suppose microchipping would eventually identify the dog&#8230;.?


The trouble with microchipping is that you have to hope the dog gets into the hands of someone who KNOWS about microchips. If a cute little dog shows up at the house of someone who is not dog savvy, and they decide to keep him because they "found a stray dog"... With clear, easily read Id on them, including a telephone number, i think the chance of getting reunited QUICKLY is better.

And if anyone has a dog with any special medical or dietary needs, if the person, even if it's a legitimate rescue or animal control, they will have a better chance of meeting the animal's needs until it can get back to its owner.

For instance, even though it's not a life threatening allergy, if someone picked Kodi up, and started to feed him a beef-based food, he would have diarrhea all over the place. It could take some work to figure out what was going on, during which time, both he and whoever was caring for him would be pretty miserable. If they read Kodi's tags and call AKC, if they can't reach me, they will be referred to his vet, who can immediately tell them about his beef intolerance until he can be got back home. And there are a lot of dogs who have worse medical problems that can be handled very successfully... If the caregiver knows about them.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> the safest way to travel in a car is on a short tethered harness in the back seat or a tethered crate.. and the crate has to be small so the dog doesn't bounce inside too much if there's an accident. I personally would leave a collar on the crated dog in this instance.


Plus, car crates for small dogs are rarely wire crates, so there is a lot less chance of getting hung up.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

krandall said:


> Plus, car crates for small dogs are rarely wire crates, so there is a lot less chance of getting hung up.


yep for sure.


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

krandall said:


> Plus, car crates for small dogs are rarely wire crates, so there is a lot less chance of getting hung up.


My car crate is a soft one, so I guess I can safely keep collars/tags on then. Perhaps we should have an extra tag that says DON'T FEED ME KIBBLE!!


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

My neighbor, one block down has an 11 yr old pug. she's pretty chunky (meaning she has a home). anyway, last month, she some how got out. no collar, microchipped. He looked for days. I live in a pocket neighborhood, enough to walk your dog in, but all our dogs, pretty much know the 8 by 4 blocks our little neighborhood is. there's a couple of stores very close by, butcher and corner market. and lots of my neighbors stroll over there for single random things.

anyway, my neighbor found video footage from the corner store, of some man, scooping up his dog. my neighbor some how got his story picked up by the local news, and when the man, saw himself on the video footage, he returned the dog (stole the dog). the city the man lives in is about 55 miles away, in the bay area, that's pretty far and there'd be no way the owner would accidentally see his dog again. It took him 5 days to get his dog back.

I think in this case, it wouldn't matter if the pug had a collar or not, the person would have stolen the dog either way.


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## emichel (May 3, 2012)

krandall said:


> The trouble with microchipping is that you have to hope the dog gets into the hands of someone who KNOWS about microchips. If a cute little dog shows up at the house of someone who is not dog savvy, and they decide to keep him because they "found a stray dog"... With clear, easily read Id on them, including a telephone number, i think the chance of getting reunited QUICKLY is better.


Exactly my point, Karen. My biggest fear, other than some kind of horrible accident, is the possibility of theft. I have relaxed about it a little, but when he was a tiny little puppy weighing about 4 pounds, when I first got him, I was afraid to take my eyes off of him in public. My life is such that we spend a lot of time around a lot of different strange, sometimes very strange, people, and when I first started bringing him to work, at age 10 weeks, he was just so ridiculously cute, People would be like OMG HE IS _SOOOOO _ CUTE, drooling and with their eyes glazed over. Well, that's how I perceived it anyway, and I was so afraid that someone would just snatch him away from me if I didn't watch him like a hawk. Now he is just cute, and much bigger, and I feel much safer that way. In any case... the collar and tag will only cover the eventuality of a well-meaning but not dog savvy stranger finding him, if lost.

Also, although he may not be quite so well trained as Kodi -- who is?  it's hard for me to imagine that he would just run out the door and not come back, but... all of these measures are meant to cover the unexpected, aren't they? I suppose it is not inconceivable that there would happen to be a particularly enticing dog or squirrel outside at the moment I am answering the door for some proselytizer or who knows who -- not that I get many strangers at my door anyway -- and he ran out to chase it and at the same time there was a loud explosion which scared him and he ran off and got lost. Even though I'm quite certain that he would make his way back home to me if at all possible, what if some little kid saw him and brought him home and said "aww mom, he's so cute, can we keep him", and if there was no phone number on him and they were totally clueless, they might. Of course it is impossible to plan for every eventuality, but I do try to plan for the unexpected. This whole topic is making me feel rather anxious, for some reason. Deep breath, he is now peacefully sleeping at my feet, all safe and warm. I think I'll have a glass of wine.


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## littlebuddy (May 30, 2007)

Django always has his collar on from the time he wakes up until we are ready for bed. Then it's off for the night. We have a fenced in dog run that's attached to the deck but there have been many times when the landscapers are in the back and forget to close the gates. 

I also always go out with him when he has to go outside to take care of business. We have a den of coyotes two houses down from us so my eyes are always on Django.


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## BFrancs (May 17, 2012)

littlebuddy said:


> . We have a den of coyotes two houses down from us so my eyes are always on Django.


 OMG that would freak me out everyday - have they ever gotten close to your house, close to Django?


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

I am SO relieved we don't have coyotes in Oxford….


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

sprorchid said:


> My neighbor, one block down has an 11 yr old pug. she's pretty chunky (meaning she has a home). anyway, last month, she some how got out. no collar, microchipped. He looked for days. I live in a pocket neighborhood, enough to walk your dog in, but all our dogs, pretty much know the 8 by 4 blocks our little neighborhood is. there's a couple of stores very close by, butcher and corner market. and lots of my neighbors stroll over there for single random things.
> 
> anyway, my neighbor found video footage from the corner store, of some man, scooping up his dog. my neighbor some how got his story picked up by the local news, and when the man, saw himself on the video footage, he returned the dog (stole the dog). the city the man lives in is about 55 miles away, in the bay area, that's pretty far and there'd be no way the owner would accidentally see his dog again. It took him 5 days to get his dog back.
> 
> I think in this case, it wouldn't matter if the pug had a collar or not, the person would have stolen the dog either way.


Absolutely!!! I've heard stories of Havanese who were stolen and immediately clipped to change their appearance. In cases like that, the person has no intention of trying to find the dog's real owners. It is theft, pure and simple.

I also read of one case where a new person went into a vet's office with an adult, freshly clipped dog, saying it was their "new dog" and they wanted to get his shots. Something didn't sit right with the vet, so they scanned for a chip, found out that this was NOT the owner, and that the dog was stolen. Dog got home safe! (Don't remember what happened to the person)


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

emichel said:


> Exactly my point, Karen. My biggest fear, other than some kind of horrible accident, is the possibility of theft. I have relaxed about it a little, but when he was a tiny little puppy weighing about 4 pounds, when I first got him, I was afraid to take my eyes off of him in public. My life is such that we spend a lot of time around a lot of different strange, sometimes very strange, people, and when I first started bringing him to work, at age 10 weeks, he was just so ridiculously cute, People would be like OMG HE IS _SOOOOO _ CUTE, drooling and with their eyes glazed over. Well, that's how I perceived it anyway, and I was so afraid that someone would just snatch him away from me if I didn't watch him like a hawk. Now he is just cute, and much bigger, and I feel much safer that way. In any case... the collar and tag will only cover the eventuality of a well-meaning but not dog savvy stranger finding him, if lost.
> 
> Also, although he may not be quite so well trained as Kodi -- who is?  it's hard for me to imagine that he would just run out the door and not come back, but... all of these measures are meant to cover the unexpected, aren't they? I suppose it is not inconceivable that there would happen to be a particularly enticing dog or squirrel outside at the moment I am answering the door for some proselytizer or who knows who -- not that I get many strangers at my door anyway -- and he ran out to chase it and at the same time there was a loud explosion which scared him and he ran off and got lost. Even though I'm quite certain that he would make his way back home to me if at all possible, what if some little kid saw him and brought him home and said "aww mom, he's so cute, can we keep him", and if there was no phone number on him and they were totally clueless, they might. Of course it is impossible to plan for every eventuality, but I do try to plan for the unexpected. This whole topic is making me feel rather anxious, for some reason. Deep breath, he is now peacefully sleeping at my feet, all safe and warm. I think I'll have a glass of wine.


I think, if your dog is in a puppy cut, keeping tags on him all the time is reasonable. But you just can't on a dog in full coat. If I were concerned about Kodi getting out the door, I'd either gate off the doorway or put an ex-pen up that restricted his access to the door AT ALL.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

littlebuddy said:


> Django always has his collar on from the time he wakes up until we are ready for bed. Then it's off for the night. We have a fenced in dog run that's attached to the deck but there have been many times when the landscapers are in the back and forget to close the gates.
> 
> I also always go out with him when he has to go outside to take care of business. We have a den of coyotes two houses down from us so my eyes are always on Django.


Yup. We have a pack near us too. Kodi is NEVER out without supervision for that reason.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

BFrancs said:


> OMG that would freak me out everyday - have they ever gotten close to your house, close to Django?


One night last summer when I took Kodi out to potty (on leash, as I always do after dark) i could see their eyes glowing in the flash light. I yelled at them, and they backed off a bit, but I could tell they were still there. When we went back in, they circled the house for a couple of hours, doing their "yip-yip" calls. It happened to be a night when both my son and my DH were away over night, and Kodi and I were alone. In my HEAD, I knew there was no way they could get in the house, but it still totally creeped me out!


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

krandall said:


> One night last summer when I took Kodi out to potty (on leash, as I always do after dark) i could see their eyes glowing in the flash light. I yelled at them, and they backed off a bit, but I could tell they were still there. When we went back in, they circled the house for a couple of hours, doing their "yip-yip" calls. It happened to be a night when both my son and my DH were away over night, and Kodi and I were alone. In my HEAD, I knew there was no way they could get in the house, but it still totally creeped me out!


Yikes, how scary. We have urban foxes, but I think they are more scared of the dogs than the other way round; I used to worry about red kites when Cuba was tiny, but not so much now, and they are very few and far between over the city itself. My husband has a colleague who works on foxes and says he has never heard of a fox taking a puppy&#8230;.but I wouldn't want to take any chances. Coyotes are obviously a totally different matter.


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## littlebuddy (May 30, 2007)

I found these amazing rolled leather collars by PetEgo when Django was a puppy and it's all I have bought for him. They are a little pricy but they are italian leather and they last forever. He has never had a problem with matts. I believe you can also buy them on amazon.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Lalla said:


> Yikes, how scary. We have urban foxes, but I think they are more scared of the dogs than the other way round; I used to worry about red kites when Cuba was tiny, but not so much now, and they are very few and far between over the city itself. My husband has a colleague who works on foxes and says he has never heard of a fox taking a puppy&#8230;.but I wouldn't want to take any chances. Coyotes are obviously a totally different matter.


Oh, we have a family of foxes who live in our hill. They would NEVER bother Kodi... They never even bother cats. Their prey is mostly mice and rabbits. I LOVE our foxes!!! Like you, i worried about our larger hawks (and owls!) when kodi was a little puppy, but he's much to large for them to bother with now.


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