I'm having an unacceptable problem. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the Woozle bugger is learning to take his e collar off. Collar fell off once, I figured it was a fluke. Collar fell off a second time and was missing for a couple of days and I was starting to wonder. Just yesterday I had to stim him for something and got NO reaction. I checked him and his collar was so loose there was no wonder.

It is a normal buckle type collar. I think he is scratching it until the buckle tongue comes out of the hole and it loosens. He wears it about 12 hours a day, so it isn't possible to micromanage his scratching. I double check it every time we go out, but yesterday that wasn't good enough. He bolted through the front door a kid opened at the wrong moment so I had no warning. Thank heavens he came back when he was called. That is most of the reason he wears an ecollar in the first place.

Has anyone had this happen before? What did you do about it?

Put the collar on backwards so your buckling it the opposite of what your doing now. The scratching shouldn't loosen it up then.....hopefully.

I'm just guessing since I don't use e-collars but I do know if I put my belt on different then it drives me crazy getting it off.

Ok, ok, I'm old and don't like changing something Ive done for dern near 70 yrs.

Wearing that collar for such an extended period of time is most likely irritating the hell out of his neck... especially if it is not on tight enough. I would not keep it on that long especially daily. This might be why he is so he'll bent on getting it off. Also too high of a stim or overuse instead of more training could be part of it.

Also might try rotating the collar to the other side of the neck one day & the next the other side.

I think a while back LB had a different type of collar for the e collars. Look in see.

You might look into increasing you training so you would be less dependent on the e collar to control you dog.

I use e collars on my dogs for outings off my property to the field, beach etc...which is almost every day at least to the field for a run...but I never leave them on for more then 5-6 hours at a time on a major outing...or mine also start to scratch at it. I also switch the sides of the neck. I have the collars fir back up...just in case..but after 10 years of daily use on 4 different GSDs ....I have only had to stim a dog maybe 3 times. All of those times were to reinforce a down stay while an off leash out of control dog was attacking my dogs with the stupid owner trying to catch their dog.

Bob,
I will try putting the collar on backwards. I hope he isn't left-pawed.

Anne,
I will try rotating it too to make sure it isn't chafing. I thought about the cinch-it collars. I looked through the catalog and couldn't find them; they look like they are button operated, which might be even easier to unfasten than the buckle.

The ecollar has been a huge blessing. I've been using it for a couple months now. He wears it whenever he is out of his crate. The main reason for that is he sometimes pushes past a child who is opening the front door and bolts; it's for his own safety. We also have a wonderful area for frisbee just outside our back gate, but it isn't adequately fenced. I suppose I could take it off just before we all go to bed, but I would be afraid that I would forget to put it on again in the morning.

I am working on the training half. I don't think I stim him too much. Maybe once a week at the most

 Quote: Kristin Mortensen

I suppose I could take it off just before we all go to bed, but I would be afraid that I would forget to put it on again in the morning.

Hang it somewhere at eye level that you see as soon as you get out of bed or put it on top of your alarm clock. I do that when I take Tanners ID collar off to wash. It has to dry overnight but I don't want to forget to put it back on him.

A solution to buckles being scratched loose.

http://leerburg.com/EinsteinNylonCollar.htm

There's also some nice patterned collars from Lupine that work well and look good. PM me for a place to buy them. I was not a fan of the cinch-it collars.

Hi Kristen: First I would make sure to move the collar once during the time the dog is wearing the collar, for instance, in the morning put the collar towards the left ear, 6 hours later towards the right ear. The Lupine collars are the only collars that will not slip, other that the collar that comes with the electronic collar. If the collar is put on correctly, the dog would not be able to scratch it off as the guide would keep the pin from lifting.
I have found that routine benefits both the human and the dog so set up a ritual involving you and your dog so you do not "forget" to put the collar on. Wearing the collar is so important! We DO NOT want him to become collar wise. Please put thought into this. It is the difference between success and failure, life and death to your dog.
ROni

The clip collar could be a good idea. The lupine collars look really nice, but I'm not sure how I would get the receiver on them. It looks like the ones leerburg carries are made to be cut. I also thought I might try slipping a piece of inner tube over the buckle. I imagine that would be pretty hard to work off.

Roni, hmmm....
I'm pretty sure the other day when it was on so loose, the only reason it hadn't fallen off was because it was through the second guide.... I'm honestly surprised it didn't just fall off over his head when he put his nose down. That's how loose it was. If I'm just not putting it on right that would be a whole lot easier to fix than buying a new collar.

We do have a routine. He comes out of his crate at about 8pm and I put his collar on immediately. He goes back in the crate noon to oneish the next day and the collar comes off then. We're home during the day, but this schedule seems to work the best for everybody. I could probably remember to take it off before I go to bed (or rotate it), but mornings are crazy enough that the odds of me remembering to put it on again are low.

Fortunately, either late this fall or early next spring we should be putting up a front fence. The ecollar wont have to fill that function anymore, even if his door manners haven't improved by then.

Lupine makes a different collar that comes apart to put a receiver on and then is looped back through to hold securely. Leerburg doesn't sell them.