Myrtle Got Off Leash - In The Dark!

[Dawnnziggy]

I always thought that I was a good greyhound mom, until last night. I had to take them to the baseball park to potty yesterday because one of my neighbors was outside shooting. Dawson is scared of boom-booms so we left. When I got the dogs out of the van, Myrtle's leash came off her collar. I just thought it had gotten pulled off. My DS and I both looked at the leash and it seemed all right.

 

For the last walk of the night, we were out walking around 10P.M. We saw eyes out in the farmer's field. It was an opossum. The crazy thing came out right at us. Myrtle was so excited. She kept running toward me and went twirly, twirly several times. Well, we were almost home when I realized that I had two dogs and a leash. It was raining. There was no moonlight. She is black. I COULD NOT SEE HER! I rushed the boys home and yelled for my guys to get their shoes on and help me look for her. I went west, my DS went east, and my DH stayed home and whistled for her. She came to my DH. She was lost for about 10 minutes which felt like HOURS! When I got inside, there was blood everywhere. All four paws were bloody and her toenails were ragged. No one knows what happened to her. The vet said it looked like rug burns. There were no broken bones. Thank goodness! She is very tired, probably from the anaesthesia.

 

I need to figure out a way to see her in the dark. I have thought about putting a scarf on her with reflective tape or something on it. She will not wear a coat. Any ideas?

 

I wanted to share this because I thought it would never happen to me. It won't happen again. My DH got a carabiner clip and attached it to the leash where it attaches to the clip. Now she is doubly attached to her leash.

 

I know you want pics. but I don't have any of her on my photobucket account now. I will try to post one tomorrow. Thanks for leting me tell my story.

 

I got home today and called my mom. They put her in the hospital! WHAT A DAY!

[Guest mld]

Glad that Myrtle is home, hope her feet are ok!

 

Sorry to hear about your mom, hope she is alright

[Guest OPointyDog]

How scary - glad she was found quickly!!

 

I know people who buy those cheap little red lights that are typically used on the back of bikes and clip them to their dog's collar. Makes the dog VERY visible!

Edited December 19, 2012 by OPointyDog

[Guest kkaiser104]

My roommate just got a collar light for her puppy. They also make dog collars with lights on them (you could use it as a tag collar!). I make reflective "vests"...not sure if she would leave that on since it's lighter then a real coat.

[silverfish]

Wow ... what a nightmare. Poor Myrtle .. she probably ran herself silly trying to find you when she realised you weren't there. But please, don't beat yourself up. Accidents happen. I consider myself a reasonably good greyhound owner, too, and yet I've ended up holding leads with no dog attached as well. I think the important thing is that you learn from the experience. Be vigilant when walking at night with them, check leashes and collars regularly, and also - very importantly - if they ever do get loose and you notice it right away, don't panic. Call them cheerfully and in a normal tone. It works so much better than a panicked yell, which will sometimes startle them into running a few paces away, which means you panic more and they panic more, etc. And of course this is a good reason to teach them a good recall.

 

As to something to help you see her in the dark, I make these, and also these. They are both my own design and Jeffie wears one of the neckers at night. This picture is taken without flash and is SOC (straight out of the camera), apart from resizing. It shows him out walking with my DH at about 9.30pm one night.

 

 

Neither the jacket or the 'Frizz' produce light of their own, but they reflect available light very well, being made of speciality hi-vis (flourescent) fabrics. The Frizz is fleece, and the jacket is mesh. Personally, I don't like blinkers on my dogs, partly because greyhounds have such a wide range of vision I can't help thinking they must annoy them, and partly because, frankly, they bother my eyes.

 

 

[Guest nani]

How scary. Have you tried a reflective Martingale. I don't know about other shops but I carry orange, grey and lime green in my etsy shop. Of course they don't light up but do reflect quite well.

 

Edited for poor spelling.

Edited December 19, 2012 by nani

[GeorgeofNE]

There are all kinds of light up collars and tags--but I am just baffled at how you didn't even notice she wasn't with you?

 

Thank goodness it all worked out fine!

[Guest june]

There are reflective collars you can buy. They are made from the same material that is used for collars for police dogs. They reflect almost any tiny light source. When I had a black girl she wore hers all the time. It was terrific because I could always see her. I've seen them at many pet stores including Petsmart. I used mine as a tag collar.

 

Note: don't try to take a picture of a pup with one of these on. All you can see is the reflection from the collar.

[msjpk]

So glad all worked out. I've had that happen also, no explanation, it just happened.

 

I realized how important recall is, it worked!!!!

[Charlies_Dad]

Glad you found Myrtle quickly! As others have said, there are reflective collars or tape. Hope she heals quickly!

[Beachbum1]

Hi,

 

I have one of these in blue.

Blue would be a color that people would pay attention to if your dog was running along.

You can get them on Amazon.

 

http://www.niteize.com/product/SpotLit-LED-Collar-Light.asp

[JenniferS]

I'm glad you got her back, how scary! Carabiners are greyt way to prevent this & I wish more people would use them. Especially with winter coats, "leash fail" is way too common!

[Sambuca]

Hi,

 

I have one of these in blue.

Blue would be a color that people would pay attention to if your dog was running along.

You can get them on Amazon.

 

http://www.niteize.com/product/SpotLit-LED-Collar-Light.asp

My boys wear the sane thing. 1 red, 1 white. They can be constant or flash. You can get them at Target where they sell cabiners and such.

[GreytHoundPoet]

How scary!

 

I have the 3M reflective/high visibility tag collars from Houndstown. I live out in the country (up against woods with hunters around), only have a 6 foot fence, and travel a lot so I figured if anything happened people would see them in the dark or in the light. I also have the flat Boomarang tags so that they would for sure have a tag on them (since dangling tags can break off). I have the orange, yellow, and green ones and they are all bright and they reflect strongly in the lowest light. Everyone here is micro-chipped as well but, working at an animal shelter, I don't rely on those too much. I can count on one hand the number of times somebody has found a dog and brought it in to be scanned this year.

 

We have had these well over a year. The collars have been washed, muddied, taken into rivers and creeks, and generally abused and are still bright with great visibility and reflection.

 

I snapped this one while traveling (with a cell phone). The terrible lighting is a flash but it shows off the reflective quality some. (There were 2 beds but the half brothers love snuggling.)

 

Edited December 19, 2012 by GreytHoundPoet

[KickReturn]

Something for us all to remember is that when Greyhounds do their shaking thing, the action can easily unlatch most standard clips. Add in human error and it is a big reminder to train recall.

 

Being able to see your dog will do you no good if they will not come to you.

 

The story isn't quite clear - did you just notice Mytle was missing when you were on your way home? So she just wandered away instead of staying with the pack once her leash was off? These dogs can be oh so quiet.

 

The feet just sounds like she chased something on a paved surface.

Edited December 19, 2012 by KickReturn

[Sambuca]

Something for us all to remember is that when Greyhounds do their shaking thing, the action can easily unlatch most standard clips. Add in human error and it is a big reminder to train recall.

 

Being able to see your dog will do you no good if they will not come to you.

 

The story isn't quite clear - did you just notice Mytle was missing when you were on your way home? So she just wandered away instead of staying with the pack once her leash was off? These dogs can be oh so quiet.

 

The feet just sounds like she chased something on a paved surface.

I've never had a leash come undone because of a dog shaking.

I've had leash malfunctions and human error and a dog once chewed through a leash, but no shaking issues.

I do agree that recall training is very, very important. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

[Remolacha]

so glad Myrtle is back with minimal damage! Maybe she went back to find the possum? Anyway, I got one of those flashy lights for my black girl, but found it kind of annoying, so I got her a reflective tag collar with a flat tag. She wears it all the time, so she can be found in the dark and always has a tag.

[ownedby2houndz]

I second the reflective collars they sell at Petsmart or Pet Supplies Plus (where I got mine). I use them as tag collars 24/7 and keep the martingales attached to the leashes for when we leave the house. Glad everything turned out okay!

[Dawnnziggy]

She is pretty good today. Only the foot that was broken is still sore. The vet told me to change the dressing daily. It looks pretty good.

 

I guess I didn't explain it too well. She was doing twirly-twirlies and ran forward and suddenly she was loose. I noticed it right away. She is only 2 and we have only had her for less than 3 months, so she took off after some cats. Our neighbor lady feeds a lot of stray cats in her garage. There are a lot of marks in the mud there. It is obvious that this was where she went. So, we think that her feet got hurt when she jumped out of the fence in the front. We think she skidded across her blacktop driveway.

 

I have seen the reflective collars at Petsmart. I think I will have to get her one.

[gracegirl]

We have these for all the dogs. Our neighbors saw them and got them too. We buy them at REI or from Amazon.

 

They clip on to the D ring of a tag collar or martingale.

 

Edited December 20, 2012 by gracegirl

[seeh2o]

I'm so glad you got her back so quickly and she's on the mend! I have two black littermates and a very very dark yard and neighborhood, so I completely understand how hard it is to see inky black dogs at night. First, I always walk them in harnesses as, in my experience, they are harder to slip than martingales. They wear Wiggles, Wags and Whiskers harnesses from 2Hounds. Second, I Classic Hounds makes a great reflective tag collar (they make breakaway ones for me) 24/7/365 and they really catch the light even on the bottom terrace of my yard with minimal light. Third, when I walk them at night they wear LRI Freedom Photon lights which I turn on. They hang from the ring on the lower front of their chest and they are BRIGHT! Plus, when they are walking with them turned on they light really swings around and is very visible. They are super lightweight and the brightest I've ever seen, way brighter than the standard pet fare that you see in stores. Fourth, I have Tagg gps units on their reflective breakaway tag collars. I test the units regularly and they are scary accurate. Right now they have a 20% off sale, which really brings the price down. I had a dog run away and was never found...I honestly don't think I could ever live through that again...it's still not over for me 5 years later.

 

Hugs to your sweet girl.

[brianamac]

This is my biggest nightmare. So glad you got her back.

[GreytHoundPoet]

For people who worry about leash clasps, this is another option. I have a few leather slip leads here that I use as leashes sometimes. No snaps involved...

 

http://

[Guest OPointyDog]

As a result of this thread I bought a reflective leash - our local independent pet store carries the line of K9 Explorer items. I have to say that I LOVE the leash. It has a much sturdier clasp than any other leash I've seen before ("scissor snap"), and the neoprene padded handle is much easier to hold onto than nylon. Plus it has a reflective stripe woven into the length of the leash. The same company makes harnesses, but they don't seem to make martingales.