The American Beagler Forum

To all my fellow beaglers out there. I have learned a tragic lesson this morning. If any of you use these please beware they are a death trap waiting to happen.

I writing to you in great sorrow and to someone who would understand losing a great hound. My Gay Dixie was found hung this morning in her pen. I couldn't believe what I found when I walked down there this morning.

My hounds kept chewing their leather collars off so I had a bright idea to put choke chains on their necks so that the hounds could not chew them and would get them used to having a collar that would have to stay on.

You seen my pen and seen those nice benches I put in for them to get up on and keep cool. Well, this morning the oddest thing happened. As Dixie was laying up on the bench the end of the her choke collar fell down between the boards and turned sideways. As she moved from the bench she realized that she was stuck and then struggled to free herself and fell off the bench and hung from the side of it. As I went down there this morning I seen what had happened and rushed in to get her free. I probably was about 10 minutes too late. She had already passed away and was still warm.

I dug her a decent grave and put her in. I'm sorry to have cause this great little hound such pain. It is my terrible mistake and have learned a lot from it. I immediately took off the chains from the other hounds and have vowed to never to use them again. If you ever see someone using those chains please tell them that they are a death trap waiting to happen.

I know you can understand my sorrow about losing a great dog. She was the one who would crawl in the deepest briar patch to get at those rabbits. I enjoyed every minute of running this dog and see her develop as a puppy into a fine dog. I will always remember her and her spirit. I certainly hope our Lord can create a special place for these fine animals that find a place in our hearts.

To Dixie...may your race never end.

Love,

Rick

Sorry to hear about your loss.

I am sorry to hear of your loss.

I am sorry to hear of your loss

Losing a dog feels like losing one of your best frends. You think of all the great times you've had with them, but the pain never goes away.
I'm sorry for the loss.
Bart

i am sorry to hear about your loss. i can't imagine losing one of mine in that fashion.

Rick,I am sorry for your lose.Don't blame yourself for a tragic accident,remember your great hound and carry on from here.Thanks for passing on your experience,maybe others will learn something from your words and we can learn from each other.

I wish to thank each of you that have replied and have called. It means a lot to me to know that you feel the loss because of the love that each one of you have for your hounds. I hope that this post might save the life of another hound out there. Good luck in the upcoming season and most of all be safe.

God bless,

Rick

Rick
Very sorry about the little bitch,I take all collors off my dogs when they come home from running it is a royal pain in the butt however I have found them hooked to the water bucket and numerous other places over the years been lucky not to lose one .But not just chains also leather etc we have had them hung up.

I have used chain collars on pups, however I wire it together so that it is no longer a choke chain, just a chain collar. Keeps the others from chewing them off. Sorry to hear about your loss, but I would still use them, just dont let it work as a choke chain. I would not have a hound in my pen without a collar. I have lost a dog in the past that got out of his pen without a collar and name tag on, and I havent seen him in 20 years.

I am sorry about your loss. I learn everything the hard way. Choke collars are training devices and should not be used as regular collars. The object of these collars is to be able to get the dogs attention by a sudden tightening of the collar. The ends should hang down without the leash attached. It would be easy for these to snag and choke the dog. Properly applied the collar loosens as soon as the pressure is removed. Improperly it stays tight once it has had tension applied.

I am sorry to here u lost a dog i know the filly of a dog dieing it is just like a member of your family dieing

James, you are right about the collars. It was my stupidity in allowing the chain to hang free like it was. The end of the chain had a round loop on it and that is what got hung up. I just wish I had read about the danger before I had put them on and had not thought about the danger inside of my pen. Hopefully someone will read this post and think about the danger that is around their pets neck. It was a very hard lesson to learn this way.

Rick

Bgalmania, I really do feel sorry for your loss. Like I said, I learn everything the hard way. Luckily I had a professional dog trainer show me about choke collars and how to use them. On the other hand, I lost every dog in my kennel to heartworm the same summer before I started giving preventative. The four dogs were the best pack I have ever had.