When it comes to collars we’ve always favored the ones that use a traditional metal buckle instead of a plastic clip; I’ve never forgotten that one of Beanie’s litter-mates died when a plastic clip failed near busy traffic.  That said, Biggles’ otherwise solid old fashioned collar literally dropped off on a recent evening walk. The cause of failure? The little cross-bar in the buckle snapped, and he wasn’t straining on his lead at the time. Very fortunately we weren’t by a busy road and Biggles was thoroughly engrossed in a sniff so he came to no harm, in fact he quite enjoyed being carried back home in Susan’s arms like a big furry baby.

He spent the rest of the evening and much of the next day without a collar, and given that he’d been so slow to recognize his sudden and unexpected moment of freedom on the walk I didn’t expect him to notice. I was wrong. Biggles very quickly learned that one our most basic Beagle control systems was gone. His visits to the outdoor loo via the kitchen suddenly became full of new possibilities; numerous items were grabbed from the worktops as we tried and failed to steer him directly to the door. I almost had to rugby-tackle him to get his head out of my sock drawer, and when it was time for his toothbrushing I discovered just how much I rely on hooking his collar with a finger; his rear teeth went almost untouched by the brush. Clearly an urgent trip to the local petshop was needed to get a replacement collar, but when I got there I faced a difficult choice: try one with a stout plastic clip, or trust a metal buckle, knowing that I had just seen one fail?

Eventually I spotted something that appears more trustworthy than either of those options: the EzyDog “Double-Up” collar. It does close with a plastic clip, but it has two D-rings either side of the clip for the lead attachment. You hook the lead through both of these rings, so even with a dog that pulls like a train the clip never takes the strain.

It’s a brilliant fail-safe design that would be worthy of NASA – if they applied their problem solving skills to doggy gear that is. Obviously I couldn’t get a secure collar for the Bigglet and leave Beanie with a lesser design, so two of them landed in my shopping basket.

If you’re looking for a safe collar for a dog with zero road sense then the EzyDog Double-up should be on your list of candidates.

Biggles is scared. Really scared. And with good reason, because aliens have kidnapped his sister Beanie and left a strange duplicate in her place!  It seems that only Biggles is aware of this, no doubt because his finely honed hunting senses allow him to detect things that humans cannot. To make it easier, look very carefully at the following two images.

The real Beanie

Alien duplicate Beanie

Do you spot the difference? It’s not obvious at first, but it turns out that alien duplicates can be recognized by the whopping great blue things around their necks. Given that the aliens already have Beanie it’s surely only a matter of time before they come for Biggles too. The only defense is to stay alert and above all stay awake!

Must stay awake!

Must.. not.. fall.. asleep

Bugger!

The truth of course is that Beanie hasn’t been kidnapped by aliens, but she has been forced to wear an Elizabethan collar to stop her licking the paw she injured just before her birthday. The original injury – a tweaked nail –  healed quickly but somehow she developed a licking habit and in the space of a day managed to strip most of the fur off the affected digit. I don’t know what caused the licking frenzy; maybe it was frustration at missing her regular exercise, or maybe it was me bathing her paw in brine to ward off infection. Regardless, I was eager to avoid yet another vet bill so I took The Beanster for a quick trip to our local Pets At Home, where I purchased the blue cone of shame. While at the shop, and although hampered by a very sorry looking digit, Beanie still managed to charm the shop staff out of three treats and convince me to part with yet more hard earned cash for a pair of antlers. Yes, you read that right: antlers.

These things are the first chew toy I’ve found that reliably holds both Beanie & Biggles’ attention yet lasts for more than one session. It seems to be the cores of the antlers that our pups like the most. I dunno if they’ll hold their allure once the easily accessible bits have gone, but they’ve already helped break Beanie’s licking addiction while giving her a break from the collar.

The collar: not Beanie’s favorite purchase from the local pet shop

Both Beanie and Biggles have had to wear e-collars in the past (for their neutering ops and so on) but those were colorless and wholly transparent contraptions. The collar I bought should have been a step up from those vet-provided ones: it’s more compact and both the neck side and the open side are padded. However, Susan felt that the color and patterning on the new collar might reduce the unfortunate wearer’s peripheral vision, and I must admit Beanie seemed rather subdued when it was on. Still the collar certainly did its job: the licking has mostly stopped, Beanie is now free of the collar and back to her normal bossy self, and Biggles can finally sleep without fear of alien attack.