# How to stop hair breakage around neck?



## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

How do you guys stop hair breakage around the neck of your goldens? I went from a flat, wide leather collar to a rolled leather collar since the flat one rubbed a bald patch in the side of Ranger's neck. His coat is extremely brittle right now and now the hair is breaking off all around his neck, instead of just the one side. 

He gets walked in a chain corrective collar which I know can also rub hair off, but the martingale I tried on him for a week made it even worse! I've just changed his food in the hopes of making his coat less brittle and a little stronger. 

Any ideas? What do your dogs wear?


----------



## Lestorm (Feb 25, 2007)

Try removing his collar when he isnt out walking. None of our crew wear collars in the house


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

You might want to try a fur-saver collar for anytime you feel he needs a corrective collar - the links are larger and are less damaging.

My dogs always wear flat collars and other than an indent, their coats are fine around the neck so I am inclined to think it would be the 'corrective' collar (is this a choke chain collar?). Their show collars are rolled leather while their every day collars are flat webbed collars.

Is his coat damaged in general? If his coat is dry, brittle or damaged this may also be contributing to the breakage.


----------



## timberwolf (Apr 1, 2009)

The only time Timber has a collar on is when we are out walking.
Other than that, he goes "naked"


----------



## esSJay (Apr 13, 2009)

timberwolf said:


> The only time Timber has a collar on is when we are out walking.
> Other than that, he goes "naked"


Same with Molson. "Naked" in the house or our yard, and only wears a flat nylon collar when we are on a walk/dog park, and a flat nylon harness/seatbelt in the car.

I would think that changing the food should help with the condition of his fur, too. What was he eating before and what's he eating now?


----------



## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Ranger was on Orijen fish and as of last night, is eating Innova Evo. His coat was great all summer and then started looking bad through the winter. I made the switch as his skin/coat has been really dry as of late, even with fish oil supplements added. 

I try to keep him as "naked" as much as possible, but he has to keep his collar on during the day at work in case someone leaves the gate open and also to give the squirrels a heads up that he's hunting them. So he wears his rolled leather collar between 9-5 and then nothing in the evenings except for walks and then he wears his chain collar, or "choke chain". 

When we walk with the chain, it's usually slack around his neck unless he sees a rabbit then he gets a correction. I'm not dragging him down the block (or vice versa) but I can't walk him with a buckle collar as he's figured out how to shoot backwards and free himself, no matter how tight the collar is. 

It's fairly frustrating...especially now that the hair is breaking all around his neck now. Before it was just in a little patch where the hair was shorter. Do you think it matters that he has no undercoat?


----------



## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

I would put a lock on the gate, so nobody can open it or leave it open, or put in a dog run and lock that. Less chance of an 'oops' that way. As for the squirrels, I'm sure they'd clue into a dog being in a yard fairly quickly. My guys are naked most of the time.

You can get an oil treatment for dogs, it'll leave him greasy but it should help. Can't remember what it's called but it was like cold cream and you had to melt it in hot water and then either apply it to a wet dog or mix it with the shampoo. You have a greasy coat for a bit but then it'll wash out in time and help. I would also increase the oil supplement, double the fish oil and add some sunflower or safflower oil too (a few tablespoons a day). 

You can also get a cloth cover for the training collars but if they're only on for a bit each day it shouldn't be a huge deal. It may take months for the coat to improve.

Lana


----------



## Lestorm (Feb 25, 2007)

Ranger said:


> Ranger was on Orijen fish and as of last night, is eating Innova Evo. His coat was great all summer and then started looking bad through the winter. I made the switch as his skin/coat has been really dry as of late, even with fish oil supplements added.
> 
> I try to keep him as "naked" as much as possible, but he has to keep his collar on during the day at work in case someone leaves the gate open and also to give the squirrels a heads up that he's hunting them. So he wears his rolled leather collar between 9-5 and then nothing in the evenings except for walks and then he wears his chain collar, or "choke chain".
> 
> ...


 
Then try a harness! We have just bought one for Poppy to use on our wonderful Springer bike walker, what a difference to using a collar. The harness seems to hug the dog and so there is less pulling.


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

#1 : add several tablespoons of olive oil to his dinner each night
#2 : walk him on a pinch collar. Less pulling = less friction with hair. Choke chains are REALLY bad for coats in this regard, pinch collars not so much. Pinch collars also work about fifty times better than choke chains.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Bender said:


> You can get an oil treatment for dogs, it'll leave him greasy but it should help. Can't remember what it's called but it was like cold cream and you had to melt it in hot water and then either apply it to a wet dog or mix it with the shampoo. You have a greasy coat for a bit but then it'll wash out in time and help. I would also increase the oil supplement, double the fish oil and add some sunflower or safflower oil too (a few tablespoons a day).
> 
> Lana


Oh, many years ago (before I went to raw) my King had a dry coat - thanks for reminding me Lana  I used to have the groomer give him hot oil treatments. It would leave him oily for a few days but really helped.

King was trained using a choke and had fur breakage which is where I learned of the fur-savers - they also help.


----------



## damita (Jun 4, 2009)

Mes Amis collars are sooo soft and I find don't break coat or leave a "ring" like most nylon collars.


----------



## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

K9-Design said:


> #1 : add several tablespoons of olive oil to his dinner each night
> #2 : walk him on a pinch collar. Less pulling = less friction with hair. Choke chains are REALLY bad for coats in this regard, pinch collars not so much. Pinch collars also work about fifty times better than choke chains.


Or graduate from both entirely and work on loose leash behavior regularly so he can be walked on a loose, flat buckle collar.

Also, the hair seems more fragile than it should be. Is there any chance of a thyroid problem?


----------



## esSJay (Apr 13, 2009)

Lestorm said:


> Then try a harness! We have just bought one for Poppy to use on our wonderful Springer bike walker, what a difference to using a collar. The harness seems to hug the dog and so there is less pulling.


This & tippy's idea too, are good ideas to try, and in the meantime with the harness it will give the hair around the neck a chance to grow back in.


----------



## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

tippykayak - I have trained Ranger to walk on a loose leash. He's gone from pulling like a train to on the buckle in the 9 months I've had him. Ranger just can't be trusted in buckle collars, especially not loose ones, as he's figured out to escape from them if there's something he wants to see. He wears the chain collar to prevent him from scooting backwards and getting free.


Ranger had a thyroid panel done last May and it was normal. I wonder if I should get it redone...his coat is definitely more dry/brittle than it was in summer, but the winters up here are so dry and cold. 

I wish I could lock the gate for safety's sake! It's the only way into the office though so I really can't. I've put a bungee latch on it so it latches no matter but I still worry when delivery people come into the yard. 

I'll check out the coat oil - I was thinking of using a silicon based grooming product for horses around his neck to see if that helped prevent rubbing. Also, I'll try the prong for a while and see if that helps. I wish I knew what collar was doing the damage...thanks for all the ideas everyone.

Edited to add: Ranger can also get out a harness when he wants to...I've tried a few different kinds, all properly fitted. Any ideas which ones would maybe stay on him?


----------

