# E-Collar Problem -- Neck Injury!??



## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

I've been using the e-collar on Cujo for the last 4 or 5 days, the e-collar on him about 10 or 12 hours a day... I don't know if this has been this way for a few days and I didn't notice it or it just happened today, but I just took his e-collar off him n the fur under the collar is all wet n nasty looking, n he won't let me part the fur to see whats wrong with his skin under the fur, but it doesn't look good.... I've used the collar only on very low settings, the type of stim that you can do to yourself all day long and not really care... the Innotek "Fur Penetrating Tips" have a nipple-like thing on the tips that could have possibly dug into his skin... the collar wasn't on too tight so I know that wasn't it... I've heard of dogs burning their neck from continuing to bark thru a bark collar, but I haven't used the e-collar enough on him to think it could burn him?? Anyone ever experienced this? It's making me not want to use an e-collar on him again... which sucks because it's the one tool that makes his OB perfect.


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## Andres Martin (May 19, 2006)

Wow! "Wet and nasty" cannot happen under any kind of responsible supervision. 10 to 12 hours, BTW, is totally unnecessary. After such long and UNNECESSARY wear times, the contacts can easily irritate the skin and cause sores that subsequently become infected. If you want to avoid "collar wisdom", all you need to do is use two or more collars (or combinations thereof) at the same time...to include what you use when there's no ecollar. Your dog will never know which collar zaps him. Do not use ONLY the ecollar when you train. Do not put the ecollar on after a disobedience IN A TRAINING SESSION. Correct the dog with what you have a hand, then put the dog up, wait a couple of hours, THEN put the ecollars (plus others) on AS HE EXITS THE CRATE OR KENNEL, wait 10 minutes and go train. Your dog will see the collar(s) as a signal for training/work...and they should like putting them on.

10 to 12 hours leads me to believe you're using the collar for general purpose corrections and using an ecollar for "general purpose" correction in a house dog, is not the proper use of the collar, IMO. "In the house" manners...where the dog can't run away too far...need to be corrected by you, and only proofed by the ecollar.

Regarding your question...check for pus. Put a muzzle on your dog if you need to, hold him down and check out his neck WELL. For "Wet and nasty" plus very painful to be the current state, your dog must have been scratching furiously or very irritated from the very first day. Once you've looked and know what's there, you can decide on a do-it-yourself response or take him to the vet.

The collar by itself DOES NOT DO "Wet and nasty"...by "burning" or anything like that. :roll:

Keep a closer eye on your dogs.


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## Tim Martens (Mar 27, 2006)

yeah mike i think what caused it is the tips digging in and causing sores. regardless of how tight it was, it can happen. ecollars DO NOT burn, no matter how many shocks are given. there is no heat and the current is much too small.

if you are going to use the collar for such extended periods you really should look into one of those surface conductor grid thingies. they increase the wear time because they don't have those long tips that dig in...


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

People at Pomfret's (GSD) club who use the e-collar have mentioned that they use it one-hour-on and one-hour-off in summer "because of the moisture accumulation under it." One owner told us he had the first and only problem with it when he took his GSD to a humid area on vacation. But again, why? If they don't sweat, is it just moisture from the air collecting under the nylon collar?

Dogs don't sweat (except for a little sweating on the pads and feet), so I didn't really get what they meant about accumulated dampness under the e-collar in summer. 

Is there actually increased risk of skin irritation in summer? Does the neck-ruff on some male GSDs make for an added risk?

In the Innotek online directions, I see this:

QUOTE:
Reduce your dogs risk of developing Pressure Necrosis, a
potentially serious condition caused by excessive pressure of
the collar receiver probes against your dogs skin. Be sure to
take the following precautions:
 Do not leave the collar receiver on your dog for more than 12
hours a day, or when you are away from home. END 

So the manufacturer's guidelines use 12 hours as a max, and Mike was using it for 10-12 hours.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

I'm reading other sites (blogs and forums), and I see more 12-hour comments.

QUOTE:
I recently had an underground fence put in for my dogs, after about a week I noticed soars on their necks. I took them to my vet and was told these are burn marks from the shock collars and should have the system removed. 

I called up the company that put the system in and they explained to me that this is called pressure necrosis and that most vets will misdiagnois it as burns from the shock collar. 

The company recommended that I do not leave the collars on for more than 12 hours at a time and to clean the necks periodically.END
from http://experts.about.com/q/Ask-Veterinarian-700/Pressure-Necrosis.htm

QUOTE from eCollars.com:
Any collar worn for extended periods can cause a condition similar to bedsores, known as Pressure Necrosis. To reduce the possibility, you must do the following:

Never leave the collar on the dog for more than 12 consecutive hours;
Examine the dog's neck daily for any signs of a rash or a sore;
Supervise your dog during the first 2 days of training;
Check the fit to prevent excessive pressure; you should be able to insert one finger between the collar strap and your dog's skin;
Wash the dog's neck area and the probes of the collar weekly with a wash cloth and mild hand soap; rinse thoroughly;
If the condition persists beyond 24 hours, see your veterinarian;
Always use the rubber insulators between the collar strap and probes to provide insulation in damp conditions. END

"Damp conditions". I guess the guy at our club who told us about humidity was right after all.


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

I wiped down his neck n it's just 2 lil pink dots on his skin where the nipples on the probes sunk into his neck, but the sweaty tangled fur with the mud that he was apparently rolling around in earlier mixed in made it look much worse than it was.

I don't normally keep an e-collar on him so long, in fact, I've never left it on for more than an hour or so before, I have my reasons for having left it on longer the last 4 days, I'm not gonna get into them here.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Mike Schoonbrood said:


> I wiped down his neck n it's just 2 lil pink dots on his skin where the nipples on the probes sunk into his neck, but the sweaty tangled fur with the mud that he was apparently rolling around in earlier mixed in made it look much worse than it was.......


This makes sense. So the skin isn't broken?

He was just being a brat about not letting you see his neck skin? :lol:


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## Michele McAtee (Apr 10, 2006)

Glad to see it's not as bad as you previously thought. Snip the hair around the injuries, clean and what, triple antibiotic? I'm not a vet. Should be clear in a couple days. 

Live and learn, it's what it's all about...


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Michele McAtee said:


> Glad to see it's not as bad as you previously thought. Snip the hair around the injuries, clean and what, triple antibiotic? I'm not a vet. Should be clear in a couple days. ...Live and learn, it's what it's all about...


What's triple antibiotic?


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## Kristen Cabe (Mar 27, 2006)

Mike, the lady that I sold my Dogtra 200 to when I bought the 2-dog model left it on her dog for several DAYS because she just forgot about it. Her dog's neck got NASTY infected and it took over a month to completely heal enough for her to feel okay about putting the collar back on the dog. I told her to make it a habit of putting it on in the morning and taking it off at night, and moving it around several times a day so it's not just sitting in the same spot on the dog's neck all the time.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Definately rotate the collar if it's going to be on for any length of time.


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## Kristen Cabe (Mar 27, 2006)

Triple antibiotic is just neosporin, I think. :wink:


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## Stacia Porter (Apr 8, 2006)

Kristen Cabe said:


> Triple antibiotic is just neosporin, I think. :wink:


YEP :lol: . You can buy it 'generic" as tiple antibioitc (which is what i do).


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## Michele McAtee (Apr 10, 2006)

What's triple antibiotic? [/quote]

OTC ointment containing:
Bacitracin Zinc, Neomycin Sulfate, Polymyxin B Sulfate

I currently have the OTC Equate version and it is good stuff. 

My dog MoJo gets granulomas (supposedly a "very difficult to treat" lick sore common in GSD's) sometimes on his hind front of the foot up towards his ankle. I goop that triple antibiotic in there and watch him for a bit afterwards to make sure he doesn't lick it all out and wow, 3 days tops, heals up...


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