Hi everyone!  I just wanted to share a story and ask a question, both on
collars.
 
Briefly, when we got our kids, we ordered them the id tags and used ball
chains for collars.  Well, they had this amazing ability to hide the collars
while we were at work.  Every day, we'd come home to a game of hide and
seek.  It got to the point that we had to even order new tags because we
never found the old ones.  Eventually, we just took them off (much to the
kids happiness).  Last week, I stumbled across sequins in the craft store
(silver, shaped just like an id tag, but much thinner).  I picked up a pack
($.70) and a pack of rings to attach them to the ball chain ($.49).  I was
so excited that I spent less than $2.00 on this new adventure.  I went home
and used a perm.  marker & voila - instant id tags, and in this case, if
they managed to lose them, I had a whole pack to make new ones.
 
Well, the kids had the last laugh.  Within one hour of putting them on, each
one of the 6 had managed to either hide them, break them or get them stuck
around their waist.  Needless to say, I've got six ball chains & ids sitting
on the table.
 
So, on to the question.  I really would like to get them in the habit of
wearing something for id, so I thought of maybe a nylon collar, and using
fabric paint to write their name and a phone number onto the collar.  My
concern is them injuring themselves because of having this collar on.  We
used the ball chain for months before giving up, and every day they managed
to get it stuck on something, hide it or lose it altogether.  We'd come home
from work sometimes to find the ball chain hanging from the cage!!  After
that, of course, is when we stopped trying the collar.  I worry that while
we're at work, they might get it stuck on something again.  I try to leave
it with enough room for my finger to go thru, but then that's when them
manage to houdini their way out of it.  Any tighter, I'd be afraid of them
hanging themselves.  ??  Am I over reacting, or is this a legitimate
concern?  If so, what do you do?  They have access to their room all day,
and their cage stays open to them inside this room.
 
Any suggestions or reassuring words from collar users?
 
Mish
[Posted in FML issue 1439]