Concerned Mom

[Dianao]

I have a Yorkie named Max. He is 5 months old and the most adorable, loving baby. Unfortunately, I never put a collar on Max since I heard that Yorkies suffer trach problems. Well it has come the time that we decided to put a collar on Max. We recently started to put his collar on and he does not play, walks around with his tail down and refuses to eat because his tag gets in the way. Without his collar he is so playful and active. When we put it back on he gets very clingy and does nothing. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[jencar98]

After Ruby's collar got hung up on a decorative pillows fringe, I stopped having her wear one. As far as getting Max to like his collar you could try what I did to get Ruby to enjoy wearing clothes (she reacted to them like your Max is to collars).

Villette on the forum suggested when I put a dress on her to just make over her and tell her how pretty she is wearing her dress. I would tell her "what a pretty girl she is" and that her "Daddy would just love that dress on her", things like that. Sure enough it worked. Now, all I have to do is ask her "Ruby do you want to wear a dress?" She gets all excited and runs to me, sits down so that I can put it on her.

Do be careful with those collars though.

[Dianao]

Your Ruby is so adorable. Thanks for the suggestion. I will try anything at this point.

[MissSophie]

You might try a harness. They work well for these little guys. It is harder to find a place for the tags, but they do go on. Would Max wear a harness?

[Dianao]

I do have a harness except do you leave it on all the time?? I feel so bad for him. He looks as though he's being violated.

[MissSophie]

Ours wears her collar for the tags all the time. We use the harness for walks. They do tend to mess up the hair and makes it harder to brush.

[Dianao]

Thank you so much for the suggestion. I will certainly try it. I think it will actually work better since the tags on the collar seem to always get in his way.

[Yorkieluv]

You can put the tags on the harness, and a harness is so much safer! You don't have to keep it on him at all times, unless you want to...If you do, I would recommend getting a harness like the silk ones that Chattiesmom makes so that you don't have too many problems with mats in the hair.

There was a member a long time ago whose dog, I believe, hung itself with collar It was extremely sad...Also, I can't tell you how many times we have heard horror stories about collars causing damage not only to their tracheas but also wiggling out of part of the collar and getting it stuck in their mouths...

[Dianao]

Thank you for that bit of information. A harness it is. Can you please tell me where I can get a silk one?

[cdawnfine]

Hi, I just saw your post today. What size collar are you using, and what is the thickness? It might just be a little to big, also the tag size could be an issue, I have noticed that most tags are rather large in size but you can find smaller one for I.D. another trick that you can try is take the collar and place it in the bottom of your laundry basket for about a week, and then just leave it around and let the dog smell it. It will become something familiar with your sent on it rather than something foreign. I use the thinnest collar I can find for ID and walk him on a harness. Good Luck

Originally Posted by Dianao

Thank you for that bit of information. A harness it is. Can you please tell me where I can get a silk one?

[Dianao]

The collar is very thin. I guess I just never really bothered putting one on him and that is why he feels constricted. I think I am going to stick with trying a harness on him - - have heard too many horror stories about collars for these little pups. In the next couple of months we are going to travel with him and I just want him to sort of get used to the fact that he has to wear one for safety reasons. Thanks for your input.

[Yorkieluv]

You can send a pm to Chattiesmom. She's the one that makes them.