My Yorkie hates his collar and harness
 

Hi we have a Yorkie who is now 2 years old. She is very sweet and loves people. However we want to have her wear a collar for identification only and a harness for walking. When ever we put a collar on her she pouts and will do nothing but lay around looking depressed. We have left it on for two days with her not wanting to eat or play or take care of her toilet. Once we took it off she was bounding around as if she was just let out of a box. She does the same thing a harness except that once we put the leash on and go outside she is fine.
Any suggestions?

Welcome to YorkieTalk.

I bet your 2 year old is sweet as could be.

My late Katy only wore a harness when we took her for a walk. She loved to walk and would get pretty excited when she saw the harness in someone's hand. When we returned home, she wanted the harness off. Indeed, she'd sit in front of us and stare until someone took it off.

Katy had quite a few dresses, sweaters and coats. Although some folk on YorkieTalk dress up there yorkies every day, Katy's dress up was more seasonal or celebratory. When the weather was cold--not very often or long here--she was more than happy wearing one of a *very few* of her sweaters inside. Coats? She wanted those off as soon as we came in from outside. Much like the harness, Katy would sit and stare at us until they came off, as if to say---"Humm, you forget something?"

I can't offer much opinion on the collar issue. Katy had lots of collars--but she didn't routinely wear them in the house. They were great when she was riding on my shoulder in her purse. She liked being able to "comb" the backs of her ears and neck with a scratch here and there. If this makes sense--while Katy didn't mind a collar, she did seem pleased when we took it off.

Any chance your little one associates her collar with being on call for training commands?

Does your little one wear dresses in the house? There are some YorkieTalkers whose little ones are dressed up much of the time.

Again, welcome to YorkieTalk.--KatysMom

:welcome4: :yorkietal :welcome4:
Welcome to YorkieTalk!

So glad you joined our growing family of yorkie lovers! I have an idea that may sound really crazy weird, but its something to think about. Your baby doesn't understand that a collar and/or harness is a good thing and that is where you need to start. In training, you never want to start with the goal, you just need to start somewhere. I would start by simply holding the harness and collar and getting really excited about it - even give yourself a treat! Do it privately 'cause anyone seeing you will think you've gone bonkers:eek:. I guarantee that your yorkie will get curious enough to "check out" what you are so excited about. When she even looks your way, praise her and continue. When she decides to come close enough to actually touch the collar/harness, praise her like there is no tomorrow and give her most favorite treat. Continue teaching her that the collar/harness is a GOOD THING. Eventually (quicker than you think) she will allow you to rub the harness/collar on her, drape it over her back, etc. Always give her yummy treats for showing interest.

Continue in slow baby steps until she is completely convinced that the collar/harness is not a torture device that will kill her :D. Never progress until she is completely comfortable with the step you are working on. Eventually she will let you put the collar on her - when you do praise her and immediately take it off. Do the same with the harness - until she fully understands 1) she gets a treat when the harness/collar is on and 2) there is an end and the harness/collar comes off.

The goal is to have her wear the harness/collar for as long as YOU want and to be happy walking and doing her potty things while walking on a leash without food treats, but with verbal praise. But she first has to learn that the collar/harness is the answer to getting a yummy delicious treat.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Distraction can help. Once you put it on her try to distract with a treat or a toy.