Grrr - non-Yorkie owners!
 

I'm so mad! I've been training Scooter to have perfect manners when walking, so up until now I've walked him with a collar and leash rather than with a halter. He's a quick learner, so we've never had a problem with pulling on his little neck, so I had no concerns about a collar.
Last weekend we went to a friends for a bonfire, they own two maltese mixes that are quite a bit bigger (and tougher) than Scooter. At the fire I just held the end of Scooter's leash so he could explore a little and I could still keep him within close proximity. He was walking under our chairs and got a little tangled up. Then my friend did what he would do with one of his dogs - he grabbed the leash and picked up Scooter BY THE COLLAR to untangle him! AHHH! I could have killed him! His dogs may be able to take that, but Scooter's little neck cannot! Better yet - when I got mad at him, his response was "it'll toughen him up"
I hate it when other dog owners think Yorkies are just as tough as any other dog! Scooter is only 1.7 lbs - he cannot take any rough handling!
Wish they would be a little more sensative to us *overprotective* Yorkie owners! Needless to say we ordered a halter from chattiesmom yesterday! So I guess some good came out of it!
Sorry for the long post, just really needed to get my grief out as I sit here worrying about his trachea!
Has anyone else had their dog rough-handled by other dog owners? How did you respond?

No wonder u r upset! Others just haven't read all the info on YT (not informed):( Honestly tho, yr sweet baby is so tiny, I would be leery of the collar. Harnesses or Harness Vests are so great for these little ones! You never know when something could happen quickly & you would need to grab yr baby in case of danger, another aggressive dog, etc. I'm glad you ordered one!:thumbup: But the accusation that these little ones need to toughen up!!:eek::eek:

Who was this PERSON who manhandled your baby? Did you tell him off? He should never have touched him. .. no one should be taking over the control of your baby.

One of the most important things I have learned on this site.. is to not use collars on Yorkies. Use the vests or halters for them. Which you are going to do.

How is your baby's trachea? I sure hope his is ok. Poor little thing. Hope your day gets better.

Anytime anyone picks up Onni, I watch them like a hawk, if they are not completely gentle I go take her out of their arms. I have no problem telling people to leave my fur baby alone. I also tell them from the get go that she is not like other dogs and requires special handling and feeding.

OK, so this person didn't know anything about tracheas - he still had no right to touch your dog without your permission, whether it's a 2 pound Yorkie or a 90 pound Boxer. JMO. :(

Hope Scooter is okay. I don't really like anyone touching my pups unless my pups approach that person. For someone to pull on a dogs neck, yorkie person or not is disturbing. (People do things like this and wonder why they get bitten!)

I'm glad you got a harness, they come in handy. While my BF and I were at the dog park an aggressive doxie tried to bite his Chihuahua and I pulled him up by his harness, thank goodness! While we were leaving he attacked Kobe (cocker spaniel),, lucky Kobe scared the crap out of the doxie and it ran.
Anyway turns out later that dog really hurt another and if I didn't tell my BF to get the vest harness , little Luka may not be here. :(
(The next time I saw that lady at the dog park I turned around, she asked where are you going, Are your dogs not tough enough!) I told her "I've always been taught if you don't have anything positive to say don't say it at all." Then I returned with the Sheriff. :) They are right across the street, and told her to leave :)

How 'TOUGH" does he think a 1.7lb dog needs to be??? GGGEEZZZZ!!!

Wow! Glad we haven't run into any really aggressive dogs yet! So far I've had enough time to reach down and pick him up if need be. But in case I need to get him out of trouble really quickly it's a good thing we're getting a harness!
And what is it with people and thinking these tiny dogs can be tough? Scooter THINKS he's tough - he isn't scared of anything! But look at him! He's smaller than a newborn - and I don't think anyone would do that to a newborn!

Sorry that happened to you. I feel that regardless of how well your dog walks on a leash and collar, you really should have him on a harness. I wasn't aware of the issue when I had a toy poodle and he ended up having trachea problems. I know better now and Tatum wears a collar when we are out in public but only for identification reasons. I have had to pull her out of harm's way by the leash a couple times and I'm always glad it's attached to a harness. You never know when you may have to do that so I would stick with the harness exclusively from now on. I hope your baby is okay after that thoughtless act by your friend.

He was actually one of my close friends dads, so I didn't really 'tell him off' - out of respect, but he definitely understood that he cannot do anything like that again! (I really don't think he'll want to touch Scooter again haha - fine with me!)

Luckily Scooter hasn't been coughing or honking at all, so I think his trachea is fine. So that's a HUGE relief, but all of a sudden I'm even more protective (or overprotective) of him now! :rolleyes: Better safer than sorry!

Scooter's my first, so I guess I wasn't awared of the issue either, I thought as long as he didn't pull on the collar wouldn't be a problem. If he has a collar on it will just be to hold tags on from now on!

You're learning! ;) Seriously, there was so much I didn't know about toy breeds when I was raising my toy poodle (although I must have done something right since he lived to be 16 years old :) ). So much of that has taught me what to do right with Tatum. This site has also been a godsend in learning all the right things!

Is Scooter o.k? That probably didn't feel too good when the guy picked him up :( I wouldn\'t pick up any dog by their collar,with bigger dogs you use the collar for commands, but not to pick up a dog by their collar, that\'s like picking up a person by their collar!

im sorry but adult or not, i wud have told him to not hold him like that or better yet not hold him at all. glad he is doing good

Who would pick a dog up by the collar. I would have been livid that could have choked you dog. I dont care how big or small a dog is he shouldnt be doing that.:thumbdown