When I go out in the yard to work and it isn't too hot for Kacee, I have a leash that is approximately 25 feet long. I hook it to her harness and I have a clip on the other end which I hook around a tree. However, she is always close by and I never let her out of my sight. I love her too much to risk her.:)

I have a retractable leash that I use only for walking, but the above leash is not retractable.

She is 8 months almost 9

WOW that is so scary when canella ran in the street i called and called her and all she did was look and keep going...so i ran out of my driveway to see a truck driving fast down our neighborhood and i yelled at the top of my lungs STOP!!! please STOP!!! i scared the SH** out of him but thank the lord he stopped i grabbed her and just started BALLING! i was soooo scared im never taking her outside again without a leash...

Please keep her on a leash at all times. When they are younger they tend to stay near you but as the mature thats when they start to run away from you.

I'm afraid it's my experience that it is always possible that they dart away from you, no matter how trained they are! There are some things about a Yorkie that you just can't or shouldn't breed out of them. This, is one of them, and they end up training you to avoid danger by using a harness and a lead. Big, Big dog in a little body! :)

Better start playing it safe from here on - leash her and train her. The two go hand in hand.

Hind sight is 20/20!! :thumbup:

OH! I'm SOOOOOOO Sorry for you!:( It's so easy to sometimes let your guard down and give them that little bit more 'freedom'...shows you how easily it can happen...just takes a split second and they are gone.
Thankyou for sharing your sad experience with us...let it be a lesson to us all..Thankyou x

i agreed it's time to put her on a leash...get one that she can go about 25 feets or so...hehe...mine at first didn't like the leash but because MeiLing almost go hit by a car i am not taking any more chances...they will eventually get use to the leash...

You know i'm so glad i read this thread. I've been going outside with Pasquale without a leash cause he usually stays by my side...and when he does dart..i'm usually faster than him to catch him. BUT...after reading this post....i will definitely always use a leash now when taking him outside. I dont think i could live with myself knowing a terrible accident could have been prevented. I'm so sorry to those who have lost a loved one and i thank those who have given such great advice.

i learned my lesson last year when lexi ran off the deck into the street with
an oncoming car speeding down the street, well, i jumped in front of the
car to save my baby, thank god this car had good breaks and the lady in
in had good reflexes... i screamed stoppppppppppppp! almost gave
the old woman an heart attack, she was holding her chest..
lesson learned.could of been a big mess. please take no chances

If you are taking her into your yard and it isn't fenced why don't you put her onto a really long tieout? This is what we did until we were positive that they could not get out any little holes in the yard since it was put up for our lab and not a little yorkie there were a few gaps that needed to be addressed.

We made our own from Home Depot. It was 75 feet long and they went anywhere they wanted but could not get out under the fence. It worked great.

The best thing to do to get your little one used to a harness is while you are with her inside the home, put the harness on let her wear it throughout the day, after a day or so, add the leash, have her fetch a ball, with the leash on, take her naps with it, eat with it, keeping an eye on her to make sure she does not get tangled on something.... pretty soon they forget the leash and harness are even on. When you walk her with the leash, take tiny treats with you and say, good girl Walk. Give a treat. Time, love, treats and patience. :D Best to you.

Please put her on a leash. Its better be safe then sorry. She will get used to the leash it just takes a little time. ;)

I have always used a leash because I used to live on a busy street, but more recently we moved to a more rural subdivision. My boy, Finnigan would always stay by my side on his retractible leash so I thought it was time he could be off in the back yard. WRONG... the first couple times he was off-leash he'd stay on the deck by our sides even when tempted by squirrels etc... but one day he just suddenly took off around the house and went down our road. I had to get on my bike to get after him because he had ran so fast/far down the road (luckily no one else has built in our subdivision yet). He scared me so bad, we have large hawks/coyotes etc... I am never letting him off his leash again. Unfortunately he's recently learned he can try running out the door when we come home to get outside, but that's a whole other training problem

We have the retractible leash for walks and use a cat tie out with a ground steak or just around a tree/pole for him to potty outside the mornings while we're getting ready for work or when we're outside. Just today I bought an exercise pen to put up around the deck stairs because sometimes I want to have the patio doors open so he can run freely in and out on nice days (we can't put a fence up in our yard due to our subdivisions covenant and I think it would be dangerous to use invisible fences with my little guy).

I know its sometimes inconvienent to use a leash when your out doing yard work but there are options out there, you can try what we've done with the cat tie out and probably even use a dog run with the proper size lead, but always use a halter!!! you don't want your little baby to hurt themselves.

Hope some of what we've done helps! I can send you pictures of our set-up if you'd like.

Good for you :thumbup: I so wish I had found this board before my Peanut was killed. He was so precious. He survived being lost for Lord only knows how long before he came to live with us. A farmer found him in a corn field, so he was a true rescue doggy. He did have a happy life while he was here, but I was used to big dogs, like retrievers, who will stay in their yard or right beside you. I was sure Peanut was broke of running off like that. I should have done my research, just as you've done.

Kuddos to you!!
I hope your baby has a long happy, healthy life with you :wub:

Tammy