My first little yorkie, Tashee, always wore a collar. I had no idea how bad it was to walk her while wearing it. She always pulled hard on it and sadly she passed away at the age of 10 from a collapsed trachea. I know it was caused by the collar. Now, my dogs never wear them while on a leash, only harnesses.:(

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I always wear harnesses,but found when I went walking I always had to wear the harness that had the tags so I could never change colors or anything,weel Petco or Petsmart has an ID tag that has a closure like on collars or harnesses so you can take it off and put it on any harness,it is great and so safe,I just love it.

Were these dogs that hung themselves on a playplen, or got their jaw stuck on another dog and needed CPR- were they small Yorkies?? Just wondering.

This might be your personal experience, but each of the 60,000+ members of YorkieTalk has their own personal experiences, opinions, ideas. Sharing of those ideas and being open minded to what others have to say is the only way that we can grow and learn.

It is perfectly reasonable and prudent for someone who has had a tragic or near tragic accident using a collar to be so strongly opposed to them. I was glad that Lou was willing to share her heart wrenching story in an effort to help prevent someone else having tha same experience.

Personally - I do not generally use collars on my kids -- occasionally for tags, charms, decorations, etc. but only when I am taking them out/showing them off. Any time they do have a collar on they are always within my sight.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Great post.

From my eye witness personal knowledge base of vet tech and homeowner stories: German Shepherd Dog hangs self when collar loops around top of chainlink fence as dog was jumping up and down.

Golden Retriever hangs self when choke chain catches on ornamental screen door guard.

Owner of Yorkie comes home to find dog hanging from door handle of screen door where collar slipped over the handle, strangling the dog.

Yorkie dies at home when collar catches on furniture. This dog might have survived, but, being of terrier bloodlines, kept fighting to get free and strangled itself in the process.

Neighbor calls Mom to tell her cat is hanging from a tree, breakaway collar failed to break away. Cat survived.

Owner comes into vets with Yorkie going into shock, collar on tightly but he still got his lower jaw under it and couldn't close it's mouth. Owners couldn't remove collar as dog was in panic mode, and they didn't think to grab sissors and cut the collar off. Yorkie recovered.

Not to mention the countless number of bigger dogs whose owners put collars on their dogs and forget to check the fit as the dog grows, and the dog gets a horrendous wound as the collar cuts into the skin, restricting the airway in some.

Neighbor's cat found dead: cat's lower jaw stuck under flea collar, cat died of toxins in the collar.

Big or small, cat or dog, collars can be dangerous, and deadly.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: Thank you!

My sister's Doberman puppy caught her collar on the handle of their buffet and we were all sitting at the kitchen table. She knocked the entire buffet and all of the contents on top of us! It happened so quickly, I saw exactly what had happened but was not able to prevent it. Once she was caught she just started pulling and chocking herself. It was the scariest thing you could even imagine! She no longer has collars on either of her dogs. I can't even imagine what would have happened if we were not right there! I'm sure she would have seriously hurt or even killed if it had happened when they were home alone. :(

I just wanted to touch on this thread also about collars with tiny bells, when charlie was a baby i like alot of others was in fear of stepping on him, so we put the little bell on his collar and his nail got caught in it :( It was scary and painful for us both, I was able to undo it with out his little nail comming off but it scared me so bad we have never used collars since.

I really didn't plan on coming back on here to post anything else but feel as if I need to explain a couple of things. We lived in a Chicago suburb where you didn't know your neighbors. I was always afraid that one of my dogs would get out and someone finding them would just keep them. Not everyone goes to the trouble of checking for microchips so I though tags would be a good thing as well. I didn't put the tags on their harnesses because they didn't wear their harnesses unless I was walking them and they were on leads. I didn't think collars were dangerous because I never attached a leash to them. They were use only to hold their tags. I know I was wrong now and learned a valuable lesson.

I also want to thank my friends for coming to my defense.

And to the OP, you can see that there are many many many people with opinions about the danger involved in putting collars on our little yorkies. I hope we have helped you with your decision.

I send you my best regards.
Lou

I appreciate your correction, but I'm still having trouble finding anything that says a collapsed trachea is anything but a genetic disorder. I will give you this: Of course a collar that is ill fitting or pulled too hard can "collapse" a dog's trachea. And, if your dog is suffering from a collapsed trachea it's best to use a harness. And, if your dog doesn't have a tendency to run out the door at times, it's probably best to let him run around this house without a collar or harness.

And, ill fitting collars cause all kinds of problems with both dogs and cats.

I just think there is a real difference between a genetic collapsed trachea, and the dog, through an accident, collapsing his trachea. Either is not good, and my condolences to anyone who's dog has a colapsed trachea or got caught up in a collar or harness.

I too have Toby in a collar for tags and jingle so I know where he is. If we are traveling or taking a walk, I add a harness. A definite must! Toby can be a tugger.

Good question :) No question is ever dumb in my book, o actually think it's dumb not to ask!

If the collar is fitted and worn properly that will not happen. Don't you have a dog license? Those HAVE to be worn by law. I have never had any dog injured or killed from a snagged collar and I have owned dogs for 48 years and bred dogs, done rescue and ALL wore collar and tags (and still do).

I have a harness for Fiona for when we go on walks, which has her rabies id tag on it, as well as a name tag, then I have collars with id tags that she wears on a daily basis, but I take it off when she is in her crate.....