I also did my research many months before I brought home my 2 puppies. I have collars for them, to use ONLY for their ID tags, Rabies tag and Registration tag. I only use a leash with a harness. A harness puts no "stress" or pressure on their neck, especially if they pull on the leash.
I had to try several harnesses for both of my puppies to get the proper fit.

You'd think that at least her vet would have told her about the colapsing traicia problem even if she did not know how to do any internet research for herself.:confused:

I hear you, I work in an at&t retail store and people with yorkies come in sometimes and it kills me. A lady today had a very tiny yorkie that my manager said can't know how to walk cause the lady always carries it like arm candy. I felt so sorry for the poor baby. It looked so pathetic. I don't know how old it was, but it sure was calm. Looked like it was on zanex or something. And the other day another girl came in with her, i think, 8 -10 week old puppy that she had gotten like 3 days before to breed with another yorkie she had just purchased and she was on her way to take it back to the breeder cause it still had a floppy ear with weak cartilage. I told her Jackson's other ear didn't come up til like 5 months. So, some people, I totally agree. Some people should not be allowed to have dogs. But in defense of lady #1, she very well could have worn that dog out by playing then decided to come to the store... i don't know. And my dog doesn't wear a collar unless its necessary, which it rarely is cause he wears his harness when we go anywhere b/c of his car seat and his backpack. He's usually naked at home unless he tries to did out his t-shirt and i put it on him.

That is irritating, but some people just don't know. I remember when we first realized we were getting a yorkie, we went and got a cute little collar for chippy. After being on YT, we realized we needed a harness.

What really made me mad though was when I went to one of those free instructional type classes petco has sometimes - well, the lady was being really snippy with Smokey cause Smokey wasn't laying still because he wanted to play with the other dogs. She was huffing and puffing and making comments about him. She had given me a hard time about putting him on a collar and not a harness because it "gives more control". I told her that I refuse to put him on a collar because yorkies have fragile tracheas. I asked about training classes and she gave me information on them and then said (very snippy), "but he has to have a collar to be in our class not a harness". I told her forget it, because she wouldn't be the one up with him at night or anytime of the day when he's practically choking or however it works, she wouldn't be the one taking care of him for the rest of his life, that she wouldn't be paying his medical bills, and that I found find a training facility that would adapt his training around his harness because this was the decision I made for him as MY dog to give him a healthy, happy life. She tried to tell me a collar couldn't do any damage to him at all and used her 80 lb dog as an example. :rolleyes:

I can understand maybe a new pet owner that hasn't quite done much research...but they had their yorkie for seven years and never realized they needed a harness? That is so upsetting! Not only had they missed researching it, but no vet or other yorkie owner they had met in seven years had told them?! That is crazy!!

good call... find another trainer...

I wasn't expecting Lizzy, wasn't expecting to keep her after I got her and never knew about YTs having to have harnesses. Luckily she has never so much as coughed or made a choking sound.

In agility, anything but a plain, no tags, no adornments, collar is considered a safety hazard. Also, that is all you can have on your dog when you run them. I use hound collars or martingales, and since they aren't allowed, I run naked dogs. :)

i get asked if they can pet my kitten when i carry sienna into the vets im like...she just barked at you!

LOL sorry but that is kinda funny because so strange!

I research everything. I did alot of research for about 7 to 8 months before getting Bella. Years ago when I had my cattle dog handed to me, I wanted to know what I was in for. So did several weeks of research there. But of coarse never having a toy breed I really didn't know anything.

I think that's what got me. This is a cousin of mine that started all this. I was so amazed she had asked if that's why theirs coughed and gagged when walked with a collar. Maybe they don't take him to the vet annually either. That's one thing I do, we take our critters out to much to not have them protected and have records of everything.

Well she knows now. I told her about that and surgery might have to be an option for the future.