Using a dog collar or harness?? need information !

[yorkiemini]

Cali uses the step-in Choke Free harness, but if you show your dog in an AKC obedience show your dog must wear a collar. I make Cali's martingale collars that she only wears in the ring.

[FidoTheYorkie]

I dont know how he gets out of his harnesses ! I've tried about 5-6 kinds of harnesses they all fit perfectly but somehow he gets out of them.
I've seen him once pull against the leash really hard, he has to struggle a bit then he gets it off, though its not too loose ! He's a little houdini.

When I tie him outside of stores (it happens very rarely) then I take one collar with me and put it on him just wen I tie him and attach the leash to the collar, he doesn't pull he sits just still until I come back, its just for 1 minute when I rush into the store then I come back I think its not a big deal.

I use a collar inside for his tag but I have to buy a good soft nylon harness to have on him inside and just put the tags on that, right now I just have a spiked harness and I don't want him to scratch the walls with the spikes or the doors, he just wears it outside because of that.
Also I sometimes use a collar on a special occasion cause he has 3 really beautiful ones with diamonds and pearls that shine so much, I never attach a leash on it though ! Just use them like for christmas and his birthday I also have them very loose on him, he can rip them off if anything happens.

Now I'm started to use ALWAYS a harness on walks, thanks to YT ! If I haven't registered on YT I would still use a collar for walks and everything, even with a flexi leash !

Here in Iceland where I live there are no hawks, there are very few birds here so big they could snatch a dog and Fido is a 14 pounder so the bird had to be pretty big to catch him ! the birds that live here just catch smaller birds (those smallest ones), eggs and mice and something like that, and small fishes, not dogs.

I'm always with him when I tie him somewhere but for like when I have to run in the store I can't take him with me and I don't have a car so I walk and take him with me, then I have to tie him outside, people here will go nuts if I would take him to the store with me.

I'm not a bad dog owner or anything I try to do the best things for my babie, please not say bad things about me I love my yorkie more than anything.
I'd never do anything to hurt him, I just can't tie him in his harness outside the store cause he'll break free then, and if he's unleashed he runs away and goes after the cars ! So I rather tie him for 1 minute in his collar then having a dead dog.

[FidoTheYorkie]

Fido is never tied outside on our lawn alone, I always hold his leash then and I'm always with him cause there are cats here around and other dogs that people walk with unleashed sometimes I don't take risks with that.

I don't like tying him outside either but I have to do it sometimes.
I'm not always at my parents house (I live with them), often at my grandparents house or my boyfriends house then I have to take him with me in the store I can't leave him at my boyfriends house or my grandparents house cause then he'll just bark constantly, then I have to take him with me in the store I have no other choice.
I have to tie him in a collar then, I can not take him into the stores it is banned here to take dogs to stores except petstores, so that is the only thing I can do I hope I don't get judged for doing that again I hate it, I can not do anything else except tying him outside with his collar.

Yes harnesses are a bit hard to get here, most petstores just sell harnesses that are way to small on him and when I find something that fits him they are not fitting perfectly, I have 1 good fitting harness now but he'll propably get out of it somehow I dont take the risk cause I dont want him to get out of his harness and possibly then he gets hit by a car ! Cause he always lunches into the traffic if he's free he doesn't obey well if he's suppose to come he just wants to play, I don't want to take a risk again with his life last summer he got free and he ran across the road, thank god that the car stopped in time, Fido almost got under the car !! I was so scared I don't want that to happen again I don't wanna loose Fido.

Nancy, your right that was what I was asking for, just some good links not to be judged for what I have to do and have no other choice.

Also, where I live lots of people tie dogs outside stores, I don't do it unless I have to.
It's not against the laws or anything its perfectly legal.

PrincesMom, I'm so sorry about your yorkie !!

I never use a leash to his collar anymore except when I have to tie him outside of stores , it's not often, he doesn't pull anything then so I think its ok, its better than having him running free across the highway and possibly killing himself cause I don't have a harness that is so tight he can't get out of it, can't find any good harnesses here that fit well on him there isn't much to choose from cause most petstores just sell collars, also there are only 5 petstores here near the city I think, some food stores sell dog stuff but not good dog products then and not strong.

[FidoTheYorkie]

Originally Posted by yorkiemini

Cali uses the step-in Choke Free harness, but if you show your dog in an AKC obedience show your dog must wear a collar. I make Cali's martingale collars that she only wears in the ring.

Ok
I think its OK to wear a show leash or a martingale in the ring, you can't have a harness on a dog in the ring haha it would be so silly and the dog wouldn't walk right, possibly pull much etc.
I also use martingales for showing but I dont show Fido, I showed him once as a puppy then nothing more.


also to another response, I forgot it, Fido is a teapot yes he's about 14 pounds.

[Nancy1999]

I know we talked about the Buddy Belt before, here's a picture of it. See if you can find a harness made like this. It's very easy to adjust the size to fit, and there's no way Joey can get out of it, Houdini, maybe! By the way, Iceland does have other types of birds of prey Falcons, and Eagles.

[DvlshAngel985]

Do you have a picture that shows how it fits?

[BlueBelle]

Originally Posted by FidoTheYorkie

I dont know how he gets out of his harnesses ! I've tried about 5-6 kinds of harnesses they all fit perfectly but somehow he gets out of them.
I've seen him once pull against the leash really hard, he has to struggle a bit then he gets it off, though its not too loose ! He's a little houdini.

One of my daughters Yorkies does this too! She doesn't like riding in a car so when she has to she has started somehow to get herself either completely out or at least one leg up thru the neck opening!!

[FidoTheYorkie]

Where I live in Iceland there are no birds other than just small birds that couldn't even catch a mouse, those who are bigger are owls (very very rare to see a owl here, I've seen one twice since I remember myself and they are only out at night), then there are seagulls.

[Britster]

Jackson has slipped out of a Puppia harness as well as a nylon step-in harness and an Easy Walk harness. It's not even like he tries but he has gotten out of all of these on 3 separate occasions lol. It's definitely possible and I couldn't have made these any tighter or he would have been suffocated lol. Step-ins seem to cause the most problems for us. But luckily, I'm not too worried about it as he has a great recall and I just don't pull on it a certain way now (like if he's behind me and I pull for him to come forward, that's when it's slipped over his head). I still use Puppia basically every day. I have the leather Choke-Free and he has been unable to escape out of that yet. I'd still like to re-try the Buddy Belt one day... I may have to make some altercations as it seemed one size was too big and one was too small so I couldn't find a good size for him.

I use a tie out at my moms house because there's no fence and 3 acres. But I never leave him out there alone. It's a 50 foot line so he has lots of space. But usually, I wouldn't call it a "tie out" because I'll either be holding the other end of the leash or letting it drag while we play fetch.

I think Jackson, at 16lbs, MAY be able to pull off walking on a collar. He doesn't pull and he's a bigger dog. However, I still don't take chances. And I'd never use one on a tieout, because if he were to see something and take off after it, SNAP, that's his neck. I'd rather is be a harness for a big OR small dog on any sort of tie out.

I think the OP is trying to do the best she can with what she has! I know I had never heard of putting harnesses on dogs before until joining YT. I walked Jackson on a collar for the first week I had him. It just didn't seem all that common or normal to me until I started going to dog events and dog parks and online forums, etc.

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by Britster

Jackson has slipped out of a Puppia harness as well as a nylon step-in harness and an Easy Walk harness. It's not even like he tries but he has gotten out of all of these on 3 separate occasions lol. It's definitely possible and I couldn't have made these any tighter or he would have been suffocated lol. Step-ins seem to cause the most problems for us. But luckily, I'm not too worried about it as he has a great recall and I just don't pull on it a certain way now (like if he's behind me and I pull for him to come forward, that's when it's slipped over his head). I still use Puppia basically every day. I have the leather Choke-Free and he has been unable to escape out of that yet. I'd still like to re-try the Buddy Belt one day... I may have to make some altercations as it seemed one size was too big and one was too small so I couldn't find a good size for him.

I use a tie out at my moms house because there's no fence and 3 acres. But I never leave him out there alone. It's a 50 foot line so he has lots of space. But usually, I wouldn't call it a "tie out" because I'll either be holding the other end of the leash or letting it drag while we play fetch.

I think Jackson, at 16lbs, MAY be able to pull off walking on a collar. He doesn't pull and he's a bigger dog. However, I still don't take chances. And I'd never use one on a tieout, because if he were to see something and take off after it, SNAP, that's his neck. I'd rather is be a harness for a big OR small dog on any sort of tie out.

I think the OP is trying to do the best she can with what she has! I know I had never heard of putting harnesses on dogs before until joining YT. I walked Jackson on a collar for the first week I had him. It just didn't seem all that common or normal to me until I started going to dog events and dog parks and online forums, etc.

This is pretty much the exact boat as we are in.

Ellie chokes on collars. Easy enough to throw a harness on her and much safer. She slips out of step-ins/Easy Walks. I'm not at all comfortable using them and have gotten rid of them. Now we use the cheap ones from the petstore and as long as they aren't really loose, she does fine. I can tighten the step-ins as much as possible and they are still unsafe for her.

Rylee can slip out of the regular petstore type without trying. We are going to try another kind (which reminds me to measure him - sigh I need to get off my butt). I had him in a collar. Got a harness when he got kennel cough and the collar started making him choke. He walks terribly on collars too. So we'll see. A 15lb dog who isn't a huge puller and no history of tracheal issues, honestly I don't think there is much risk to use a collar. In fact, if they can slip out of their harness, then IMO a collar is much safer. Very tiny dogs, absolutely yes, harness. But the bigger ones, I'm just not convinced. I think a lot of times it may look like the collar caused an issue when really it just showed that there was an underlying problem. Many vets use collars on their own small dogs and notice most don't say a thing when an owner chooses a collar. Probably not quite as big a deal as what people have been led to believe.

For tie-outs, I don't like collars because of the snap factor. And for heavy pullers of any breed, I don't think it's all that healthy.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

A 15lb dog who isn't a huge puller and no history of tracheal issues, honestly I don't think there is much risk to use a collar. In fact, if they can slip out of their harness, then IMO a collar is much safer. Very tiny dogs, absolutely yes, harness. But the bigger ones, I'm just not convinced. I think a lot of times it may look like the collar caused an issue when really it just showed that there was an underlying problem. Many vets use collars on their own small dogs and notice most don't say a thing when an owner chooses a collar. Probably not quite as big a deal as what people have been led to believe.

For tie-outs, I don't like collars because of the snap factor. And for heavy pullers of any breed, I don't think it's all that healthy.

This is totally my feelings, too. Funny that Ellie can easily get out of step-ins too. I just don't know how he did it but he it came off so easy!

I've done the collar thing for quick potty breaks but and sometimes a slight pull will cause him to gag a bit. But then again, the step-in harness caused him to gag occasionally, too. So who knows.