My thought too, a harness is easier to snatch them up quickly without hurting them.

Off topic- When we take our yorkies out walking I alway tell my children to keep an eye of whats happening around us and to pass the yorkie quickly to me if there is any danger. I would rather be the one holding the yorkies than my children if an attack were to happen.

Mine would follow along too if I allowed them to walk with out a leash but I keep them on their harness for their protection in case another dog were to come after them. I have saved my dogs more than once because a big dog was running in our direction and if my dog had not been on a leash I am sure I would not have been able to scoop them up, a chase would have taken place and I dont even want to think what could have happened.

I think it depends on where you walk them and the individual personally of the dog. I walk Pippa off the lead but i live deep in the country.

I have a GSD also, and there is no way I would let the yorkies loose to run but in my backyard its fenced..When I walk them they are on harness, have you seen how fast these little ones are...Even in the backyard, when I call them in, one or two will come, but I have to always chase Lexie down, its like a game, and she can run circles around me, so I bring in the big guns, and get big Max (GSD) to get her...thank goodness she can't out run him to much, she runs under his legs....:p

What would happen to your little baby if it was walking along really well without a harness, and a big dog came out of nowhere after the baby and the baby started running as fast as it could despite how you are calling it back. Do you now want to imaging what that big dog is doing to your baby. I'm sure it would be too late for the poor little thing by the time you found them. Don't take chances with something that precious.

Hello there...
 

And welcome to YT! This is a great group of people here! They've helped me very much so I contribute whenever I can.

Here's what I think. I absolutely disagree with not walking ANY dog without a leash. Dog parks are different. I have 2 german shepherds, Diablo 2 and Ginger 3. Ginger is a rescue and I've had Diablo since he was 6 wks old! My family and I have worked VERY hard to train them. And because of this, we can take them anywhere, WITHOUT a leash if we wanted to.

But I do not do this for THEIR protection. We have encountered several dogs who are not on a leash and we've almost had some serious fights happen. I carry pepper spray because I am not going to let something happen to my dogs. They would give their life for me, its my job to avoid this as much as possible.

It would be instinct for your shepherd to protect the baby. And if you know shepherds the way I do, they will give their life. I am very proud of my dogs and would never want them to have a negative experience with another dog or any other animal for that matter.

As you know, hawks and other predators are always out there ready to scoop-up our babies. We have to do our best to keep them safe.

I understand how you feel though because you have the utmost trust in your babies, but again, you never know what you might run into. Good luck and enjoy yorkie talk!

Raquel:animal-pa

IMO you should always stick with a leash because no matter how well behaved your dog is 'things happen'. Definately use a harness though so there's no pressure on their little necks. I have heard way to many freak stories about well trained dogs who after years and years of perfection randomly dart off either after another dog, a rabbit, a car, a person etc and some are killed by a car if they run into traffic or are lost forever. I personally wouldn't feel safe with any of my dogs off leash. Just to push the point, my boss used to train labs for "Guiding Eyes" for the blind and one of her best dogs bolted after a rabbit for the first time at the age of 5. So you never really know.

I think it's always better to be safe than sorry.

I would not walk mine off-leash. Just way to dangerous and too many unforeseen occurances.

I wouldn't take the chance. I have one that will stay close and follow me too but I am quite sure that if he saw a rabbit, squirrel or cat he would take off after it. I would rather be safe than sorry. And we also use harnesses.

I had a dream last nite Teddy got off the leash and started running and I was chasing him. And he's so fast. I would not walk Teddy w/o a leash that's for sure, he's a little curious one and he thinks that me chasing him is a game. London can't take walks yet but she's very slow because she doesn't even like to walk much, she loves to be picked up. Even when I take her to the hallway to run around she'll go half way and just stand there lol

I almost learned a sad lesson a few months back by trusting Ralphie to "go" by himself unharnessed. I'm on a large quiet street with all private homes. It was very early in the morning and I opened my front door to let him out. He was standing a few feet from him as he was doing his thing on my front lawn. I did not notice that a man was walking in the middle of the street on his way to work and in a split second, Ralphie took off, darted off the lawn, into the street, grabbed on to the man's pant's leg and tore into it; the man managed to get Ralphie off by kicking him off; Ralphie did not hear me at all but kept running after the man and just then an SUV turned onto my street. I screamed at the top of my lungs and Ralphie wound up 2" away from being caught under the front wheels. All you heard from blocks away were my blood curdling screams......."S T O P S TO P" as the man did not see my dog but saw some lunatic woman in her p.j's waving her hands and screaming, as he slammed on his brakes. He had no idea whether a child or a dog was in his way but he was quick enough to react, thank god. I did apologize to the man who had a nice rip in his pants and I offered to pay him for new pants but all he did was shake his head at me and said, "Lady, you almost lost your dog. I could buy me new pants." He was so so right.


I wanted to scold Ralphie but I was the one who needed a beating for being so lazy and careless. You cannot trust how an animal will react to anything in his view, regardless of how well trained and obedient he is. The nightmare of that day did not leave me for awhile and I can't emphasize enough never be so sure that your dog will listen to you. It takes just a moment to put a harness on and walk your dog, and less than a split second to lose your baby to foolishness.

Without a leash !!
 

:animal36 Bogey is without a leash & collar at our house. We have about an acre or so around us & we let Bogey out to pee & leave the door cracked & he'll go pee & come back within 5-10 min. push the door open & be inside. If he's not, we call him & he comes immediately. He minds very well. He would rather be outside than in. He loves to go riding in the truck. He hangs his most important parts outside the truck in the wind & thinks it's most wonderful. He goes out most nights two or three times without us & comes back shortly pushing the door open before we go night-night.:good job: :

And don't forget to have your baby microchipped too.

I live in the middle of the big city so I do not have a choice at all. I keep Siu Pao on leash all the time and I make sure I hold the leash tight! He is well behaved but terriers are terriers. They are just so nosy and curious about everything and everyone that I just can't take the chance.