When I read this I start to think if those collars on these dogs have been correctly fitted? My dogs could never get their collars in their mouth unless I have the collars way too big, impossible other ways.

Also the second thing, it is terrible that dogs have died that way :thumbdown But maby it is also caused by too loose collar?

Just a little bit to think about. But I kind of like the idea of a break away collar but i think I would be afraid that they would lose their collars more easily and thus have no identifycation for "non dog people" who don´t know what a microchip is :confused:

Yes, I think that sometimes the problem is caused when the collar is too loose. Its a no win situation because you don't want the collar too tight either.

Sometimes the danger has nothing to do with the fit. I hate this story but I'll tell it anyway. I know a Women whose Yorkie was laying on a wooden deck and the ID tags on his collar slipped down into the slates. When he tried to get up, he panicked and turned to try and get free. The collar twisted on his neck and choked him. Very Sad and the worst part was that it was avoidable.

The boys have breakaway collars from KeepSafe. They are not too easy to pull off so I feel pretty good about them. I highly recommend them to anyone interested.

http://www.keepsafecollar.com/index.cfm

Vest are safer
 

Your concern should be for the dogs safety. Put yourself in the dogs' position. Would you rather wear a collar or a vest? The vest is more comfortable, and the dog will not struggle against the vest, but the dog will fight against the collar. Do you really have a yorkie?

But you can´t really compare a dog to a person. Our necks are alot weaker than a dogs neck, completly diffirend structure.

My dogs pull harder when on a harness than in a collar. So, if they were human they would struggle against the west.
I am sure the same goes with many other dogs.

One more thing, who are you asking if they hava a Yorkie? So many people have answered this thread :p

I don't leave Jake's collar on him around the house because he once tried to get it off and got it stuck and scared me to death. But, when I have him outside, he has both a collar with his tags and a harness on.

My collars is fitted and measured for my dog. This is one aspect I research for myself and made sure it was fitted his neck. I also taught my dog to heel correctly,l so when i do have to use a collar instead of a harness it eliminated any unnecessary pulling on the dogs neck.

harness and collar
 

I have just had my puppy for 3 weeks and I keep a collar on him and walk (when he will walk) him on a harness. I am still having trouble with Geordie walking on a lead. Really frustrating.I keep trying.

New to YT
 

I did not know how to direct it to an individual, I was addressing it to the comments made by La Princesa. Everyone on YT except this person puts their Yorkies' safety first. It just seems like she is really hostel, all of the other YT members talk about and treat their Yorkies like human. Probable because Yorkies think/know they are human. Priority wise my Yorkies are up their with my human children. She talks about her yorkie like it is a dog. I am very sorry if I offended anyone I did not mean to.
The Yorkies neck is not the concern, it is not the muscle structure but the concern is their trachea is delicate.

Thank you for answring my questions. ;) Will look more at how the collar can affect the trachea.

there are MANY people on this site who are VERY articulate - no one is scared of you hon - but what you just said was pretty offensive ....and being a paid writer or not - there was no need to go off on anyone

Aside from what everyone said already - Collars can easily get caught on something and with yorkies being so small - a few twists and they can strangle or choke -

The safe way to go is a harness and always take it off when you aren't right there with the dog. I remember someone who left their puppy in a harness (in a playpen) and the poor dog ended up hung. Yorkies move so fast and get into so much it's better to be safe than sorry

Great Post :thumbup: I never thought about a harness being dangerous too :eek: Thanks for the info!

I put Gizmo's tags on his harness along with little bells. I have one of the step in silk harnessess that come nowhere near his trachea.

There are different styles of harnesses, that's why I make the distinction. The Lil Pals (I think that's what they're called) rode right on Gizmo's trachea and my vet took it off of him and told me to throw it away. My vet confirmed my thoughts about collars. He said to avoid them to prevent trachea damage.

I am sure that La Princessa's dogs are VERY well trained, but most of us are not that lucky. Gizmo is still a puppy in training, and I won't risk it.

Now for MY question...I leave his harness w/ tags and bells on him almost all of the time. I'm concerned about that now. Does anyone know if the puppy who was hung was in a certain type of harness? I really can't see how that could happen with the step in harness. Can it?

I honestly don't know if certain harnesses are accident proof -

here's the post about little Mocha - http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sho...ighlight=mocha it's very very sad :( :( - She's still a member and if you wanted to ask her what type I think enough time has passed where she wouldn't mind -

and my vet also stresses no collars - back when I first got Chanel he ran thru all the 'to watch for' things when having a small breed dog - one was reverse sneezing and only using harnesses to keep pressure off their necks. My vet's great about educating people - which is what people were doing in this thread....I'm by far NOT an expert in yorkies but it stands to reason their tiny necks could easily be damaged from a collar

Thank you. That's why I love this site. We all share information, and I have learned so much. Hopefully, I will always be open-minded enough to learn new things. :)

I will do the research on harnesses. This is an important issue to me.

Thanks again. :thumbup:

I use harnesses for walking my 3 but they have collars on at all times for their tags. I'm the type of person that is so paranoid to think, if someone breaks into your house, would they be carful enough to make sure your dogs diden't escape? They are also microchipped but I think of the microchips as a back up to the tags.

If they weren't scared of me I wouldn't be receiving emails from people on this site like its some kinda underground kkk threatening my family and my dog... who ever those people are, u don't scare me at all. I just chose to delete the emails and ignore them and go on with my business.

As for my post, I felt the way I was called out after 20 people posting that they use collars to and after chico started the thing of his opinion and the poster directed a post toward me and hoped that I UNDERSTAND things.. I was offended by that. Like i said , I really never needed her to break anything down to me for me to understand why so many of you are against it i never said i didn't understand, Thas your business and I respect that, I have owned dogs before too. I have done all the research i needed to on this issue.. for myself. So I asked for her to please don't try to preach to me.. I mean whats sooo offensive in telling people that I didn't ask for or need any understanding on the issue?
That comment was not rude, I felt that that comment toward me was not justified because people before me (many people stated they used collars) then we have Chico who stated his info and i just stated my opinion again. But Yet I was picked out of all kinds of poster before me stating That that person hoped i understood now? now thas insulting to me because i understand all sides of this argument and have researched it. I have supplied myself with harnesses and collars just like half the other people in here. (over half). I never once said I didn't understand anything about collars. I said the above in the nicest most honest way with no grudge against the poster but the post it self directed towards me as if i was the only one in the thread who believed and the first to say it, but i wasn't chico did. Then when i was honest and nice i get accused of being hostiles. Thas fine Yall don't know me if you think I am some hostile black women, think what you wanna think, thas your opinion and I respect it.

But I never once said anything personal about anyone and for someone to go as far as to say that I don't take care of my dog, or just because i call him a dog to say i don't care about my boy is hurtful and hitting below the belt. A Yorkie is classified as a dog , and I am not sorry that i call him a dog because he is one.. I also call him my boy. I also tell my son to go let his brother out to go potty it, just because i aint told u that lil tidbit of info doesn't mean that I don't love my dog any less than you.

So what I have a radically different opinion than you guys. It doesn't mean equipt myself with any less information on the subject than you. I just came up with a different outcome that is right for me.

I will continue to be honest and post whats on my mind on this board while not ATTACKING PEOPLE In a personal level, and simply posting my opinion and not be scared even when it differs.
so many people do on this forum and no one says anything about it. I guess next time I will let yall talk down to me like u do the rest and shut my mouth and take it. I still get pms telling me thanks for standing up for myself and saying what i say, cause yall got people scared around here to speak their minds for fear of going against the grain with the same results as me. SO many other who have had opinions that differ get banned I never say anything that will get me banned. I just post my opinion without saying hurtful personal things about people. "like she doesn't care anything about her dog because she calls it a dog and doesn't treat it like a human?" lol I mean really what is that. I never seen anyone here watching me my son and Ryoko and taking notes??? IF you wanna go personal and hate me for my opinion by all means hate me.. But like i said and always said I respect yours and always will. Just because i post something different than you or vice versa doesn't mean i hate u for it, but evidently some of yall take it a bit too far.

I am so not here to argue with yall or throw daggers like yall seem to like to do. I am here simply to post my opinion and not get harassed because i may think differently than the rest of you on some issues.


Kisses!

Yes, a collar for her tags and a harness when we go for a walk (with the collar still on).:)

Thanks for respecting my oppinion. I respect yours

I first got a collar because thas what I usually buy for a dog. I asked me breeder because of what I had read on here. She said a collar would be fine. I asked my vet to break things down for me he did.

Now I am working hard on training my boy and it really doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if they heel correctly then they wont pull away in a way that it would damage their neck or trachea. I didn't teach him by jerking his neck like most trainers teach for big dogs, I taught my own way and it took me a week for him to get the just. Why did i teach him that way? because of what I read on here.

Now that I want my dog to be an AKC obedience champ I am really working hard and a harness definitely doesn't fit in his training. This is why in all my posts i stressed that I made sure to teach him to heel properly first. However i do use a harness when i just want a relaxed walk.

Kisses!

WOW La Princessa - that was very hard to follow

You took something someone said and totally blew it out of proportion - someone asked a simple question and you made it all about you - this isn't about you or me or anyone else - it's simply people posting their opinions to help the next guy - you need to chill and stop going on the attack every time you don't like something - I dont know what kind of problems you're having with others - but being confrontational isn't going to help anyone and you'll end up getting this locked - why so hostile ?

I am lost that post was directed towards me. and I am chill and i was simply trying to explain how i felt just now. How is me explaining this all to u and answering ur post an attack? its not..

and it has nothing to do with me not liking one thing over another cause i never said i didn't like anything. I just had a different out look on the question presented.. I never said i did or didn't like anything.. now u have me lost why are u seeing my explanation as hostile and not just an explanation of things through my eyes, thas what I don't understand???? please tell me why?

LOL - congrats on your new puppy and just keep working with him - Yorkies are fast learners (cept when it comes to potty training lol):D

Sorry for attacking everyone in this thread i was wrong. I was wrong to think differently than anyone else on this board and will try more to conform to your Yorkie standards... I will not post anything that differs from the norm since I have upset so many people with my ATTACKS. I am sorry that I felt a yorkie was a dog cause its not! Its like a human child like someone said and I was soo wrong to call a Yorkie a dog. I will try to limit my post to things that don't go against the grain in here. Lord knows i don't wanna get banned like those before me.

God Bless to all!

Kisses!

Let's keep this thread on topic please. We will always find differing opinions and the topic of harnesses and collars has been discussed many times over.

If you need more information than is on this thread please use the search feature on YT.

Thank you and have a great day~

First of all, let me say to La Princesa, if you are getting threatening PMs, please report them to Admin. They are very good about taking care of things like that.

Second, Why all the drama anyway? You keep saying that you are being attacked because your opinion is different. We have the SAME opinion! You said you use a harness for walking most of the time and a collar with his ID tags the rest of the time. So do I. The ony differnce is that I just use a breakaway collar which is just my preference.

Lastly, I am so sorry for starting all this. I was only trying to inform everyone about the dangers of a collar other than a collapsed trachea. Yes, collapsed trachea is a problem, but many dogs have died by being strangled or hung by their collar and many people are not aware of this. I was just trying to educate those that didn't know. That's what this board is about.

Could someone just invent the perfect harness/collar hybrid please? One that protects their tracheae, doesn't matt their hair, allows tags to be worn, prevents the tags from getting caught in anything, and has no danger of causing choking? Oh and it has to be easy to take on and off. And pretty colors please :D

Is that too much to ask? I call dibs on part of the royalties :D

Well said :thumbup: :thumbup: - there's no 'right or wrong' regarding collars vs harnesses - it's all about personal choices and people can take information offered and make their decision based on their own comfort level -I'm sure there's lots of dogs that do just fine with a collar

Edited to add - and LOL drawlins27 - a harness or collar that doesn't matt hair ? You ARE dreaming big girl

While I'm dreaming big, could I just get a mute button for Lily please :p

HI Abbiemom..... I just wanted to welcome you and Abbie Rose to Y.T.....I hope with this being your first few posts you don't get scared off, please don't take any of this personal because you started the thread. It happens occasionally when opinions differ or there's just misunderstandings, eventually it gets cleared up. No blood drawn and everyones OK ;) ......I would love to see pic's of Abbie Rose, her name is so adorable....so I hope you'll be returning soon

P.S. To answer your ?..collar/harness??...It's YOUR pup do what you feel is right...their is no clear cut, right or wrong way....the choice is yours ....

:thumbup: :thumbup: :D I want one!!