Do you use both a harness and a collar?
 

Do you use both a harness and a collar? I want Abbie to have tags on her, so I like her to wear a collar around the house, but when I take her on walks, I have to use a harness. It just seems crazy to have both a harness and a collar on at the same time.

I know this may sound like a dumb question, but I've never had a tiny dog before - so I've never used a harness. Do you just put tags on the harness?

Ellie used to wear a collar all the time but she seemed to get her nails stuck in it or get it hooked on things. I know it was a little loose but I didn't want it too tight either so she only wore a collar when she went outside. Then I found out how horrible they are and switched to a harness. It only goes on when she goes out and I just attached her tags to that. She doesn't wear tags around the house.

Yes, I do that with both my dogs (my other dog is a jack russell terrier named Bella). I never feel comfortable just using a collar attached to a leash to walk them cause of their little necks, so I just leave the collar on and put a harness to walk them. So yeah, Luigi wears his collar at all times with his tags on them. Then, when I take him on a walk, he gets his harness/leash on..and I leave the collar on as well. I don't think it's silly, no worries. I've seen a lot of people do this.

Hey Arizona! Wylie wears his collar w/ tags 24/7 - and is chipped, but we use harness for leashing.

Marcel is more vulnerable at his size (2.5 lbs.) - so he wears collar w/ tag only when NOT alone (or if our house cleaners are there), he is not yet chipped (8 mths old), and always needs a bell on around people. He has a harness for leashing.

Both my guys have Buddy Belts for harnesses. I'm a firm believer in "over-ID'ing" them - one of my worst fears is that our house gets broken into and they just send the dogs out without any ID.

My guys wear a collar with their tags and a harness for walking...

Dawn

:) I leave Scooter's collar on with his tags and bell and put a halter on him to walk on his leash. He doesn't mind it at all.

I don't even own collars for my two yorkies. I just don't want the risk since they're so small with them getting those collars hung up on anything they get into and around.

They do wear harnesses with tags on them whenever we go anywhere and both are microchipped.

I use a harness for walking b/c of the fragile trachea issue in Yorkies (plus, I think it's much more comfortable for them to have a leash attached to their back area rather than around their neck), and I have a collar with his tags on it, which I usually keep on him most of the time, mainly b/c I'm a little paranoid about natural disasters like earthquakes, or anything unforseen that might spook him and send him running out (I'm not sure if the Girl Scouts instilled it in me, to always be prepared or if it was being an ICU nurse for so long, but my feeling is "better safe and overprotected than sorry"). Max is also microchipped, but some people may not even think about that if they happened to find him. If we lived where it cooled down earlier during the summer, I'd probably leave his harness on most of the time too, b/c it doesnt' bother him to have it on and his hair is cut so short (I was at Petsmart yesterday and one of the employees said "oh, a bald Yorkie:rolleyes: ), I didn't used to keep his collar on when we were at home, but I think it's probably a good idea, just in case. JMO, though.

Ginger and Bernie wear their collars with tags ALL THE TIME. My theory is, that when a little one goes missing/runs away its not like you can stop them and say "wait, I need to put your collar on you first!":p

They wear harnesses to go walking.

Now, for a long time I tried to coordinate harnesses/collars. When I just had Ginger I even purchase multiple i.d. tags. This was a pain, was not cost effective, and was a pain! ;)

So...they both have thin, nondescript, plain, black collars with their tags. These coordinate with all of their harnesses and life is much easier now.:)

Mine wear the breakaway collars made for cats. These have their ID tags on them even though they are chipped and since they are the breakaway collars, I don't have to worry about them getting hung on anything. I use a harness when walking them.

I only use harnesses for walkign and I never have a collar on my 2 little ones unless I have a decorative collar on. I know many people like to keep collars on their babies because they keep the tags on them but my girls are strictly indoors except for when I take them into our enclosed back yard for short potty breaks. So Ive never kept tags or collars on my little ones.

Around the house mine don't wear collars. When we travel they have their collars on all the time and we still use the harnesses for walking them.

I usially use a harness, I put the harness over some outfit, then my dogs hardly notice the harnesses. I put a nametag on the harness and they have the harness on in the day but not in the evenings or at night. Doesn´t seem to bother them.
I use a collar sometimes or a showlead but that is mainly when training (to walk "by heel" for ex or when training for shows).
If you hold the showlead the right way it doesn´t put much strain on the neck and they don´t pull that way.

But it is possible that harnesses can affect the movement of dogs (expecially young once) which is not good for showdogs so I try to use a collar around the neck until the dog is fully developed, if it is a showdog.

You hear so different things about this. Some people say that collars can damage their neck while others say that the neck and the muscles there are the strongest part of the dog.
I think that it would take much to damage the neck, much strain, alot of powerful pulling etc. or pulling for a prolonged time which isn´t happening in a little stroll.

I used to have a collar on Bella until she got it stuck in her mouth and I had to cut it off:eek: It scared me so bad I will never put another collar on either one...I'm just glad I was there. I put their tags on their harnesses.

I use a collar and a harness on Ryo. I have seen no many people with lost dogs who believe in no collar, but when a pet is lost most people who don't own pets and find a well kept dog will only look for a collar and tags before they end their search for the owner and claim a dog as their own. They don't even bother to call a vet or check with the nearest animal shelter for someone looking for a lost pet. I rather give people easy access to my phone number than not. Unless people own pets nowadays they are not really gonna know that the dog may have a microchip or tat that can be used to help reconnect a lost dog to the owner. /
So my choice is a rolled collar and a harness for walking. My dog goes for one walk a a day and is mainly indoors but i much rather be safe than sorry,

Kisses!:kiss:

My breeder told me it was ok to use a collar as well. I think as Yorkies were bread smaller and smaller lately someone came up with that IMO. I don't think it applies to all Yorkies, then again why breed a dog that is so frail that the neck can break with such ease? But I even asked my vet and he said the same, their necks have strong muscles and they wont just break because you correct them to heel as they walk with you. their necks will break or whatever with some strong physical abuse like any other toy breed dog. I have gone with all my research but only started to use the harness once i taught him how to heel properly on a leash. With a proper heel and teaching them to come properly as well, your not going to be pulling on the leash because they obey those first two important commands for obedience.

I would like mine to wear a collar because I have a small bell on it, but he has such a cottony coat that in just one day his neck will turn into a brillo pad ....

The bell helps so much when he's in the yard and I have to locate him, w/o it on I RUN around like a chicken w it's head cut off when he's out of my site... I'm looking under the hedges, behind the garage, side of the house...Oh, there he is!!...reeeelax....the bell would be so much easier...:rolleyes:

I too was afraid of collars for the longest time but I am a recent collar convert. I use a cat breakaway collar on all three of them. My dogs have their collars on during the day (except if I'm not home). Their collars have their ID's on them with name and phone numbers. I always thought 'Why collar them? They are never outside without me". Well..little Miss Muffin is 3.5 pounds and her name should be 'Houdini' because she's an escape artist. Even though we have a fenced in yard, she will find the smallest opening and work her way under it or through it. We have reinforced EVERY SQUARE INCH of the fence to make sure there are no areas of escape but you just never know if a rabbit or other animal will start digging underneath and make a way for CoCo to get out. I just feel better if collar are on JUST IN CASE! Yorkies are small and FAST and you just never know with these guys. They could be gone in an instant even though we watch them with hawk eyes.

I took the 'D' rings and the bells off of the collars because the sound of three jingle bells was driving us crazy and I don't need the 'D' ring because their leashes attach to a harness when they are walked.

Cozy wears a cat collar 24/7 with her IDs on it. A cat collar is different from a dog collar because it will stretch a break if is gets caught on something which a dog collar won't do. I walk her on a harness which I only put on her for walks and then take off.

The concern is not that their neck will break.

* The problem is that a collar puts pressure on the neck which weakens the trachea and can contribute to or cause tracheal collapse. A collar puts pressure on the neck whereas a harness puts the pressure on the chest.

* The other problem is that the collar can get caught on something and the dog will strangle itself or their lower jaw will get caught in the collar and break their jaw or choke them.

* The biggest problem with collars is that when dogs play, one dog's lower jaw can become caught in the other's collar. The collar twists and tightens as they panic and try to free themselves from each other. Even when you are watching them and this happens, you often aren't able to cut the collar in time to save them. Thousands of dogs die each year from this.

Hopefully that helps you understand why so many of us are against collars.

That's why I use the breakaway collars. They come apart if too much pressure is applied to the collar. The girls (puppies) wear the ones made for cats because they are smaller and have a bell on them. My boys (seniors) wear the breakaway collars that are actually made for dogs.

I really never needed you to break anything down to me for me to understand why so many of you are against it, 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 please don't try to preach to me.. I don't need to be preached to every time my opinion differs from the the rest of you. By all means you don't have to agree with me.

Thanks
Kisses!

I use both the harness and the collar on Chloey and Naiya. The collar has their tags on them and also a little bell so i know where they are at all times. When we go for walks i just slip the harness on and we're off!

The only time i really take the collar off is at night because they sleep in bed with me and hearing a bell tinkle every time they move is enough to make me go crazy! :D

P.S. Both my doggies have breakaway collars on them. I find it's really the safest bet.

Wow! Unbelievable.

I wasn't preaching to you. And I never said that your opinion was wrong. I only quoted you in case there were others who thought that the danger in collars was breaking their necks. My post was meant to explain the multiple dangers of collars to those that didn't know. My post only stated the facts and was meant to be informative (to everyone) so there is no need to attack.

People come on the board to learn which is also why I am here. We learn from each other. I am happy to return the favor and educate people on what I have learned from my past experiences.

Your posts are always quite aggressive. You have attacked several members already. Please calm down and think before you post.

Hugs!

I never attacked anyone.. I have been attacked since my first post and I am not really crying about it.

Most people get scared when they see someone with the ability to articulate a message such as myself. I cant help it that my writing is aggressive, that is what I get paid to do and I do it well In my life. I wont come in here and be fake for anyone, or have a group become one of the group and agree with you all when i dont.

Just because i dont agree when i am typing something deosnt make me a mad or upset while doing it. I am very calm and happy that I just won a 65,000 ad campaign that last 7 weeks for my website so why would U posting something toward me make me mad? Thas dumb. You guys should stop playing the victim man up and respect the other people on here.

Respect my oppinion as i respect yours. I dont break any rules when I am in here, nor do i post hate post.. I just do me. if you cant respect me for who I am then thas on you. I am still gonna smile at the end of the day, especially today!:D

Your post is quite ironic to say the least. No one said that your opinion wasn't respected. You get very defensive whenever someone quotes you. The fact is that you did attack me when the only thing I did was post information. You have also attacked other members under both this username and your other one. You admit to being aggressive and contrary to your above statement, you are breaking the rules when you attack others.

I didn't attack you. Now you are attacking me and trying you best to get me banned because i disagree with you. I never asked you or told you that I needed an understanding from you, nor did i say that I did not understand you. I answered the OP with my opinion and I am sorry you don't respect it. I just stated my opinion. then you come and preach to me things that I have already researched.

I am not gonna argue with you cause that is what you want me to do. so keep flaming me if you desire. I will not lose any sleep over it.

God Bless Ya!

KIsses!

:goodpost:


Zoey had her breakaway collar snag once and it worked perfectly! I think break aways are great!!

No, collars are bad for these little guys, mine will gasp and cough if something comes hear her trach...she is so sensitive that even certain harness won't do for her since she pulls when excited. The collar will cause a lot of problems. I used to use it for decorative purpose and so that she would have her tags on her ALL the time in case she took off but no longer use it. I never used it to attach a leash though.

La Princesa, as I said, I was not preaching to you and I am sorry that you saw it that way. I was posting information for those that didn't already know the multiple dangers that collars represent. Some members found the information valuable and learned something from it. I will try to avoid quoting you in the future. I apologize if you found it offensive.

Let's get this thread back on topic. I would love to know how others handle the collar/harness issue. I hate having to use both but I haven't found a good alternative. Has anyone found a way around using both while still being able to keep their ID tags on them?