Collars
 

Is it bad to use a collar if your dog does not pull? I only use harnesses on mine but i saw a lady that was walking her yorkie with a collar, but it was loose and he was not pulling, he was walking with his head up straight in the air, and it was not choking him at all. I have heard they can cause collapsed tracea, etc. Why else are they dangerous?

I would think a sharp pull could break their little necks. Once you get below all that hair is a tiny little neck.

Lacy pulls a lot so I'd never use a collar on her (she wears a collar but not for a leash to be attached to). I just think harnesses are better for the little ones (really all dogs). I think harnesses are safer too....less chance of getting loose and getting away. A collar is thinner and can easily break or slip over their head. A harness goes around their body, neck and legs...less chance of breaking and can't come off nearly as easy.

Yea i feel really safe using the harnesses, although i am looking for a harness for London that she won't slip out of cause she's so little and the one i use for her now kinda chokes her in the front cause she pulls and its the smallest i have found.

If you teach them how to heel properly they wont pull the leash and collar... a lot of people i have noticed could care less if their dog knows how to heel thus the dog pulls on the leash and i guess trachea problems.....i just chose to aleviate the problem by obedience training, and it makes a world of difference.

I used rolled leather collars that DONT BREAK or slip over their heads because they are custom fitted.

I also use Harnesses because i want to dress up my boys sometimes. SO when my boys have on harnesses they also have on collars for identification...

Both my pups wear collars even though I walk them with harnesses. The collars have a nameplate with my address and telephone number. There is also a rabies tag on their and the microchip tag. So my pups are jingle linging linging. I can hear them coming a mile away and my little Kamari has a bell on all her collars. I switch them up to match whatever she's wearing.:D

I use both with my girls, they wear collars with ID and if I'm in a hurry I snap a leash on that... and if I'm wanting to look pretty I use their harnesses. But truth be told, they "walk Pretty" on a leash so a collar is perfectly safe.

Some may say that with a harness they can "lift" their dog from danger... This may be... but my Pixie is walking pretty at my heel so all I need do is reach down to my side and scoop her up.. so I don't have a need to lift her by a harness, she is not walking ahead of or behind me. I find that a harness encourages pulling, especially with my Crested! :rolleyes: lol

My guys have more collars than I have body jewlery and they are FINE. Bounce is 6 years old and never a problem. now when they are in their carseats they wear their harnesses. But they love their collars. They have ones for every outfit. hehe

I dont use colars on my Yorkies, I use only harness when walking them, I do have their colars with their tags and Id but they are only used when we take them on vacation or something like that. even the slightest pull on the collors can hurt their throats.

As a trainer, my dogs either have on a flat buckle collar, a fur saver, a prong collar or choke collar.

I have a few dogs I compete w/ in Obedience; Schutzhund (yes, even a Yorkie as a demo dog) and conformation. From a 3 pound Yorkie to a 123 pound Akita. And I usually start them on prong collars, especially the Yorkies (because they're safer collars when corrections are applied-it's an evenly distributed correction as opposed to a choke collar) and then as they need next to no corrections, I then switch over to a choke collar (it's all you can show on besides a fur saver or buckle collar).

On a Yorkie or other small breed, I would never start them on a choke collar, but to later go to one when very few corrections would be needed that's fine.
The idea is to go from a prong to a choke to a buckle to the dog being naked and still responding as though he had the prong collar on.

I've never had a single issue w/ tracheas using these collars. All I do for about 10 hours 5-6 days a week, for the past 7 years is train dogs of all sizes and issues and not once have I had a problem...it all depends on the trainers ability to assess the dog, know what collar they need to achieve what they need to and know how to PROPERLY use their equipment.

If you are talking about wearing the collar full time and not just for the purposes of walking, then the other danger of collars would be strangling. Strangling is an issue with collars no matter how well they are trained. Their collars can get caught on something, their jaw can get caught in the collar, or their ID tags can get caught on something. The dog will panic and try to free themselves and end up twisting the collar around their neck and choking.

You can use the breakaway cat collars although you can not use a leash with these, or you can use breakaway dog collars that are also designed to be used with a leash. The keepsafe dog collars are the only ones I am aware of like this but someone may be aware of another brand.

I think i am going to get breakaway collars for them just to put their id on them incase of anything. Not for walking purposes tho..

That's what I do too. And they really work. A few weeks ago, Dixie and Lily were playing when Dixie got her jaw caught in Lily's collar. She started to twist her head which made the collar twist around Lily's neck. It suddenly broke free and keep both of them from getting hurt.

I know this happens a lot and I've heard about it happening to others but I've never had it happen in front of me before so now I'm a huge supporter of the breakaways.