Safest Collar to use? - YorkieTalk.com Forums

Rescued · 01-22-2015, 02:18 PM

Hi Everyone!

I posted almost a year ago about a foster puppy I had- she is actually a Pomeranian, but this is the only active small breed forum I could find

She was born with a number of health issues and was initially only expected to live 4 months, and then a year. Happily, I ended up adopting her when she was around 7 months old and she is currently 15 months and still doing well!

The main point of this post:

Amongst other things, she has collapsing trachea and cranial subluxation. Due to these she is never ever walked on a collar (and knowing the breeds propensity for CT she never was- it seemed to be almost solely genetic in her case!) but I do like for her to have some form of ID on her.

The only collar I've been able to keep on her is a rolled leather one- her neck is often painfully sensitive from the cranial sublux so I like to have something that I can leave on her for long periods of time without her fur becoming matted.

Last week I had a good scare when I thought that she had somehow disappeared out of the fenced yard at night- turned out her sweater had become caught on a very low hanging twig in a bush (she is only 4 lbs) and this made me think really hard about how bad it could have been if her collar had become caught.

Does anyone have a decent solution or can reccomend a collar for the little things that won't mat fur, AND has some sort of breakaway or safety feature? Or anything that others have done? I am considering if just getting some iron on labels for her t-shirts would be another good suggestion?

Thoughts? Advice? She is my first tiny and longhaired dog (I am a lab person) so just totally inexperienced. Tried googling and came across some flat leather cat collars with an elastic feature but not sure if they would stretch enough to slip over her head and/or if they would cause matting.

Yorkiemom1 · 01-22-2015, 03:37 PM

Bless your heart, and of course, that precious baby! Is your baby microchipped? That is the first thing I would do....

Then, I would put ID tags on a harness. They can get away from you so very quickly, regardless of how careful you are.....a harness or halter to hold ID tags is a solution.

I would not put any kind of collar around that baby's neck, but if you absolutely feel you must, nothing heavier than a break away cat collar.

Rescued · 01-22-2015, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yorkiemom1

Bless your heart, and of course, that precious baby! Is your baby microchipped? That is the first thing I would do....

Then, I would put ID tags on a harness. They can get away from you so very quickly, regardless of how careful you are.....a harness or halter to hold ID tags is a solution.

I would not put any kind of collar around that baby's neck, but if you absolutely feel you must, nothing heavier than a break away cat collar.

Yes she is microchipped. And when she is out of the house anywhere she wears a harness with an ID tag. I don't like leaving the harness on her all the time because she sleeps curled up in a little ball and she is so small that having a harness seems to impede that. When she was a puppy she was so small that once she ran straight through one of the holes in a chain link fence, and that scared me to death!

I have roommates, so my concern is more when I'm not there- neither of them would purposefully let her loose (and she is in an x-pen when I'm gone anyway) but the whole accidents happen thing... I work at a shelter so my dogs wearing a collar with an up to date ID tag has always been of utmost importance to me.

But I guess the likelyhood of that has to be weighed against the dangers of a collar.

Bentley1128 · 01-22-2015, 04:56 PM

Hello, I am still very new to this forum, and am getting my first Yorkie in about a week. With all my research on harnesses for little dogs, the Buddy Belt seems to be the best option I can come up with. They come in different sizes, you just have to measure him behind his front legs and then compare it to their chart. They have two differnt harness made out of different materials. One is made of a synthetic material (which is a little cheaper) and the second is made out of leather. There is a place to attach the license on the front and the leash on the back. The reviews that I read said that the leather one seems to wear better and doesn't rub as much on their fur babies. I ordered mine on Amazon this past weekend and it just arrived today. It looks like it is made very well, and I hope my little Bentley likes it when he gets here. I hope that this helps, good luck with your little one. - Katie

diva_vida · 01-23-2015, 05:42 AM

I literally just bought my puppy a PetSafe breakaway collar off of amazon (it comes today). It had really good reviews from people who have had previous accidents with their dogs' collars and people who have had the breakaway collars work and save their dog's life. I really wanted like a fancy cute collar, but I realized that his safety is my first priority. They also make cat breakaway collars if your yorkie would prefer that.

diva_vida · 01-23-2015, 05:45 AM

Oh and about the buddy belt, watch out because my puppy has almost chewed through his lol. Luckily I think he needs the next size up now anyway

I think the buddy belt has a little hook for tags, but I don't know how comfortable it would be to wear it all day.

seastheday · 01-23-2015, 06:00 AM

I have a Yorkie and Biewer, both tiny. I use the Puppia Soft Vest harness on both my dogs. They even come in xxs if you need that size. My Biewer chewed through his choke-free collar (no small feat), and my Yorkie is an escape artist, so I tried a ton of harness'. Puppia worked the best. Even my vet commented on how safe it was.

Wylie's Mom · 01-23-2015, 06:59 AM

I have a recommendation. For my 2 small ones, I use Cloe's Collars. But the key is to get them done WITHOUT the thick canvas backing, get the fabric collar only - it's super lightweight but very sturdy too. Then you could get a break-away buckle. You may want to message her / contact her to see if she still makes the thin collars like this, as she did for me. I get the 3/8" width which is for XS/S dog/cat collars. I absolutely *love* this thin/light style!

Cloe's Collars

This is Marcel's collar, so you can see how thin it is:

damiengentle · 02-11-2015, 08:14 PM

There are many sites by which you can buy pet safety collars depending upon the size of your pet. You can also chose the color as pet your choice and need.

Yorkiemom1 · 02-12-2015, 07:49 PM

I have the soft mesh vest halters for my tiny ones....that allows them to curl up into that adorable little tiny ball comfortably.....I had Ferret halters for them when they were babies and VERY tiny....if I was to put a collar on mine, that ultra lite, thin collar with a break away buckle (Anns collar, pic above) is really something I would be interested in....strictly with a break away collar, especially on a tiny neck that already has CT issues!

01-22-2015, 02:18 PM	#1
Rescued YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: USA Posts: 9	Safest Collar to use? Hi Everyone! I posted almost a year ago about a foster puppy I had- she is actually a Pomeranian, but this is the only active small breed forum I could find She was born with a number of health issues and was initially only expected to live 4 months, and then a year. Happily, I ended up adopting her when she was around 7 months old and she is currently 15 months and still doing well! The main point of this post: Amongst other things, she has collapsing trachea and cranial subluxation. Due to these she is never ever walked on a collar (and knowing the breeds propensity for CT she never was- it seemed to be almost solely genetic in her case!) but I do like for her to have some form of ID on her. The only collar I've been able to keep on her is a rolled leather one- her neck is often painfully sensitive from the cranial sublux so I like to have something that I can leave on her for long periods of time without her fur becoming matted. Last week I had a good scare when I thought that she had somehow disappeared out of the fenced yard at night- turned out her sweater had become caught on a very low hanging twig in a bush (she is only 4 lbs) and this made me think really hard about how bad it could have been if her collar had become caught. Does anyone have a decent solution or can reccomend a collar for the little things that won't mat fur, AND has some sort of breakaway or safety feature? Or anything that others have done? I am considering if just getting some iron on labels for her t-shirts would be another good suggestion? Thoughts? Advice? She is my first tiny and longhaired dog (I am a lab person) so just totally inexperienced. Tried googling and came across some flat leather cat collars with an elastic feature but not sure if they would stretch enough to slip over her head and/or if they would cause matting.

01-22-2015, 03:37 PM	#2
Yorkiemom1 Rosehill Yorkies Donating YT Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Houston Texas Posts: 9,462	Bless your heart, and of course, that precious baby! Is your baby microchipped? That is the first thing I would do.... Then, I would put ID tags on a harness. They can get away from you so very quickly, regardless of how careful you are.....a harness or halter to hold ID tags is a solution. I would not put any kind of collar around that baby's neck, but if you absolutely feel you must, nothing heavier than a break away cat collar. Last edited by Yorkiemom1; 01-22-2015 at 03:39 PM.

01-23-2015, 06:59 AM	#8
Wylie's Mom Furbutts = LOVE Donating Member Moderator Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 35,889 Blog Entries: 2	I have a recommendation. For my 2 small ones, I use Cloe's Collars. But the key is to get them done WITHOUT the thick canvas backing, get the fabric collar only - it's super lightweight but very sturdy too. Then you could get a break-away buckle. You may want to message her / contact her to see if she still makes the thin collars like this, as she did for me. I get the 3/8" width which is for XS/S dog/cat collars. I absolutely love this thin/light style! Cloe's Collars This is Marcel's collar, so you can see how thin it is: Attached Thumbnails __________________ ~ A friend told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn. ~ °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° Ann \| Pfeiffer \| Marcel Verdel Purcell \| Wylie \| Artie °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨°

01-22-2015, 04:56 PM	#4
Bentley1128 YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Alpena, Mi, USA Posts: 6	Hello, I am still very new to this forum, and am getting my first Yorkie in about a week. With all my research on harnesses for little dogs, the Buddy Belt seems to be the best option I can come up with. They come in different sizes, you just have to measure him behind his front legs and then compare it to their chart. They have two differnt harness made out of different materials. One is made of a synthetic material (which is a little cheaper) and the second is made out of leather. There is a place to attach the license on the front and the leash on the back. The reviews that I read said that the leather one seems to wear better and doesn't rub as much on their fur babies. I ordered mine on Amazon this past weekend and it just arrived today. It looks like it is made very well, and I hope my little Bentley likes it when he gets here. I hope that this helps, good luck with your little one. - Katie

01-23-2015, 05:42 AM	#5
diva_vida Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Elkridge, MD, USA Posts: 41	I literally just bought my puppy a PetSafe breakaway collar off of amazon (it comes today). It had really good reviews from people who have had previous accidents with their dogs' collars and people who have had the breakaway collars work and save their dog's life. I really wanted like a fancy cute collar, but I realized that his safety is my first priority. They also make cat breakaway collars if your yorkie would prefer that.

01-23-2015, 05:45 AM	#6
diva_vida Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Elkridge, MD, USA Posts: 41	Oh and about the buddy belt, watch out because my puppy has almost chewed through his lol. Luckily I think he needs the next size up now anyway I think the buddy belt has a little hook for tags, but I don't know how comfortable it would be to wear it all day.

01-23-2015, 06:00 AM	#7
seastheday Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: the land of high taxes Posts: 124	I have a Yorkie and Biewer, both tiny. I use the Puppia Soft Vest harness on both my dogs. They even come in xxs if you need that size. My Biewer chewed through his choke-free collar (no small feat), and my Yorkie is an escape artist, so I tried a ton of harness'. Puppia worked the best. Even my vet commented on how safe it was.

02-11-2015, 08:14 PM	#9
damiengentle YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Queensland Posts: 5	There are many sites by which you can buy pet safety collars depending upon the size of your pet. You can also chose the color as pet your choice and need.

02-12-2015, 07:49 PM	#10
Yorkiemom1 Rosehill Yorkies Donating YT Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Houston Texas Posts: 9,462	I have the soft mesh vest halters for my tiny ones....that allows them to curl up into that adorable little tiny ball comfortably.....I had Ferret halters for them when they were babies and VERY tiny....if I was to put a collar on mine, that ultra lite, thin collar with a break away buckle (Anns collar, pic above) is really something I would be interested in....strictly with a break away collar, especially on a tiny neck that already has CT issues!