Yorkie terrified of collar and harness

[Stella's mom]

I have a 9 week old Yorkie and when I put either of the above items on her she is completely petrified. She cowers down and runs like a scared little rabbit and will not eat.
A trainer told me to put the collar on her and leave it but I haven't been able to make myself do it. Have any of you had this problem? Any ideas for solution?

Thanks

[Txgurl06]

i was told not to use a collar they can get collapsed something lol) like their adams apples) so i was told to use a harness but i dont use anything right now he wont move if i put anything on him lol. bought a sweater and he will stay in the same spot forever.

[Txgurl06]

someone correct me but i think its collapsed trachella or something

[IluvLucy]

My 2 did the same thing when they were puppies. You need to put the harness on them and leave it. They will get used to it in a couple of hours.

I know it sounds mean, but the younger the better. I put Lucy's on her the day I brought her home and the same with Rebel.

Now, when they get baths, they want them back on as soon as they are dry.
Lucy will pick hers up and bring it to me.

Good luck

[trini&coco]

Originally Posted by Txgurl06

someone correct me but i think its collapsed trachella or something

It's a Collapsed Trachea and yes, you are 100% right!!


and your Yorkie is soooo cute with the sweater thing!!

[ChiliPepper]

My puppy fought like his life depended on it when I tried to put on his harness and it was made even worse when all his struggling made it harder for me to adjust for a good fit so I had to go through this ordeal multiple times. I felt so sorry for him, but he was wearing me out and down, but I prevailed. He wore himself out and slept for hours to recover from the trama in his little mind Apparently, he likes to be completely naked .

[hanna'smom]

Hanna is 16 weeks now and still doesn't like the collar. I put a harness on her and she doesn't mind it at all. I was told it would take some time for her to get used to wearing either one.

[lizziepooh_1]

I keep a little containerw ith her training treats inside of it. Her training treats are all natural liver chops that have been freeze dried. I cut them into pieces no bigger than the size of a pencil eraser. I give her a treat when I put her harness on, when I take it off, when I put her sweater on etc. Treats definetly help! Makes Tia think there is something in it for her...now she doesn't mind at all

[Patti]

Pixie is 14 months ( I have had her 5 weeks) and has never had a harness leash on. I tried the other day and she freaked. I figure when the weather gets better and we start taking walks she will be so excited to go outside she will forget she has the harness and lead on. I hope

[Lou]

As soon as your puppy realizes that it gets to go somewhere neat when the harness comes out you should see a great deal of cooperation. I tried to put both a collar and harness on Adie when she was a few weeks old and she was so squirmy I was afraid I'd hurt her. I tried again when she was a little older and she was lots easier to harness. You might want to wait a couple more weeks and try again.

I have a question for the anti-collar crowd. If you don't have collars on your babies, where do you put their dog tags. Aren't you afraid that they might slip out some time? If that happened it would be beneficial for them to have identification on them. Adie is microchipped and wears a collar 24/7. She doesn't mind it at all, in fact I suspect she sometimes trots a certain way to get her tags to jingle more. I think that if you use any kind of collar you shouldn't attach a leash to it - you should always use a harness. If the pup pulled too hard then you probably would have trachea problems.

JMO.

[Pipersmommy]

Originally Posted by Patti

Pixie is 14 months ( I have had her 5 weeks) and has never had a harness leash on. I tried the other day and she freaked. I figure when the weather gets better and we start taking walks she will be so excited to go outside she will forget she has the harness and lead on. I hope

I did the same thing. They didn't know what a harness or collar was until I started walking them. The 1st couple of times they freaked. After that they were fine. When we got Misha in Jan, she didn't have all her shots until April. By then it was to hot that year to walk her, we had to wait until fall. The pavement was boiling down here. The girls walk just fine now, But I carry Max, he hasn't had all his shots yet.

[Stella's mom]

The collar wasn't to be used with a leash, I was going to put a bell on it to make people aware of her presence.

I know exactly what you mean with the sweater, I put one on her today and she turned into a statue, she wouldn't move for a treat or favorite toy.

Hopefully she will be more excited about the idea when it's warm enough to go outside.

[Txgurl06]

we took skoshi for a walk today and with some coaxing every now and then he was a good boy with the harness and leash. except when we seen another yorkie an 8 month old and he was almost as big as her!! he loved her and played forever and growled at me the whole rest of the way home hahahahaha!

sorry i didnt know what your use was for the collar since you didnt state that but i was just warning you in case you didnt know or were new to the whole thing. like me lol i didnt know till people told me!

[kalina82]

Originally Posted by Stella's mom

I have a 9 week old Yorkie and when I put either of the above items on her she is completely petrified. She cowers down and runs like a scared little rabbit and will not eat.
A trainer told me to put the collar on her and leave it but I haven't been able to make myself do it. Have any of you had this problem? Any ideas for solution?

Thanks

if you take the collar/harness/leash off when she reacts badly to it your just letting her win. she'll continue to do it because she knows that if she freaks out mommy will take it off. put it on and leave it on. try playing a game that she likes or anything to take her mind off of it. Or if she wants to lay there like a slug then let her. eventually she will get up and get over it when she realizes mommy isn't going to take it off this time. good luck

[bettyeanne]

Our Toto was the world's worse!! We have never, ever put a collar on her, but when we put her harness on, she would flatten out like a little flying squirre and there was no moving her. She was so small and we usually carried her when outside ... it was no big deal. When she was about 9 months old, she began shooting out the door like a rocket and we couldn't catch her! After one of these episodes and she almost ran into the street, Patrick found a trainer! Paul was accustomed to working with large dogs & suggested, since she was so tiny, that he would just come to the house and work with her. He was amazing!! Within an hour, he had her trotting up and down the driveway like she was in the show ring! He was like magic .... she was barely the size of his boot! He then began training us! She already knew the usual commands like sit, stay, come, fetch, etc., so it was easy to go from there. She now walks on her leash .... walks only on our left side and if she gets ahead or lags behind, a simple command "stay with me" and she is right by out side! Good luck!!