I was going to post this in the Chihuahua forum, but I thought it might apply to other small dogs. Throughout the years, I've heard many people say that small dogs must wear a harness because collars are bad for their necks and throats. Some even keep a harness on their dog during the day instead of a collar (one of my family members does this with a small-ish terrier mix). Our Chihuahua is almost 12 years old, and we've tried a few different harnesses over the years. She hates them. She walks slowly, tries to get the harness off, and if she can't, she will eventually "freeze" in place. However, if we walk her with just a collar, she is clearly having a good time and happily trots along, with no tension/pulling on the leash at all. She never tries to take her collar off. Is anyone else's small dog like this?
My daughter uses a collar and lead on her mini doxie when just out and about and he’s fine with that, but if she takes him on a longer walk she uses a harness as he’s eager to get to smell all of the new smells that’s not local to him, she just swaps and changes to what ever environment she’s going to. Though she’s never really had a problem with either
Dog equipment is always contentious topic, so I must say that this is just my personal opinion, based on my own experience! I don't see how you can exert fine control of a dog when it is wearing a harness. The point of attachment is too far back. I feel that harnesses which have a front attachment tend to exert diagonal pressure on the spine when being used to check the dog. Some harnesses have a front band which cramps the free movement of the shoulder joint, and dogs that are allowed to regularly lean all their weight into a harness will almost certainly develop a wide front. I do use a Y-front tracking harness just for that purpose. As my trainer says, this is the 'uniform' that prepares your dog for the job she is about to do - a signal to take the initiative and use her superior skill to lead me. A dog which has had basic training and does not have a breathing problem is not likely to be harmed by wearing either a smooth flat collar or a correctly adjusted martingale collar. Just putting my tin hat on!
Large or small dogs, I have always used collars. Like CaroleC, I don't like the lack of control when using a harness. I think it makes it more difficult to lead your dog in a direction. I don't think harnesses are necessarily bad, I just don't personally find a need to use them. For dogs with breathing issues, a harness can eliminate aggravating those issues if the dog likes to pull. For some breeds who can have necks bigger than heads (overweight pugs fall into this category), a harness can provide better security than a collar. For some dogs, a harness may avoid anxiety associated with past abuse (my corgi mix had been dragged by a collar and leash - I used a halti, but a harness would do similar - to eliminate the pressure on her neck completely so she disassociated the leash with the abuse). A harness may just be preferred by the human and/or dog. With all that, I have too often seen people fail to train their small dogs for various reasons. The dogs become very reactive to many things and often go nuts with their humans dragging them away. In such cases, using a harness is definitely better for the dogs because in those situations a collar very well could injure a small dog's neck. If your girl does great on a collar, I would just keep using the collar. It's not causing her any damage and she's happy and well-behaved in it. Don't fix it if it's not broken.
Some good points that I had missed Toed, particularly regarding the fear due to past abuse. Also, there may be times when a dog may need assistance, onto a vehicle or powered chair, or to clear walls or fencing, (thinking security or police dog here). These are made easier if the dog wears a harness with a handle.
Yeah, I'm just ultra aware of that issue because I had to work through it with my rescue. One reason I don't use harnesses is because I want to minimize the excitement/anxiety of going out. The dogs therefore, wear martinale collars 24/7 and I simply have to attach the leashes. That's a very quick move from "we're kicking around at home" to "let's go out". Trying to get a harness on Cat-dog with Tornado-dog bouncing around the room would be stressfull for all of us (even the cats). And Tornado-dog would have a very difficult time staying still long enough to put on a harness.
I prefer my dog to wear a collar all the time. I view a collar as a safety device, something to catch hold of when answering the door, in case your visitor has left the gate open. Also, according to UK law, a dog should not be allowed out without a tag bearing the name and address of the owner, and a tag needs a collar. The downside of this is that the collar creates a hollow in the neck hair, which spoils the outline. It takes a lot of spraying and primping to remove this line if you want to show your dog.
I really don’t like to see that outline around a dogs neck, I’m always pulling his collar up to slide it neatly back down again so it’s straight. Only time they don’t have to wear one is when they are working. I never did put one on my old springer cos he never ever had one to wear as he was from working breed (retired).
Yes. Safety is the other reason why I choose to have them wear them 24/7. It is so much easier to grab an escaping dog if they have a collar on. And while my dogs are chipped, if the person can't catch hold of the dog, it does no good. They also have engraved ID tags attached as well as these Ring (Amazon) QR tags (No subscription fee required): https://www.amazon.com/Introducing-...2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1 I have considered a second engraved tag for Cat-dog stating "I am afraid of other dogs. Please don't put me anywhere near another dog.". But if she got out, she would hide under the car or trailer rather than run. As for ring around the collar, that is a pain if you show. My dad tried a very thin leather collar for the akitas. It worked better but he still had to do a lot of fussing. Funny collar story. My dad's first show dog was a husky. He was notorious for escaping and touring the town. One time he escaped and my dad couldn't find him. Finally the dog came home on his own. We let him in and after a while, my Mom said "did you put a collar on him?". My dad said no. He called the dog over and looked at the collar. It was very nice - and expensive. Then he saw some paper wrapped around it. He removed the paper to read: Frosty came by the shop to buy a new collar. We put it on your tab. He had trotted all the way to my dad's friends' pet store several miles away. They never admitted it, but I suspect they kept him there most of the afternoon and then dropped him off near the house.
Thank you all for the comments. I am relieved that not using a harness is more common than I thought.
It depends what we're doing whether the lead is attached to the Schnauzers collar or to their harness. For town walking or in busy places where I want an immediate response normally the lead is attached to the collar. For local walking especially up our one and only village road to the fields, their leads are attached to the back of their harnesses. I prefer the boys wearing a harness irrespective of whether I attach a lead to it or not, simply because a harness is so much easier to grab hold of in an emergency. I should add they wear their collars 24/7.
My little lad is on a harness. Just my preference, but I've always hated collars and have found it no more difficult to train good manners with the harness. He, just like the girl in my avatar before him, trot alongside my mobility scooter. One distinct advantage I've found is that if trouble is looming, I can hoik them up by the harness without causing injury. Something I couldn't do with a collar for fear of choking
I think harnesses are fine if they work best for you and the dog. I've only been confused by the common advice that a small dog must wear one - that walking in a collar is always bad. Our Maltese mix can wear a harness and have no problem with it.
I feel it is whatever the dog is comfortable wearing and doesn’t hurt itself with. So chop and change if that’s how you feel it works best. It’s entirely up to you I personally have around 5 leads all different also a long line for my dog and 2 harness's but I don’t use them as it makes him pull like a freight train.
Ask an e-collar user and they will tell you an e-collar is a must. Harness users, a harness. Collar users a collar. Training is the key and whether collar or harness is more what the owner feels comfortable with. For me, as said, it's always a harness, for you and your little dog, a collar. Trained well, it really doesn't matter no matter what others say
I don't think there is a "you must use", but I do think there is a " you should never use". You should never use a tool that injures, causes pain, or scares the dog. For a particular dog, that MAY mean using a flat, martingale or halti or harness or even a slip collar. IMO, that means NEVER using a prong or shock collar as they are specifically designed to cause pain. And I absolutely agree that training is the key. Any dog without training will be difficult to handle with any collar/harness. Any dog that pulls extensively can injure themselves regardless of collar/harness.
