Collar vs harness small dogs

[LordGrover]

When I took on my pair of (adorable) Yorkies they came with tatty old vest-style harnesses. They were a bit of a faff to put on, and worse to get off. Ted's in particular was a little tight over his head.

On our first trip to the pub, which is quite doggyfied, several people suggested collars - reasoning they're tiny dogs and don't need the restraint offered by the harnesses. Sounded reasonable, but then I read on t'Internets that as they have fragile necks, and little to no protection for their trachea and oesophagus collars may be risky.

Decided to go for new, 'better' designed harnesses as below. All well and good, but they're a bit stiff and tend to move around a bit, and the dogs don't like them. Probably a bit warm in the current conditions too.


I'm wondering if collars are such a bad idea after all. I see other Yorkies out and about wearing them happily. 'Permanent' collars would also mean not having to 'dress' them before every walk, simply clip on the Flexis and off we go.

[designforlife]

We had yorkies and jack russells when I was a kid, ran harnesses on all of them as a collar is very easy to slip if they see something they want to chase and instinct kicks in.

Doesn't take much for them to work out that if they back away from you and pull, then poof goes the collar and they are home free.

[Jamie VTS]

We've got one of these for our B terrier. It was expensive but imo worth every penny!

https://www.dog-games-shop.co.uk/perfect-fit-fleec...

[mudnomad]

A fxxxxxing Julius K9 for a Yorkie!

I hate these things with passion, they are ridiculously oversized and overweight for anything smaller than a labrador and even then I don't see a point, yet dog owners like lemmings follow this stupid fad. Plus they are stupidly expensive.
Can you not see the proportions of size and weight of Julius to your Yorkie? It's like telling you to walk around with a full on hiking backpack constantly on your back.


Get something like this, lightweight, one clip to put on and off and supports your dog exactly where it needs.

[anonymous-user]

Once your panic stricken (rescue, in my case) dog has got out of a collar and legged it, you won't ever use anything but a harness again.

Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 2nd July 14:53

[anonymous-user]

We have always used a harness for our Westie. Anything else just seems cruel now. We use Red Dingo gear.

[roverspeed]

All three of mine use Julius K9 harnesses.

If they are sized properly they are great.

Only £15 each on Amazon and they are good as new after a years hard used.

[675 Gaz]

My very sedate stzu slipped his collar from being spooked by a larger barking dog..

Once I'd ran infront of the moving car without even thinking about it to grab the dog out the way I vowed never to walk a dog again without a harness.

Fortunately the driver took brilliant evasive action to just miss me, scary that I didn't even bat an eyelid before doing it.. pesky man's bet friends

[S100HP]

mudnomad said:

A fxxxxxing Julius K9 for a Yorkie!

I hate these things with passion, they are ridiculously oversized and overweight for anything smaller than a labrador and even then I don't see a point, yet dog owners like lemmings follow this stupid fad. Plus they are stupidly expensive.
Can you not see the proportions of size and weight of Julius to your Yorkie? It's like telling you to walk around with a full on hiking backpack constantly on your back.

Get something like this, lightweight, one clip to put on and off and supports your dog exactly where it needs.

I tend to agree. Those Julius things are way over the top. The Ruffwear front range harness is a much better solution imho.

[PositronicRay]

Dogs trust sell harnesses, we've had two. One for a jack Russell and one for a small terrier Cross. Easy to put on and well designed.

They double as car restraints too.

[HTP99]

Our Frenchie has a Julius K9 harness; she can pull and is very strong so we wanted something that could cope with the weight, however I think the one that we got is probably a size too big.

Our other 2; Yorkie/Jack Russells have Puppia harnesses, they are very light and flexible and probably more ideal for that size of dog, Barry is a puller; Daphne less so.

All 3 have collars on permanently but we rarely use the collar for a lead walk for any of them

The wife is keen to get Julius K9 ones for the other 2 as she likes the fact that all 3 will be matching and also the velcro sides where you can add their names or "humorous" text.

[Nezquick]

HTP99 said:

Our Frenchie has a Julius K9 harness; she can pull and is very strong so we wanted something that could cope with the weight, however I think the one that we got is probably a size too big.

We've just started using one for our 8 month old Frenchie too - she's gone through two cheaper ones to date just from being a bit full-on and boisterous. Seems like this one will take some hammering so we're pleased with it. Plus she doesn't seem to mind it at all.

[LordGrover]

HTP99 said:

Our Frenchie has a Julius K9 harness; she can pull and is very strong so we wanted something that could cope with the weight, however I think the one that we got is probably a size too big.

Our other 2; Yorkie/Jack Russells have Puppia harnesses, they are very light and flexible and probably more ideal for that size of dog, Barry is a puller; Daphne less so.

All 3 have collars on permanently but we rarely use the collar for a lead walk for any of them

The wife is keen to get Julius K9 ones for the other 2 as she likes the fact that all 3 will be matching and also the velcro sides where you can add their names or "humorous" text.

I think the originals were Puppia... will see if I still have them.

Going to vets on Thursday for booster vacs, will ask advice there too.

[HTP99]

Nezquick said:

HTP99 said:

Our Frenchie has a Julius K9 harness; she can pull and is very strong so we wanted something that could cope with the weight, however I think the one that we got is probably a size too big.

We've just started using one for our 8 month old Frenchie too - she's gone through two cheaper ones to date just from being a bit full-on and boisterous. Seems like this one will take some hammering so we're pleased with it. Plus she doesn't seem to mind it at all.

Just be aware of the strap around the chest slipping up under the armpits as it rubs, we've had to loosen the front bit so that the harness is further down the body, thus the chest strap doesn't rub, however doing this has made the harness a bit loose, but it still gives better control than the previous (Puppia) harness, but like I said I think a size down would have been better; these came up tops in a couple of harness reviews for Frenchies though.

It doesn't help that Frenchies do have an odd shaped body; all chest!

[Nezquick]

HTP99 said:

Nezquick said:

HTP99 said:

Our Frenchie has a Julius K9 harness; she can pull and is very strong so we wanted something that could cope with the weight, however I think the one that we got is probably a size too big.

We've just started using one for our 8 month old Frenchie too - she's gone through two cheaper ones to date just from being a bit full-on and boisterous. Seems like this one will take some hammering so we're pleased with it. Plus she doesn't seem to mind it at all.

Just be aware of the strap around the chest slipping up under the armpits as it rubs, we've had to loosen the front bit so that the harness is further down the body, thus the chest strap doesn't rub, however doing this has made the harness a bit loose, but it still gives better control than the previous (Puppia) harness, but like I said I think a size down would have been better; these came up tops in a couple of harness reviews for Frenchies though.

It doesn't help that Frenchies do have an odd shaped body; all chest!

I had noticed it under her armpits the other day when I took her out so I adjusted it to suit. Like you say, it's a bit looser now but still fine.

[LordGrover]

Hmmm.

Since starting this topic earlier this week, they've become much more accepting of the harness. Either they saw this topic and took pity on me, or I was just a little impatient and persistence has paid off. Either way, they're much happier wearing it now.