Collar or Harness?

Quite normal behaviour for a little one who's never had a collar on before.. I'm sure her act the same with a harness. Leave the collar on and reward with lots of yummy treats! Show him wearing it will bring good things. Start him off in small increments and slowly build it up.. pretty soon he won't even notice it's there.

 

Puppies need to be taught to wear a collar, harness and leash. A negative reaction to them isn't unusual.

Martingale style collars are best for Shelties because they can't slip out of them (if they are sized correctly). A Sheltie's neck is bigger than their head so it's easy for them to slip a standard collar.

Most martingales are a continuous loop you slip over the head. I'd start with the collar as large as possible, slip it on, treat and praise, then remove it with more treats and praise. As Blaze becomes more accepting, make it smaller and leave it on longer. (Harness would be done similarly. Just make sure you get a harness he can't Houdini out of. Many dogs are quite the escape artist with harnesses.)

Once over the hurdle for the collar/harness, work on the leash. Attach it and just let him drag it around to get use to it being there. Once he starts to ignore it, pick it up. As with the collar, lots of praise and rewards.

 

Remember though that martingale collars CANNOT be left on unattended. They are a major choking hazard. They go on and off. I prefer ones with the side snap because you can leave a regular collar on with tags. I use breakaway collars with tags on all my dogs for 24/7 ID protection and add a martingale to my tri girl for a walk/training. My sable boy cannot stand anything pulling on his neck so we use a Ruffwear Webmaster harness. The TWO belly straps if adjusted properly prevent slipping out of. My shepherd mix also wears this harness because he is noise sensitive and will drop and back away from things. Only thing that will hold him.

I would start with a very thin (cat) breakaway collar just for getting used to it. I would use a small side-snap martingale for walking. As was mentioned, let the pup drag a leash (take a super cheap lightweight leash or even a bit of string and cut the handle off -- make a drag leash that won't snag on things) until used to the weight and then walk around with you following holding the leash wherever before you start directing.

 

I like to train with harness and collar.

I like the harness when the are young....easier to go but once they start growing up I prefer a martingale collar (some call then training collars). The thinner the better. Rolled too!

 

Leave the collar on and reward with lots of yummy treats! Show him wearing it will bring good things.

 

I really want to pursue this thread about martingales. Why is a martingale any worse keeping on a dog than a regular collar 24 x 7. A martingale is NOT a choke chain. If fitted properly it hangs loose so it does not matt the fur, but when attached to a lead, it tightens to exactly how you fit a regular collar.

I'm obviously missing something.

That being said, many people don't leave collars on their dogs at all. I would NEVER endorse that. My dogs wear their collars and tags 24 x 7. You never know when they might got AWOL. Sorry but if you look at stats, the numbers of dogs lost vs. the number of dogs who chocked.....you can guess the percentages.....

 

Now to answer your original question.....

For sheltie puppies, I used a harness. Its just to easy for them to slip their collar. Once they have grown up, then yes, I do recommend a martingale for Shelties.

Shelties have small heads and big neck/ruff. Regular collars are hard to adjust to fit without slipping and not being too tight. Causes matting too. Martingales hang a little loose until you attach to a lead. If the dog pulls, the martingale tightens (but not to choking....remember, you have to fit it right)

And please refer back to my previous post about some peoples concerns about wearing collars unattended. This is a controversial subject and there are many differing opionions. But I'm on the page of collars and tags all the time!

 

collar aversion

Kaleigh was my pup that had huge collar aversion. She still isn't thrilled about wearing one. I used cat collars on her because they were lighter, thinner, and softer than the dog ones I could find. I only made her wear the collar for short intervals at first because she HATED anything on her neck. She is still quite neck sensitive now at 20 mths...I think certain shelties are just more tender in the neck region than others. So start Blaze off with just short times, and make it a positive experience putting it on. Kaleigh realized FAST that she got to go for walks, when the collar was on, and she tolerated it more for the reward it brought

 

If he's going ballistic wearing a collar, I would NOT start off by making him wear it. I would slow down, and first just reward him for interacting with the collar (sniffing it, nudging it). Then reward him for allowing you to "pet" him with the collar in your hand. Then move to placing the collar (open) on his neck. Finally, when he's comfortable with all that, you can move to actually putting the collar on him (making sure to heavily reward him while wearing the collar as well).