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Advice re:puppia

lolas mum

Well-known member
Do you leave your harnesses on your dogs all the time or do you just put them on for walks?
Lola hates the putting on/taking off bit but i dont know weather its ok to just leave it on her or not?

Thanks
 
I dont know about the puppias but I dont leave Jeremy's harness on, because one day i did and he was really sore around his ribs for 3 days after that. I dont think there is much give in normal harnesses.
 
Puppias are so soft that if she seems comforable to wear them a lot, why not? Good luck!
 
I leave Lily's on all the time. It is very soft and I leave it kinda loose around her middle. When I take it off to bath her or throw it in the wash, she patiently waits for me to put it back on. To me she looks naked without it now, and she doesn't even know it's there.
 
My cavs like to be naked whenever they can be :lol: especially India tells me when to take her puppia off by scratching it then staring at me expectantly.

They only wear their puppias when I'm taking them somewhere, or on rainy days when I walk them (rather than let them get muddy paws in the backyard.) On rainy days I leave the puppias on all day unless India needs hers removed :roll: :lol:
 
My pups do not wear anything in the house either. Would hate to see them get caught on something.
 
You're going to hear lots of differences on this. A matter of preference I think. My guys don't wear anything while in the house. On walks we were our puppias and a collar.
 
i used to keep a collar on zack when i first got him. then lisa said her breeder said don't leave it on all the time because it has a bad effect on the fur. then i learned collars are not healthy for small breeds, and then i learned about SM in cavaliers, so i stopped using a collar completely and got a four paws fleece lined harness. then i got a red puppia harness and an easy walker harness. i only put them on for walks and dog park, leave them off at home. I don't know what happened to the 4 Paws harness, it's lost. I mostly use the easy Walker harness when we go out, but i always use the Puppia on extra special days.
 
I think it's fine for them to wear a collar, but just not to be used for walking them on a leach. That's why most of us use a puppia or some other type of harness, it doesn't allow pressure on their neck when on a leash.
 
I dont leave a puppia on my girls because I find it leads to knots in their fur after just a short time.
 
lolas mum said:
Are collars not safe then? RE: SM in cavaliers :yikes

I wouldnt want to put lola at any risk?



i've heard that small dogs have sometimes damaged their trachea by pulling too hard on a collar, because their trachea is so small. . And with SM, since the disease is believed to be associated with a skull malformation and crowding/displacement of the cerebellum at the base of the neck, i would want to avoid any additional pressure or trauma.

like shay said, as long as a dog doesn't pull on a collar, it wouldn't cause this kind of problem. There is a slight risk of a freak accident where a dog could hang itself, should they jump or fall, and the collar get caught on something, but this should not be as risky with a harness.

I have not heard, except from my daughter, that wearing a collar all the time is not good for the fur in that area. She said her breeder advised her not to keep a collar on all the time for that reason. i've never heard anyone else say that.
 
Certain collars can create matting, though I've heard that a rolled leather collar is not as bad.
 
Quincy wears his puppia always during the day as my dh and I take him out for several walks throughout the day. (He does not own a collar and his tags are on his puppia.) At night he sleeps with us, and we remove the harness every evening before we all go to bed. In the morning we brush him and replace the collar for the day. Isn't it nteresting how we all do things differently?
 
I keep Wesley's on him all day since I'm taking him outside to go potty all the time. He's still just 17 weeks. He gets it off for long naps in his crate and for bedtime at night. It's just too much of a hassle taking it on and off all the time and it drives him nuts. :)
 
Linda'nQuincy said:
Quincy wears his puppia always during the day as my dh and I take him out for several walks throughout the day. (He does not own a collar and his tags are on his puppia.) At night he sleeps with us, and we remove the harness every evening before we all go to bed. In the morning we brush him and replace the collar for the day. Isn't it nteresting how we all do things differently?

i was thinking this too, it has something to do with different circumstances. we have a little backyard and Zack has always gone out there to pee and poo, and i used to not walk him at all, then i started walking him once a day, but just for exercise, not for toileting. but if i had to walk him several times a day, i might want to leave the harness on.

I will say though that Zack has always loved putting his collar or harness on, it's kind of fun. he must've had some experience with it before i got him because he always tried to put his head through it like he was so eager to get it on and knew it meant going for a walk. It was kind of sad when i got the Easy Walker because there's a weird technique to getting it on and he can't get it on by putting his head through it, he has to put first one foot and then the other through, so he does lift up first his right paw and then the left, he definitely likes to help get his harness on.

He also liked putting his head through the cone collar when he got neutered, and once when it was sitting on the coffee table, he put his head into it and put it on!! it was so funny. He wore it around for about a half hour before it fell off, i took photos of him, it wasn't tied, it was loose but it stayed on, he played with his toys and acted normal.

he just seems to like to wear things. He gets excited when i get his hoodie or a jacket, and puts his head right in. I never taught him to do this. Is this very typical?
 
Judy, Quincy also gets very excited when we put his puppia on in the morning. He eagerly pushes his head through the opening. Have you found the Easy Walker to be helpful while walking--less pulling and straining on the lease? :p
 
Linda'nQuincy said:
Judy, Quincy also gets very excited when we put his puppia on in the morning. He eagerly pushes his head through the opening. Have you found the Easy Walker to be helpful while walking--less pulling and straining on the lease? :p


definitely--zack was pulling really hard, he was pulling me up hills, i don't know how such a little animal could be that powerful! He was only about 5-6 months old then. i was worried about him hurting himself--this was with the regular 4 paws harness which clips on the back, and he just loved pulling againt that. With the Easy Walker, the pulling stopped, it wasn't fun to pull on it because it was on the chest and it pulled him sideways. If he's really excited, he will pull on it, but not strongly. it's very different. Now, when i used the Puppia, he doesn't pull that hard in that compulsive way like before. It seems like he may have internalized the limits of the Easy Walker and doesn't have the same pulling mindset as before. He also is pretty good with 'heel' on and off leash, that helps. i can use my voice. But i have been so happy with the Easy Walker that i've put up with the 'challenging' technique for putting it on the dog. cool invention.
 
Thanks for the information. I definitely need to look into purchasing an Easy Walker, as Quincy is doing a great job walking us!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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