# At what age do you put a collar on a puppy?



## Patches (31 December 2009)

I feel a bit mean now.  I had a puppy collar for Harvey and had been putting it on him a few hours a day, from almost as soon as we got him home, to get him used to it. It was a sliding fastener, which I didn't like, so I took him to Pets at Home to buy a rocco buckle one. I figured this would break should he get it caught and there would also be no hanging end to it which might dangle and tempt him to mess with it. 

I did pick a nicely padded nylon one, just simple black in colour, and checked it went small enough. 

I was quite surprised when an assistant came around and told me that I absolutely should not be putting a collar of any sort on him yet. Their advice is that a puppy should never wear a collar until they are 16 weeks old. 

Is this correct? I was quite shocked. I've been popping the lead on Harvey's collar a couple of times a day and getting him to walk around the living room on a lead, to get used to the idea of "walkies". 

People do take puppies out for walks on leads before they're four months old, surely?

I can't find anything in my puppy book that suggests he shouldn't be wearing a collar or be introduced to a lead yet. I still bought it and now Harvey wears the collar during the day and has it taken off over night. He is completely at ease with wearing it now, no longer scratching at it. 

We've pretty much got sit and down sorted with a bit of kibble for a treat. He comes to call when he knows you have treats and my children can call him away from me (even though he knows I have the tub of treats) as well. They do also then reward him with a treat (again the treat is just his puppy food, as the treats we've bought say they cannot be used for puppies under 3 months of age).

I've started "trust" and "take it" (although I think most people say "pay for"). I get him to sit, lay a few bits of kibble on the floor and whilst saying trust I gently restrain him from diving for the kibble. As soon as he stops pulling to get it (which is only a few seconds) I tell him "take it" and praise him. 

I always found the trust thing a good one for getting them to drop/leave food that they shouldn't have....be it food that has fallen off a child's plate, a plate placed on the floor by some silly person, food they might come across out walking or whilst putting their food bowl down, so they don't jump up for it. 

You could give Jasper a sausage, say "trust" and he would actually drop it out of his mouth, sit and look at you waiting for you allow him to "take it" again. 

Bless his heart.


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## Happy Horse (31 December 2009)

Gillie had a collar on from the moment he came home.  We take it off at night but other than that he wears is 24/7.  Perhaps I am really cruel too


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## piebaldsparkle (31 December 2009)

Oz started getting used to his a few days after I got him home.....so 8 weeks.  Once used to the collar, I introduced the lead and had him happy with that before his vacs were complete.  So if you are bad, I'm bad too!!


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## Cop-Pop (31 December 2009)

You shouldnt drag them round by it but putting one on them is fine


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## spaniel (31 December 2009)

Ruby started to wear hers the day after her second injection at 12 weeks. 

However,  its only on when she goes outside and I DONT use it for a lead....I use a harness instead as I find this works better and causes less stress.


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## Patches (31 December 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
Oz started getting used to his a few days after I got him home.....so 8 weeks.  Once used to the collar, I introduced the lead and had him happy with that before his vacs were complete.  So if you are bad, I'm bad too!! 

[/ QUOTE ]

Phew. Thanks both of you. 

I thought that getting him used to a collar and lead as soon as possible was a good thing. Was quite shocked by the lad's comment in Pets at Home. 

Same as you, I have been getting Harvey used to the collar and lead ahead of his vaccinations being complete as well. The plan of action being that I will probably take him to the school (after the final quarantine period) in a morning so he can walk the short distance from the car park we use to the school and back. (Not above ten minutes round trip, if that). Get him used to the car and walking in the big wide world.

ETA. As he's food orientated, I just hold a treat for him and get him to follow it as he walks a few steps, before rewarding him.

I did wonder about a harness for walking whilst little, but see a woman at the school regularly walking a JRT, that's no longer a pup, on one and she seems to have very little control and no means of checking him....or he's just a particularly unruly chap.


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## Spudlet (31 December 2009)

Barney had one on from day one, and we had lead practices in the house from the start - not pulling him about of course, but using a treat to encourage him to walk with a slack lead.

Sooner you can get them used to it the better IMO.


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## Slinkyunicorn (31 December 2009)

Sweep had a collar from the almost the day I got him - he had to as we lived in the middle of Birmingham at the time! He would have it on for walks and then off the rest of the time - he had a little padded half check as well as the park was about 100 yards from where I lived but we did have to cross a road. 

I am a bad mummy.......*hangs head in shame* mind you did no bloody good as for the last 10 years he has only gone on his lead once in a blue moon and is therefore useless at walking on it - as Hopalong was witness to!!


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## itsme123 (31 December 2009)

Rosie's had a soft leather collar from day one, mainly for her ID tag (I chose a small brass disc that doesnt dangle down enough for her to get hold of). I always have an ID tag and collar because the law states a dog must have these out in public even if they're chipped. She has a harness for walking as a puppy's windpipe is so delicate that you cannot really 'check' them with a lead and collar without risking damage (so my vet said) and a harness supports the whole body, so if you need to 'check' the whole front end is 'checked' with an even distribution. I'm not sure if that just applies to small breeds who have a more delicate build or all dogs though. 

Jack always had a harness and I never once had problems with him pulling.


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## dingle12 (31 December 2009)

Gizmo had his on fron 7 weeks


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## CorvusCorax (31 December 2009)

This is Pets at Home who no longer sell choke chains for 'humane' reasons but do sell slip leads, which have exactly the same action, can actually tighten and release quicker than a lot of larger link choke chains and, if thinner, can be more severe than a choke chain in the wrong hands.

My dogs do not wear collars at home and as long as they are light I see no problem with getting puppies used to both a collar and lead at the earliest possible opportunity and with supervision.
The worst thing to to is encourage the pup to play with and bite the lead - it ain't funny when they are big and why should they stop, you told them it was fun!
(Not having a dig at the OP but it is very common, especially where kids are involved!!!)

I don't personally think dogs, especially big ones, should have big long on-lead walks until about eight or nine months.
Free running, training and short, frequent walks are fine for socialisation and exercise.

Harnesses are fine for smaller breeds. For bigger breeds that pull and have no lead manners, see also "chocolate fireguard" 
	
	
		
		
	


	




 in my opinion of course.
9/10 large dogs I see on harnesses are having a great old time hauling their owners about!


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## Spudlet (31 December 2009)

TBH, if an assistant at PAH came and tried to tell me how to look after my dog without having been asked, I would be having Words with him... and then going to another shop...


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## Patches (31 December 2009)

Totally agree about the playing with the lead. I have not allowed Harvey to mouth his lead at all and purposely wanted the other type of collar so there was no danger of a dangly end for him to get hold of. 

I will not be keeping a collar on Harvey in the house at all. It will be just for walking. The only reason why he's wearing one more so at the moment is to get him over the "eeep what's that around my neck? I'll scratch it off!" 

I will not be allowing the children to walk Harvey on the lead either. I can't stand seeing that. He is my dog and I want to teach him consistent manners. Not so bad when children take an older, well mannered dog for a walk, but whilst he's little .. no thanks. 

I do intend to spend alot of time with him off the lead. I am praying to God I can crack the whole idea of recall, as Jasper never seemed to get over the willful, selective hearing stage. 

I assumed Harvey would need to be collar and lead accustomed to go to the puppy classes I want to enrol him in next week? Is this not the case?

I have the same views about harnesses as you do. Seems there's little ability to "check" a dog, as there is with a lead and collar. Obviously I don't want to hurt Harvey, but I do want to get things "right" with him.

I walked the Border Collie out today with the chap down the lane who runs shoots. He said I would be more than welcome in a year or so to join in some drives with them and he sees no reason why I can't have him trained enough for beating (I promise he wasn't laughing!) He said they have a JRT who goes beating and he even brought a duck back the other week. He said he was very impressed the terrier didn't eat it, after first ragging all the feathers off it. 

I am not a big lover of Pets at Home. I only popped in as my sister said they were doing the puppy food we buy on a 3 for 2 offer and I thought it would be a good excuse to travel him somewhere and get him to see new things as they're welcome in the shop.


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## spaniel (31 December 2009)

Patches I found Ruby extremely responsive to a recall whistle, she comes back like a rocket.


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## Spudlet (31 December 2009)

I'm telling you, the hot chicken trick is worth its weight in gold - that and using their instinct to hunt and sniff as a reward 
	
	
		
		
	


	





I felt rather smug walking my reformed character today (which probably means he's about to do something truly awful... probably at our first gundog class next Sunday!)


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## Patches (31 December 2009)

Recall whistle and hot chicken it is! 
	
	
		
		
	


	





I am determined he will recall. It's not really an issue having to walk them on a lead, like I did Jasper. I just felt awful that we have all this land and yet he couldn't be let off a lead as he'd head straight for the pond and swim around until exhausted and fished out with a hook! 

He took selective deafness to the extreme. Mind you, there was the odd occasion where he'd be off the lead and would come back because you waved his lead at him. True airhead status there..."Oooo walkies, mummy's got a lead" when he was running free outside over fields already!


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## CorvusCorax (1 January 2010)

For small puppies, the 'catch and release' system with two people, one restraining the dog and the other a few feet away calling and giving the command, crouching, being really 'up' and fun and positive, is a great way to teach recall.

So have one of the kids restrain him, you run away, make a massive fuss, call/command, child keeps hold and then release, praise heavily, then you restrain and child does the distraction, so on and so forth.


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## Spudlet (1 January 2010)

Henry just came back in extreme circumstances - he was just heading off to make bezie mates 4 eva with some rather unamused looking, large and pointy-antlered stags that I hadn't spotted taking a breather in the bracken! Was I ever grateful for a good recall - I could have had a canine kebab!

CC you are right about the game, because I am a sad single personage I didn't have the option of doing that for Henry so had forgotten about it, but it does work. You can make it into hide and seek as he gets a bit better at it too


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## CorvusCorax (1 January 2010)

I called my two off our resident stray cat tonight, thank the lord, I got slightly hysterical as it crossed our field in a tabby streak and headed straight for the road.

So if you were enjoying a nice New Years walk in an AONB in the North East of Ireland today and had your peace, and eardrums shattered, by yells of 'NO! HERE! NO! NO! NO! HHHHHEEEEEEEEERE! PLEASE GOD COME BACK HERE!", I do apologise


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## FestiveSpirit (1 January 2010)

That reminds me of one time I was helping someone jump in our school CC - the dogs were with me tied to the fence (or I thought they were tied to the fence...)

Resident semi-feral tabby, who thinks all dogs love him and are super-friendly  
	
	
		
		
	


	




, appeared from nowhere  
	
	
		
		
	


	




 Cue another tabby streak across the arena VERY closely followed by a black greyhound  
	
	
		
		
	


	












  Thankfully the cat shot through the fence and Islay decided she couldnt get through


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