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Toby Freezing When His Collar Or Harness Is On..


MrToby
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Hey everyone, hope all is well...

We have started to put Toby's collar and harness on him, trying to get him used to them so we are able to go for little walks... Have been putting it on him for the last 2 weeks i guess, and each time we put either the collar or the harness on him he freezes. He will just sit and not move at all, not even coaxing him with treats or toys moves him.

He has walked a few steps with his harness on, but even then it was like he was off balance with his tiny rear legs..

Anyone have any suggestions, or knowledge of the above ?

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I would make sure its only a lightweight collar and harness as well. Put it on him and just leave him be, he will eventually get up and move. Actually I would just try the collar first. Do it just before dinner time, or when you know he will be active. Then I would get up and just walk over the other side of the room or wherever and make like you are doing something interesting, and just ignore him.

They get used to it. :(

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What caz said.

You put it on.. and put his food down, or whatever. if he wants to stay frozen- let him. Don't try & cajole/bribe/force- just leave him be.It might take a half hour- but he WILL move- either to walk, or lie down... when he does, then QUIETLy praise him.. and remove the collar/harness.

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It is as light as we could find. In fact in would fit the Guinea Pig without a drama it is that small..We have tried the ignore bit as well, he just continues to sit on the one spot.

Might try the before dinner idea tonight thank you...

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How long have you left it on him for? If he is still there an hour later, there might be a problem. A cat collar would probably be all he needs at this stage, even maybe try putting a piece of ribbon around his neck (under supervision of course) and see how he goes.

He is such a tiny little thing.

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Scrape the harness & just get him use to the collar.

When we are training our babies(who never have collars) on we head outside & train there as its a fun place & they can venture on there own & follow.We dont do it inside.

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Put his collar on tonight before his dinner. He sat and did not move for about 30 minutes, then we went straight for his cuddle teddy and sooked there. Took the collar off after an hour, he stayed still for about 5 minutes, then straight for his dinner, and is moving around fine now..

We made sure he could see his dinner get put down and all..

Will keep this going for this coming week and hopefully he may progress..

The hardest bit is training ourselves to not give in to his little sooky look...He is good at that already..

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I put on a light weight collar and lead and let the pup drag it around the house whenever I am home so they get used to it in a non threatening way, also associating these items with positive things like food.

Don't pander the pup or take the collar or lead off unless you're ending on a positive note.

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We put it back on him tonight. Thought we would give him a little break after his shots and nose drops..But he seems a little better with it now, have left it on him and he is in bed now ( 10pm) See how he is in the morning but it will be staying on him..

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My Chi pup had a similiar reaction to the collar and harness, but he was definitely more adverse to the harness. Yes, I totally know how small these contraptions are for Chihuahua puppies! I had collars made for 5.5" necks so they fit fine, and one is velvet with elastic banding to allow for room to grow and comfort.

Like what everyone said: Put it on, and leave it on. After ignoring him for a while, and him realising that nothing was being put on hold for him and his discomfort, he just joined right back into the activity. I did a great show of playing with his favourite toy though..

The harness was harder. We worked with the harness for 5 minutes the first day, then increasing the time by 5mins each time. As Maxey is totally not motivated by food or treats, and his toys weren't working, we figured his greatest lure was "Mommy" haha. Had the OH hold him on the harness while I call out to him a few feet away, patting my lap etc, and on the third day, he took his first steps in the harness. We then increased the distance he had to walk, and showered lots of praise and hugs when he walked into my lap. He now go for walks happily in the harness :thumbsup: So keep working with Toby, and good luck!

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These things are so quick and easy to deal with when you use a little desensitising. Look, puppy, the collar in my hand *food*, here it is *food*, puppy sniffs it *food*, puppy touches it *food*. You don't even have to get them to touch it for a while. Just present it, feed a treat, present it, feed a treat. It takes hardly any time at all and you don't have a puppy that is sad. I've overcome similar things in five minutes with a handful of ordinary treats. It's just so easy there's no need to make them endure something they don't like.

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Midnight is like this with her harness. She freezes when its put on.

I don't think she is scared of it but I think she thinks it limits her movement. Once she gets walking she is fine.

I do let her sniff it and make steps towards me before I put it on though so that it is not somethingI'm forcing on her. I saw this on Cesar Millan. Don't know if it helps.

Now the life jacket. Thats another story :hug:

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Put the collar on and leave it on. He'll get used to it. An elastic cat collar would probably be big enough. That's what I used on my poodle pups.

I was starting to wonder if I was the only one who did that. I never got the 'collar training' stuff. Just stick it on and they'll get over it.

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