Okay, all you pros out there, need advice and reassurance.
All my books say to introduce the collar and/or harness to your puppy for 20 minutes at a time.
Needless to say, Rufus hates it! He scratched at it and whined a bit, turning himself in circles trying to get rid of the thing. That I get - the cats always do the same thing.
But then he got really needy - crawling into my arms, snuggling into my armpit. Every time I put him down he'd crawl back up. I gave him some love and reassurance - and then thought, oops, that might not have been the best thing to do!
What do you think? Should I just refuse to hold him when he does this so he gets used to the harness faster? Bottom line is he has to wear it so we can go out - in our area I can't let him run loose in the yard (too many big dogs around and we don't have a fence!)
I don't know that I can offer any advice here....but when I got Binks, I slapped a collar on him and it has been like that ever since. He did not give me any grief about it. I would think it would be ok to love on him, just as long as he has the harness on. That way he understands that yes you still love him and that you will comfort him, but you still gotta wear the harness. Bless Rufus' little heart!!! Everything is so new!!!! Remember the two "P"s, patience and persistence.... they will test your heart strings!!!!
Biscuiot has no problem wearing a coller! He doesnt even notice it, he actually hates when it comes off because he knows thats BATH TIME. However I have not used a harness on him yet. He is very good on a leash with a coller and never pulls, so I never saw the need to get one.
However I do think its important to have your dog used to both, harness and collar.
i think it would be good to show him love whole hes wearing it. I find chihuahuas are very suspicious, always think there is some kind of conspiricy going on, and that they need their moms to re-assure them. So if you just show him that everythin is fine he might get used to it!
Chewy absolutely hated the collar when we first put it on him. He was so small I had to buy a ferret collar to fit him. Anywho, we just put it on him and made him wear it. He would sit and chew on the end if it was hanging out, and on the tag. I finally got him a collar that was adjustable and just clipped together. He stopped trying to chew after that, not sure if he gave us or if the end of the collar was just bothering him that much. But his ID sure looks worn from him chewing on it.
Well, Chuwee came with a itty bitty collar on him already. The lady I got him from had one on each of the pups with little bells on them. He never really fussed at all about having it on, and once he started growing, we just bought bigger ones for him. We use the collar for ID tags, and his harness for walking. He loves the harness because he has figured out it means going out for a walk or in the truck for a drive. So he is all for having his harness on when I take it off the hook..lol
Radar was already a year old when we bought him. But, he had never had a collar, harness or leash on him. The owners just let all the Chi's outside in the yard to relieve themselves, none had collars that I know of. But, as soon as we brought him home, we put it on him and that was it! He never seemed to have any problems with the collar. We did the same thing with the harness, we just put it on him, and we havent had any problems over that either. I really think it depends on the dog.
Going along with what Brittany was saying, I'd just put the collar/harness on for short periods of time and then praise and give treats when he wears it a while. Soon he should associate the collar/harness with praise and good treats and start actually liking it. Then you can go for longer periods of time. That might work. Hershey was not fond of his harness at first. I only use it for going out though, so he eventually learned that the harness meant he got to go outdoors and he grew to LOVE having it put on. No matter what we go outside for, I always put the harness on him, that way he knows that the harness always means getting to go outside and he won't start to reject it again.
Like many others have already said, I put a collar and ID tag on my guys right away and left it on... Some noticed more than others, but all got used to it fairly quickly..The only reason Bandit doesn't have one yet is because he is so small even the cat collars are too big for him. He will be wearing one as soon I find one to fit him...Deb
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In my experience, most pups have a little difficulty adjusting to wearing a collar. The same can be said for harnesses, and clothing. Ellie certainly found it hard for the first few days, maybe even a week. She would scratch at it and act strangely, but she did get used to it. It is rather important that Rufus learns to wear one I would've thought, so stick at it. Also, I cant see how giving him love and reassurance would be bad in this case. Love away!
he actually hates when it comes off because he knows thats BATH TIME.
Same with Houdini. He hated the collar at first also, but now knows it's just a fact of life. He even tries to flatten his head to the ground so I can't get the collar OFF when bath time. It's too funny.
I have to agree about the giving encouragement and love. That let's him know the harness isn't a punishment. I gave Hou lots of love when I first introduced the collar so he'd know it was "ok" - if that makes sense.
I have a couple of different kinds of harness to try. The smallest and lightest is a Li'l Pals - which he hates.
The heaviest is a Gooby that a friend from dogster sent me. He seems much more comfortable in that one. We tried it last night and he moved around and seemed to do much better, not as sulky.
either he's getting used to the whole harness idea, or there is something more comfortable about the Gooby.
Only problem is the Gooby is a bit big around the neck and he managed to get his paw stuck in it. Luckily we were keeping an eye on him and could get him unstuck right away.
Dont worry Lin, your Rufus isn't strange at all, he's reacting in the same way as a lot of first timers would. He's still very young so again, dont worry it'll work out. It sounsd to me he is already starting to get used to it, so keep it up, you'll get there honey. Oh, and good job, well done! I know only too well just how hard it can be to watch your baby fight what you're trying to teach them. It can be heart breaking at times, but it'll all be worth it in the end. I promise.
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Anywho, we just put it on him and made him wear it. He would sit and chew on the end if it was hanging out, and on the tag. I finally got him a collar that was adjustable and just clipped together. He stopped trying to chew after that, not sure if he gave us or if the end of the collar was just bothering him that much. But his ID sure looks worn from him chewing on it. 
