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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

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Original poster

Do I need a harness AND a collar?

39 replies

Putanotherwashon · 08/08/2019 10:09

Hi. My puppy is still too young to go out for walks but she potters round the garden in her Ezydog harness and is fine with the lead.
Before I got her I bought a Truelove harness which is still a little big around her neck but has a ring on the back and on the chest. Do I put her tag on the chest one and not bother with a collar or does she need a collar as well?
Does anyone else have the Truelove harness? How much room should there be round her neck? It fits round her body beautifully.
TIA

OP posts:

kjhkj · 08/08/2019 10:10

ours has his collar on all the time (no crate) and a harness for when walking on the lead

Comefromaway · 08/08/2019 10:11

We've never had a collar on our dog. He is microchipped so in the event he did escape I would hope someone would scan him but it would be unlikely he could get out. In public he wears his harness.

kjhkj · 08/08/2019 10:13

Do you put the tag on the harness come?

Original poster

Putanotherwashon · 08/08/2019 10:15

I thought it was the law to have a tag? Do I not need one as she’s microchipped?

OP posts:

missbattenburg · 08/08/2019 10:16

I used both because it allowed me to seperate loose lead walking from fun walks where training was not really suitable and give a tangible clue to the dog which was happening.

i.e. when we walked with the harness and lead it was just a fun walk, often with other people who we didn't want to keep stopping to train. He pulled but was pulling on a harness so less likely to hurt himself.

when we walked with a flat lead and collar we were training and he was expected to walk nicely; I would stop still if he didn't.

Over time that's allowed us to slowly increase lead and collar walks so that they are the default and walking nicely happens most of the time. I still use a harness for the kind of walks where that isn't possible or where I want to use a long lead which is not safe on a collar.

missbattenburg · 08/08/2019 10:16

p.s. if he wears his harness, he wears the collar (and tag) as well.

kjhkj · 08/08/2019 10:18

It is the law to wear a tag at all times

missbattenburg · 08/08/2019 10:19

I thought it was the law to have a tag?

It is. The law is "Every dog while in a public place should wear a collar with the name and address of the owner inscribed on the collar or on a plate or badge attached to it."

It is quite an old law and written before harnesses were so popular so I suspect you could make a good case to defend a dog with a tag on the harness rather than collar.

Some working dogs are exempt, depending on their job.

Honeyroar · 08/08/2019 10:20

Always have a collar and a tag even if your dog is chipped. I was once driving home and a dog ran onto to the motorway and was hit. He had no tag on his collar. It took nearly an hour for police to come, they said it would be another hour for the RSPCA to come. The dog died in my car while I tried to get it to a vets. My vet scanned the dog for me and I found the owners. They'd been looking for him 1/4 of a mile away and could've shown me their nearby vets (pre smartphone days so couldn't Google). It would've been a lot distressing for the dog and owners if I could've got hold of them (and we could have got him to their local vet).

MissShapesMissStakes · 08/08/2019 10:21

Hi. Yes I think they have to have a tag on them at all times when out of the house.

I got two tags, one for his collar and one for the harness. If he’s in the garden playing I put his collar on just in case he gets out.

If I’m walking him I just have his harness on him as that has a tag too.

I suppose a lost dog will possibly be returned quicker if he has an easily accessible phone number on, rather than having to go to a vets to have his chip read.

BiteyShark · 08/08/2019 10:25

I sometimes use both collar and harness or just collar or just harness.

Both of them have a tag on them.

WorraLiberty · 08/08/2019 10:25

We've never had a collar on our dog. He is microchipped so in the event he did escape I would hope someone would scan him but it would be unlikely he could get out. In public he wears his harness.

And this is the problem time after time in local Facebook groups.

People are going to great lengths out of the kindness of their hearts, to chase and grab hold of escaped dogs in the street/on the roads, then locating a vet or a dog warden to scan the animal.

What about those who are on their way to work and simply don't have the time? What about those who (quite rightly) are nervous about grabbing hold of a dog around its body, because there's no collar to hang onto/attach a rope or belt to?

For goodness sake, be kind to your pet and make sure they wear a collar and tag all the time.

This can mean dogs are reunited with their owners within minutes, rather than much longer - thus distressing the dog and the owner unnecessarily.

AvocadosBeforeMortgages · 08/08/2019 10:50

I fully agree with Worra.

Put a dog tag on to prevent avoidable inconvenience to the kind hearted finder of your dog.

If I found a dog wandering with no tag, I would have a few issues

the dog warden only works office hours
the local authority pound isn't open 24/7, it's several miles away and I don't have a car so I'd have to walk your dog there and walk back at great inconvenience
DDog wouldn't let another dog in the house, so if vets / pound etc shut the best case scenario would be that your dog would spend the night tied up in my back garden due to DDog's issues. Hopefully it wouldn't be too cold or wet.

Alternatively, if they're wearing a tag with up to date details I could call the owner and they could come over pronto to collect the dog...

Nesssie · 08/08/2019 10:53

but it would be unlikely he could get out.

All the owners of the 8 stray dogs I went to this week said exactly the same thing.

Purplecatshopaholic · 08/08/2019 10:53

My boy wears his collar - with tag - all the time. When we go for walks he wears his harness too. He’s a big lad, there is plenty room for both, lol

SlothMama · 08/08/2019 10:59

Our dog trainer told us the law was that a dog must wear a collar with a ID tag on walks, even if they are wearing a harness with a tag on it.

Pipandmum · 08/08/2019 11:07

It’s the law. Collar with tags always. I have a secure back garden but workmen let the dog out and I didn’t even realise till I got a call from across the street. Another time I was in the country and my dog slipped through my friends supposedly dog proof fence and was found a couple miles away. Both times quick call and dog collected within minutes.
Have two tags, one for collar and harness.

Jouska · 08/08/2019 11:07

"Dog Tags and the Law. ... In the UK, the Control of Dogs Order 1992 states that any dog in a public place must wear a collar with the name and address (including postcode) of the owner engraved or written on it, or engraved on a tag. Your telephone number is optional (but we would recommend this)."

Wearing of collars by dogs
2.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) below, every dog while in a highway or in a place of public resort shall wear a collar with the name and address of the owner inscribed on the collar or on a plate or badge attached to it.

(2) Paragraph (1) above shall not apply to—

(a)any pack of hounds,
(b)any dog while being used for sporting purposes,
(c)any dog while being used for the capture or destruction of vermin,
(d)any dog while being used for the driving or tending of cattle or sheep,
(e)any dog while being used on official duties by a member of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces or Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise or the police force for any area,
(f)any dog while being used in emergency rescue work, or
(g)any dog registered with the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.

KittyMcKitty · 08/08/2019 11:09

We've never had a collar on our dog. He is microchipped so in the event he did escape I would hope someone would scan him

Aside from the fact that it is a requirement that dogs have a collar and tag you’re also making it really hard for someone to catch your dog / put lead on it / cart it off to the vet to be scanned.

A dog with a collar / tag I would assume is a lost pet and would catch and call owner. No collar / tag = unwanted stray and I would report to council / dog warden.

Jouska · 08/08/2019 11:12

Offence for not wearing a collar

The owner of a dog or the person in charge of a dog who, without lawful authority or excuse, proof of which shall lie on him, causes or permits the dog to be in a highway or in a place of public resort not wearing a collar as prescribed in article 2(1) above shall be guilty of an offence against the Animal Health Act 1981.

Hoppinggreen · 08/08/2019 11:42

We found a dog a few years ago with no collar on so no tag
I walked around with him for 2 hours asking if anyone knew him, then I drove him 30 minutes to the only out of hours vet to be scanned (no chip) . Then my options were dump him, bring him home or drive him another hour to the council approved dog kennel which had a 7 day kill policy and according to the vet nurse was an awful place.
Obviously I brought him home and next morning after a lot more door knocking I found someone who knew him and from that we did find his (annoyingly nonchalant) owners
How many people can or would go to that much trouble? What if the dog hadn’t been a soppy child friendly Lab? I couldn’t do the same now as my ddog doesn’t like other Male dogs in his house anyway but if the dog had been wearing a tag he would have been home within minutes or hours, as it was he was in danger of being PTS
Dogs should have a tag

AgathaF · 08/08/2019 12:01

Comefromaway - out of interest, why don't you have a collar on your dog?

For anyone concerned about the safety of collars (they can cause strangulation accidents leading to death if the dog is not found in time), we have this for our dog. It breaks open if caught on anything and there is a safety elastic underneath so the dog can free himself if necessary.

Floralnomad · 08/08/2019 12:17

My dog has his tag on his harness , he cannot wear a proper collar because of his tracheal issues , I can’t see what difference it makes where the tag is attached as long as the dog has the tag on it . My dog really cannot escape the house / garden as every door / gate has an air lock type system ie there is always two doors / gates between him and freedom and no children to mess it up .

Comefromaway · 08/08/2019 12:19

I've never heard of that law before. No one has ever mentioned it.

He's a bichon and collars tend to mat his hair and he doesn't like them. I just guess we never thought about buying one. He cam with a harness and he wears oe and a coat when we walk him.

Comefromaway · 08/08/2019 12:20

Floral (the two door rule) lol! It's a mantra in our house!

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