Collar time????

Was wondering when is a good time to put a collar on Ella, would she be too young now at seven weeks old.  Should I introduce it gradually over time?

I had a soft flexi collar on Rocky straight away, and we got him at 9 weeks, we wanted to get him used to it  So I think it should be fine to have one on her now

just a small, simple collar so she can get used to the feeling of it. i think pets at home do some cheap lightweight first collar and lead kits, so you could even start getting her used to the lead in a safe environment before the big day of the first walk

As long as it's introduced gradually, it should be fine to start now. If I were you, I'd try to get one with a safety clasp. That way, if she gets it caught on something, it will just unclip.

Thanks,  Should we leave it on all day//night - or remove after a while?

I'd just do short periods during the day for now and build it up until she's used to it, we had a very soft one at first for darcy but not now she only ever has a collar on when she goes out

Definitely not at night time to start off with - it should be supervised while she's getting used to it so that she doesn't panic or get distressed.

If I were you, I'd build up a positive association with it before you put it on here. Let her sniff it, then give her praise - after a while, she'll associate the collar with something nice. Once she's comfortable with that, put the collar on for five/ten minutes. When she's comfortable with that, increase the time the next day by another five minutes - keep increasing as she gets more comfortable with it.

thanks ever so much for that guys. You are awesome   

agree with above when we got Tommy the breeder used different coloured puppy collars to identify them to others in pics etc so he was used to one already , and we used a light one from home since the day he came to us all the time through the day so the lead was just an extra step, always take off on a night and when not supervised in case of accidents. After the initial association period my preference is to not wear the collar unless they are going out walking , a little more comfortable , less chance of accidents and then ( after association ) they know when the collar comes out they are going for a walk so good times ahead  

Thanks

Dave wrote:agree with above  when we got Tommy the breeder used different coloured puppy collars to identify them to others in pics etc so he was used to one already , and we used a light one from home since the day he came to us all the time through the day so the lead was just an extra step, always take off on a night and when not supervised in case of accidents. After the initial association period my preference is to not wear the collar unless they are going out walking , a little more comfortable , less chance of accidents and then ( after association ) they know when the collar comes out they are going for a walk so good times ahead  

My thoughts exactly. The puppy needs to associate the collar with pleasant/fun times.

thanks guys. am going to try this today. Will see how she gets on and let you all know later.
Really appreciate the advice. I am a bit of a worry Mummy. Can you tell? lol

Omg i have to say ur wee pup is sooooooooo gorgeous!

My little one had a softweave nylon set tht i just put on her for a while at a time to get used to it. The vet said aswell just to attach lead and let them walk about to get used to tht too. Obviously supervised incase they got tangled

godells wrote:thanks guys. am going to try this today. Will see how she gets on and let you all know later.
Really appreciate the advice. I am a bit of a worry Mummy. Can you tell? lol

You are a "mummy" and not an "owner" so of course it is natural

I am the proud Father/ Stepfather of 4 children , a human one of 13 , 1 of 22 and 2 dogs of 3 and 1.5yrs

We've had a collar on Bruno from the moment we got him and he's had it on all the time. It doesn't bother him at all, but he had a little one on at the breeders so he could recognise he was our pup

Awwww Thank you ever so. We love her to bits and I am sure the bond will keep growing. She has already learnt to sit , paw and lay down and we are working hard on leave.

Any advice is always appricated

When I bred gsds as soon as new owners had decided on their new family member I had different coloured cat collars on the pups

With Skye we bought a puppy collar and she only wore it when we were about and whilst playing so it was a fun thing and ment games or treats