11 week old staffy suddenly terrified and panicked by collar

Star is 11 weeks old and we have had her since she was 7 weeks old. Training and socialising is going great and I’ve bought a tiny easy release soft collar that I’ve been introducing her too gradually in preparation. All has been going well, but she had her second vac and chip a few days ago, and today when I tried the collar she totally flipped out, squeeled and yelped (before I got close) and ran away. So I put the collar away Straight away, didn’t make a fuss just distracted her with play but she was cautious for a while and then even cuddlier than usual. Later on I placed treats around the collar she approached the collar and eat the treats but when I went to pick the collar up she got really scared. So I simply put it away. Any suggestions or advice? She hasn’t had any bad experiences with a collar until today. Thanks

Hi & welcome to the forum  

Welcome to the Staffordshire bull terrier niceboard. We are pleased you've decided to join us, and hope you enjoy your stay. We hope to see plenty of pictures of your Staffordshire bull terriers or any other breed you may have in your household.

We have several information sheets for those of you looking for help with specific issues. You will find them here:

Training and behaviour information

Puppy information

If you can't find an answer to your question, just ask! You'll probably find someone on here has come across your problem too.

This forum is run by the members for the benefit of the users. It's your forum - get involved.

Just one last thing before you look around could you please just have a quick look At This Poll, we would love to know how you found us.

Here are some links that will get you started with the website:-

Please read the Forum Rules before you start posting.
Here are a List of Tutorial & FAQs that will help you around the forum.
You can ask for Help here if you are having trouble doing something on the forum.
How to update your Profile information
See who the Admin, Moderators & Support staff are Here

Is your collar not resting on her chip ?
If so, it must be pretty sore when you see the size of the needle used to place it !

Each to their own opinions but I’m not a huge fan of collars and especially on pups, always prefer a correctly fitting harness.
Maybe something to consider in the mean time to get her confidence back ?

Star in your avatar is absolutely lovely btw  
And welcome from us

Will you be wanting her to walk on a collar in the future, or with a harness?

If it’s a harness, forget about the collar & get a small harness to get her used to it. It's certainly possible that the injection site is tender & you don't want to start a phobia!

Welcome by the way!

Hi thanks for the welcome and replies.... star is a sweetheart and has really settled in well with my other dogs and the family.

My dogs dont really wear collars they aceept them for walks as they have their tags on, which is why i was getting her used to a collar. Im not sure whether to use a collar or a harness tbh any suggestions and recommendations will be appreciated. My other dogs are a weimaraner who uses a collar and lead for walks and a jack russel x with allsorts and he wears a harness as he is small. Was going to let her get a bit bigger, then take her to the pet shop and try a few out to see which she feels more comfortable with really.
Ill leave the collar for a while perhaps put it down with treats for a few days, so she starts to associate it with treats and goid things again, and forgets todays experience?? Thanks

Hi and welcome from me and mine

I wonder if it's less specific than the collar, more that she's worried by people doing things to her neck and of course the only time you're 'doing' something there is to put her collar on.

I'm a huge believer in dealing with problems when they arise. Not only does that address the problem, it can also be great for confidence. You have to make sure not to go too fast, that's all.

So yes, I'd build up associations with food but in a gradual way. Maybe put her collar on the floor with some treats and encourage her to explore it so that she can see it's nothing to worry about. Then do the same with it in your hand.

If she's ok with that, stroke her with the hand holding the collar, but not on her neck. Maybe her side or something. If she's worried at all, go back to letting her sniff and eat treats, then try again quietly. Don't force anything, just go at the speed she can happily cope with.

If that all goes well, then start moving the collar over more of her body, up to her neck, then take it away. Back again, then take it away. You want to elmininate the anticipation that you're going to do something, that you're going to hold her against her will or anything like that (her perception).

You should then be able to work up to putting the collar round her neck and holding it there for a few seconds before taking it away, and repeating.

If there are any stages that are too difficult, think of how to break that step down into smaller steps that she can cope with. And if she has a difficult patch, end on a good note and give her a rest.

That method is good for many fear situations, by the way, so if you come across an issue with something else, just think how to adapt it.

Hi and thank you for the welcome

Hi and thank you for the welcome

Don’t know what happened there my post vanished... I followed your advice and managed to get her collar on very loosely, followed by lots of over enthusiastic praise! Thank you

Brilliant!

Please keep us up to date on her progress!

I will do thanks gilly... puppy training classes next on the agenda, she really loves the basic training sessions I’ve been doing with her here so hopefully she will love those!

That's great! Just remember to take things slowly and make training fun. It's ok to just do a bit of your plan at a time and work in chunks rather than a whole, if that's what's best. Short spells of good learning are always better than risking over-doing it.

Have fun with the training classes, I'm sure she'll have a great time!

How great, what quick positive progress.

Well was one step forward and 2 steps back. When I attempted last night was more of aggressive. Will keep at it and possibly give the vet a call and get the chip checked out. She is fine touching and stroking the area, just seems very odd that this has started since the chip. But the collar is just a soft easy release and very lose. Will keep at it though. Thanks

As Liz says, maybe shorten the session and lower your expectations just a little. Remember, always set her up to succeed and you’ll quickly see the results

When you said you'd already put the collar on I did wonder if you'd maybe gone a bit quickly. Don't worry, though, you can work through it again, just much more slowly.

For the next day or two (or three...), banish from your mind that you are trying to put the collar on. All you are doing for the time being is changing her perception of it and of what you are up to. Go back to what I suggested but work in short sessions (e.g. 5 minutes or so). Each session starts at the beginning and builds up, but adding no more than one step per session. Session 1 is then just having the collar on the floor. Session 2 starts with it on the floor and goes to it in your hand. Session 3 is like 2, except you stroke her briefly with it.

When you get to session 4, you can skip to having it in your hand first, and later on you can also miss out other early steps. However, it is important to start with something she finds easy from early learning so your basis and her expectation are positive.

Continue with this approach even when you are able to get her collar on, for a good few days at least and longer if she needs it. The objective is to create 'I can' instead of 'I can't' or 'I'm afraid to'.

Fear is, ultimately, about expectation, about what we believe will hurt or injure us. At the moment, she believes it will hurt, your job is to change that belief. The practicality of being able to pop a collar on to take her a walk can wait.

That’s some good advice thanks Liz I will start again and do that,and keep you posted