Dogs in yellow coats may have anxiety or PTSD

A dog owner is trying to raise awareness of the #DogsInYellow initiative

A dog owner wants "everyone to know" that dogs wearing yellow harnesses, leashes or ribbons need space from people and other pets.

The #DogsInYellow campaign alerts people if dogs are anxious, shy, recovering from an injury or simply just prefer to have their own space.

Sarah Jones, whose dog Bella has anxiety and PTSD after being attacked in a park in Maidenhead, Berkshire, said raising awareness of the initiative is crucial to its effectiveness.

"If no one knows what it means you might as well not use it," she said.

When Ms Jones got Bella as an eight-week-old puppy, she was told the cocker spaniel had had a traumatic birth and had been bitten by one of her siblings at six weeks old.

She said Bella was always shy and would go and sit "about 20m away" when Ms Jones stopped to talk to other dog walkers, but it got worse after a "horrific" attack by another dog.

"This dog came from the other side of the park, full pelt, and just took [Bella] out," she said.

"When people did touch her after that day it hurt her, so she got this association with being touched by a stranger that it would hurt."

Ms Jones said dogs wearing yellow are often misunderstood

Now, Bella snaps if someone tries to touch her and wears a muzzle and a yellow harness.

Ms Jones said dogs in yellow sometimes have traumatic stories and are often misunderstood.

"We... get told we've got nasty dogs, or aggressive dogs, or we shouldn't be out in public which is really unfair," she said.

The awareness day for the #DogsInYellow initiative is Wednesday.

"If you do know what a dog in yellow means and you move away it would be really nice if you could give [the owner] a smile... part of the awareness day is to show empathy and kindness."