MY CHIHUAHUA"CHICA" is always harnessed and in a doggie seat in the car. And before I let her out of the car she is leashed. In fact, she waits to be leashed and then I pick her up out of the doggie seat and put her down. Or, if I can't put her down from the car, I carry her.
That poor woman and her Chi. I would be crying for months over loosing my Chi.