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02-09-2013, 02:12 PM | #1 |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Alexandria VA
Posts: 4
| Yorkie and Cold Weather Almost four weeks ago, I rescued a neutered, nine pound, six-year old Yorkie named Joy Boy. I am his sixth (and final) home. He is an extremely sweet, friendly and lovable dog. Unfortunately, he was given little training such as basic commands as sit/stay and not fully housebroken. Joy Boy also has many health issues, i.e., heart murmur level 2, hypothyroidism, dry eye, severe dental problems, luxating patella grade 2, frequent anal gland problems, overweight and pancreatitus (changed food from Iames to Orijen, frozen/raw treats and absolutely no people food.) We have been to the vet three times already. First, his old vet to get a final check-up, express his anal glands and educate me on his condition. Next, his new vet to register him, bring over health records, ensure all vaccines were up-to-date, discuss his medications, get a second opinion on his overall health and ensure I was knowledgeable about how to properly take care of him. The last visit was when I noticed him scooting along the rug. I immediately took him to the vet and found he had an anal gland infection, probably due to improper handling during his last anal gland treatment. Also, as Joy Boy’s guardian (I don’t like the word owner), I have educated myself about the breed and his health issues by reading books, finding web articles/blogs, and enrolling us in one-on-one training with a very reputable dog school. Joy Boy is constantly at my side, which I like and is good for training purposes. He does not like to be left at home, so I bring him just about everywhere I go since I live in Alexandria VA, a very dog-friendly city. He is being trained to eliminate outside, plus we take 2-3 walks a day usually 30-60 minutes each. He loves everyone he meets except other dogs as is typical with some Yorkie’s. He trembles with excitement when we wake up in the morning, while preparing his food/meds, whenever I come home, when he meets other people or even when he sees a person/pets through a window. So what is my question? Today, I had a horrible experience and need your opinion because if my actions were wrong I want to correct them. The weather this morning was cold, 33 degrees with a wind chill factor of 25 degrees. We’ve had cold weather since I brought Joy Boy home so I purchased him a fleece coat. He has never minded the cold and loves to play in the little bit of snow we received. It is always me who is ready to go inside and warm up. Well, after a 5-minute walk at home and then a fifteen-minute walk a half hour later, I joined friends for breakfast. I brought a very warm and high-sided bed for Joy Boy as well as water. I left him outside the restaurant at 7:55am because he loves to greet everyone who walks by him. During that time my friends and I kept watch over him and the many people who stopped by. I noticed one woman was staying by Joy Boy for an extraordinary amount of time but she didn’t seem to be doing him any harm. As we were getting up to leave the restaurant, a guy walked over to Joy Boy and with the woman’s help, unleashed him and put Joy Boy in a vehicle. I panicked and ran out. I was greeted with anger, insults and a lecture about leaving him outside. They told me I was mistreating the dog because it was too cold for a Yorkie and he was shivering from the cold. I tried to explain he liked the cold weather, his shivering was from excitement not the cold, he had a warm bed with a self-heating bottom, the fact that dog’s have fatty tissue in their paws and special blood vessels which help them tolerate the cold, how the weather today is similar to Scotland and England where the breed originated, etc. However, I was drowned out by their shouting. I grew up with many pets including dogs in Chicago, which has extremely cold winters. I am very knowledgeable about many animal species from volunteering at shelters and zoos for the past 30+ years. I am an animal lover and protector, who would never knowingly harm any animal except the ants and flies that infest my house in the spring. So was I wrong to keep Joy Boy outside? Your honest and constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. |
Welcome Guest! | |
02-09-2013, 05:26 PM | #2 |
Donating YT 500 Club Member | First off, I wanted to say that you're are a very wonderful person taking on a dog with so many medical conditions and zero training. It takes a special kind of person to open their home up to a rescue dog with that amount of issues. I'm glad that Joy Boy found himself with such a loving guardian and that he has found a forever home. Having said all of that, I am going to be honest with you. Joy Boy probably should not be left outside in the winter OR any other weather. There are people out there that could easily steal your dog. All it takes is unhooking your dogs leash and running/driving away and you might not ever find Joy Boy again. Another animal could easily come along and attack Joy Boy and before you could get outside to help him it would be to late. Also, the cold might be affecting him more than you think. If he is always shaking you might not be able to tell if it is from the cold or not. Joy Boy is also losing weight and would have a harder time keeping himself warm. Yorkie's (as you probably know) have hair not fur, which would also be another factor making it hard for Joy Boy to keep warm. All in all, I think there are just to many risks involved with leaving your dog tied up outside. I know you may not ever want to leave your dog, but sometimes it is safer for them to be at home than tied up outside while you're inside somewhere. Those people probably over reacted, but like you, they just had the best interest of the dog in mind. So ... having said all that ... I would never leave my Yorkshire terrier tied up outside for a multitude of reasons no matter what the weather. |
02-09-2013, 06:16 PM | #3 | |
♥Love My 3 Furrbutts♥ Donating Member | Quote:
__________________ Jacqui, mom to Raelle , Orion , Jersey and Gizmo https://www.facebook.com/PreciousPawzGroomingSpa http://jlevy.scentsy.ca | |
02-09-2013, 06:17 PM | #4 |
and Shelby's too Donating Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Millbrook, AL
Posts: 7,842
| Welcome to YT and I thank you for rescuing this sweet boy. It takes a special soul to do that so that tells me a lot about you..you are a loving person. In this situation..if I was one of those strangers passing by..I wouldn't know that about you. I would just know there was a yorkie outside by himself in the winter. I probably would've reacted the same way..well, I wouldn't have put him in the vehicle, but i would've picked him up and tried to warm him. It's all perception. I am sure that you made every precaution to ensure Joy Boy was warm and safe. I am sure of this because I have read your words and know your spirit. Those people didn't. Coupling the fact that most people know yorkies don't have coats (they have hair) so don't do well normally in the cold and the fact that a yorkie is an "it" dog right now...leaving him outside like that is just begging for trouble you do not deserve. I think it's wise just to leave him home on occassions such as this. He'll be okay...he'll learn that you come back. Again, you are a great mom...I don't want you to think I am saying anything different. Shoot..just coming here to ask the question shows how much you care. Joy Boy is so lucky to have you now!
__________________ Terri, proud mom to Mandie & Shelby-Dale |
02-09-2013, 06:23 PM | #5 |
YT 3000 Club Member | you are a great mom to take care of this little guy, yorkies get cold very easily they have no undercoat, so I would not leave him outside, plus people will steal these little guys in a heart beat, so glad he did not get taken |
02-09-2013, 07:17 PM | #6 |
Yorkie mom of 4 Donating YT Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: LaPlata, Md
Posts: 23,247
| Yorkies are very different from other dogs and get colder easier. I think it was wrong of you to leave him outside like that it was to cold and a mean person or kids could have come alone and been mean to him or stolen him. He would be much better off left at home inside with his bed, food and water. I would do the same thing if it where that cold and I saw any dog tied outside or I would call the police/animal control. If its to cold for you its to cold for him period.
__________________ Taylor My babies Joey, Penny ,Ollie & Dixie Callie Mae, you will forever be in my heart! |
02-09-2013, 07:25 PM | #7 |
Donating YT 2000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Michigan USA & Sheffield UK
Posts: 4,119
| I'm flabbergasted that someone would be caring enough to take in an older dog with so many health issues, yet leave it tied up outside in the cold outside a restaurant...just can't wrap my mind around that.... If he can't be with you, then leave him home where he's safe & warm.
__________________ Karan & ZoE (Chelsea ) |
02-09-2013, 07:57 PM | #8 |
♥Love My Snuggle Bugs♥ Donating Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Missouri
Posts: 4,290
| I am sorry but no dog should be left tied up alone outside a restraunt it is easy for people to steal them. Welcome to YT. I don't think any of us are meaning to sound mean we just are concerned about this little guy who already has many issues health wise. Even a healthy yorkie should not be left in the cold for longer than bathroom break or a little playtime with you.
__________________ CharleneMama to Laddy and Kyra and Always in our hearts Lolita |
02-09-2013, 08:07 PM | #9 |
♥ Love My Tibbe! ♥ Donating Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: D/FW, Texas
Posts: 22,140
| Oh, I would never leave a small, elderly dog with medical problems and probably arthritis to sit a long time out in the cold or tied to anything. Never. For one thing, I just can't leave my dog outside alone tied to things. I don't know why but it seems wrong - even if it weren't cold or there were no thieves. I always fear another, big, vicious dog might come running and attack the defenseless, tied dog before I could rise up and get to the dog. I just can do it and I have no good reason for that except what could happen while he's tied and can't run and it just seems a wrong thing to do. I guess I saw one too many tied-up dogs as a child, saw some of them pulling on the rope or collar around their neck and straining and it kind of marked me. About leaving a small dog in the cold - remember, small dogs cannot retain body heat. They have little musculature or padding of much fat and Yorkies have no protective undercoat. Their rather large heads chill easily, as does the rest of them. When he's walking in the cold in his warm coat, he's generating body heat from his muscles moving continually, but just sitting, he could chill and his orthopedic problem areas could stiffen in the chill while immobile. Joints will swell. And believe me, old joints and muscles feel the cold and prolonged sitting in it is uncomfortable beyond a little after only a short time - I know! haha Besides exposing him to prolonged cold, by leaving him tied outside alone, he could have easily been grabbed and stolen - as a member's dog was not too long ago. Another Yorkie about a year ago was almost taken by a guy as the member was walking him on a busy sidewalk in front of shops and stores with a lot of people around! The potential thief was stopped by other men and told the police that he thought the dog was cool or something like that, as I recall! Yikes! Yorkies are small, cute and usually thought of as high-end dogs and many people want them to sell for drug money, pocket money etc. I would never leave my dog - even a big dog normally able to defend itself - tied up outside, even in warm, sunny weather. It wouldn't take a dog-thief anytime to cut his leash with a knife or chain cutter or just yank it hard and be gone with him. And besides, for me, there is that just can't leave a dog tied to anything problem.
__________________ Jeanie and Tibbe One must do the best one can. You may get some marks for a very imperfect answer: you will certainly get none for leaving the question alone. C. S. Lewis |
02-09-2013, 10:28 PM | #10 |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: FL, USA
Posts: 2,767
| Hi, congratulations, and thank you for giving Joy Boy a true forever home. He has enough problems without having to be passed around from home to home. He sounds like a great little guy and a lot of fun to be with. I can see you are trying to give Joy Boy what he needs and wants...to provide him with love, happiness, and adventure, and I am certain he knows you truly love and care about him. Personally, and I know some places are safer than others, but I would not leave a Yorkie tied up outside anywhere or at any time....not in the heat and not in the cold. To me, they are just not an 'outside dog' since they have vulnerabilities due to their size and structure alone plus their current breed popularity...and certainly not with health issues. I doubt I would leave a large breed dog tied up outside a business as well...it's just not a risk I'd be willing to take with any of my babies. I also would not remove a dog like they did, nor would I ever scream at you for the choice you made...right, wrong or indifferent...like they did, with you knowing Joy Boy as you do. If I felt your Yorkie needed assistance due to the cold and/or being left alone, I might have provided him a warm jacket, even if, still tied up, I cuddled and warmed him inside my own, staying with him until you returned. I might have gone inside to notify you that perhaps your Yorkie needed you and offered to care for him until you were able to take over his care, or maybe I would have just stayed with Joy Boy, protecting him even if he did not actually need it. I am not agreeing with your decision or saying your actions were incorrect but I feel what they did in response was very incorrect, regardless of how well intentioned they might have been. We may make 'mistakes' from time to time, by our own reasoning, and 'bad choices' based on what others think they would do in our situation, but if we feel that a 'mistake' or 'bad choice' has been made, helping to correct it...to me...is preferable to 'playing judge, jury and executioner' which...to me...is completely wrong, inconsiderate, rude, and absolutely not an option. I hope you and Joy Boy enjoy many years of love and happiness together. {{{Hugs}}}
__________________ - Cat Brody Mia BriaStormy Last edited by navillusc; 02-09-2013 at 10:31 PM. |
02-09-2013, 11:26 PM | #11 | |
Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: USA
Posts: 7,652
| Quote:
The tying of any dog outside of a restaurant or any structure is dangerous, that dog has no escape from dangerous people, bicycles, and on and on....tying a dog outside in the cold is unacceptable. I'm not sure what your really asking us to do here? You received some constructive criticism from people on the street, were it a thief they would have kept on going with your pup that you left tied outside the restaurant in the cold...see what I mean??? You are not as educated as you seem to think, so stick around become a part of the YT community and read everything you can...this forum is all about Yorkie! Welcome to YT, you need us!
__________________ The Above advice/comments/reviews are my personal opinions based on my own experience/education/investigation and research and you can take them any way you want to......Or NOT!!! Last edited by lynzy420; 02-09-2013 at 11:30 PM. | |
02-10-2013, 04:08 AM | #12 |
Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: South Florida
Posts: 8,008
| I think you are amazing in the care of your new yorkie, and I think you make a great dad. I also think you thought you had all bases covered, with the coat, the heating pad, the bed to keep him warm out side. BUT (sorry ...there is often a "but" ) I hope you will rethink that part. For one, as many already have told you, yorkies are often stollen. If he was stollen the persons taking him would not give him the care you have, that would be heartbreaking and could mean his death. I do understand you and your friends were watching over him... but thieves are very fast and crafty!! Second, I know the breed has come from a very colder climate.. but the little guy you have is from many many generations that have been breed her and I do think the ability to deal with the cold has been bread out. Yorkies are known to be very cold, and often the clothing that is put on yorkies is for warmth more then being "cute". I think the people could have stated how they felt, they should not have yelled at you. I sure hope you rethink leaving him outside.. and keep emjoying and loving your little guy. Yorkies are very special and once you have been bitten by the yorkie bug there is no going back.
__________________ Shinja mom to Remy lil Sis to Bailey and Sammy |
02-10-2013, 05:30 AM | #13 | |
I love TBCG! Donating Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MD
Posts: 7,227
| Quote:
__________________ Morgan Mommy toGeorgie boy & Isaiah RIP sweet Coco 10/12/99-8/1/12 Read About Georgie's Experience with Atlantoaxial Instability (AAI) Here! | |
02-10-2013, 06:00 AM | #14 |
Furbutts = LOVE Donating Member Moderator | You've already received great advice, so I won't say a whole lot. But no, he shouldn't have been left out in the cold. Yorkies have hair, not fur - and no under coat; and a jacket can only do very little when it's that cold. If it's too cold for you outside, it's too cold for him. Just like, if it's too warm for you to sit in a hot car, it's too hot for him. And in any case, yorkies are one of the most stolen breeds out there - so I wouldn't recommend ever leaving him alone in public, in general...even in perfect weather. If he was stolen, you'd be devastated...it'd never be worth the risk. It's absolutely wonderful that you've taken this little guy in bc so few people would, given his issues. He sounds very special and seems to have found a very special home as well. I think he will make a very good owner . You do know HE owns you, right?
__________________ ~ A friend told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn. ~ °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° Ann | Pfeiffer | Marcel Verdel Purcell | Wylie | Artie °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° |
02-10-2013, 06:13 AM | #15 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Posts: 1,290
| I have to agree with everyone here. Please dont leave a yorkie outside alone tied to anything..its just dangerous.what if a bigger dog came along and attacked him? But thank you for rescuing this little one and please stick around there are wonderful knowledgeable people here..they have helped me so much with foxy! Welcome to YT! |
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