Any Big No No's I should avoid?

[vickyrola]

Hi everyone,
I just joined this forum. I have wanted a Yorkie for almost 15 years now and last week I got my wish. We got Rosie from a reputable breeder at 8 weeks. She is so sweet and I'm totally in love. She is right at 1lb right now so she's tiny. I have a 6 year old son and an almost 3 year old daughter. They're both doing very well with her and are super gentle. I also never leave her unattended with them.
I am crate training her and right now her last pee is at 10pm and she will stay clean in her crate until the morning at about 7am. She is crated while I'm at work, but my mom lives with me so she'll let her out to the yard at least once before I go home for lunch.
Her breeder sent her home with Puppy Chow (yuck!) so I've slowly began to transition her to RC puppy which she seems to really like.
Her potty training is going very well and she already goes outside to the same spot and always pees when I say go pee pee.

That being said......

What would you who've had yorkies for a while want me to know, stay away from or do?

Thanks in advance for replies

[rubymoon2072]

welcome to yorkie talk and rosie and most adorable..

the first no no is that she shouldve stayed with her mom till 12 weeks. they learn all the important stuff in those 12 weeks. I don't want to say ur breeder inst reputable (no judgement at all) but you will hear this echoed here many times that the baby shouldnt leave till 12 weeks. I would just watch her very closely, which it sounds like you are already doing ....being sure she is eating and drinking enough. sounds like your doing a really good job with the skin kids also making sure they know how fragile Rosie is. Maybe just be sure they sit when holding her...yorkies can be jumpers.

do you have nutri cal on hand. it is good too just in case you ever need it. There is a ton to learn here and plenty of threads to read.

Congrats on your new bundle of love she is beautiful.

[vickyrola]

thank you. Nutrical is on my list of additional things to get this evening. I can definitely understand the 12 week thing, wish I had known before.

[Faboosh]

Rosie is adorable! Congrats on your new baby

I second the whole making kids sit down to hold her. I actually would make that a rule for everyone, because of how squrimy these little ones can be. Billi was dropped by a PetSmart employee(!) of all people & after that, nope! No holding her unless your butt is firmly planted somewhere!

My biggest thing is training. I'm a huge advocate of it actually. It's the difference between a well-mannered life-long companian or a life-long hellian that in a lot of cases end up abandoned in shelters. Please don't be too easy on her (don't hit her of course), it's hard to discipline such a sweet little face, but she needs some ground rules & boundaries. It's for her safety, really. PetSmart offers really good basic puppy classes that are awesome for socialization, too & are reasonably priced. (I've been paying $100-110 per 6-week course) Not sure if you have one or similar nearby, but you might consider signing Rosie up once she's completed her vaccinations.

Other than that, bring your patience. Remember she is just a baby (especially at 8 weeks) Accidents are bound to happen, but she's learning & gets better.

For chewing, most of YT is big on the bully sticks and I agree... It's good to divert her chewing to something appropriate. Also, frozen carrots are wonderful for teething!

All I can think of for now! Good luck & welcome!

[ritapatt]

Things I would do: Make sure to handle her paws, even "fake" clipping her nails, make noise with a scissor, nail clipper and Buzzer and comb her (a little cat brush works great), clean her eyes,everyday. Run the vacuum and hairdryer near her. Get her used to a harness and leash for just a few minutes at a time. Put a barricade up at all exit doors so your little ones can't let her out accidentally. If you use an expen always use the door never lift her out so she doesn't learn to climb. Yorkie talk taught me so many things- read as much as you can!

[yorkiefan_]

Such a cute pup. Might be better to keep her inside until she gets her shots though. Has she had any of her puppy shots? They usually need to go through 3-4 rounds of them for things like parvo.

[vickyrola]

She's had her first round of shots and has her appointment with our vet on Nov 1st. Should I move it up?

Also--- she loves to roll in the grass. Like she's obsessed since yesterday and she'll nuzzle in it and want to lie there. Is that ok for me to let her do?

Oh and another thing, sorry! How can I get her to focus on eating?? She likes to nibble and then go play or do something else. I can't spend 2 hours making sure she eats enough.

[joyce evans]

Wow she's a sweetie pie! My number one thing that hasn't been covered is jumping. They love to jump! Positively no jumping off furniture! And yes there is the door. Be Especially careful about her getting out of the house. They are escape artist. I would keep her away from the outdoors and other animals until at least 2 weeks after she has had her last set of shots. Speaking of other animals...please keep a close eye on her if there are other large dogs in or around your neighborhood as they seem to attract the larger agressive breeds and the turn out is not ever good. You have come to the right place and will get so much good advise here. Enjoy your new little sweetie!!! I would of picked her from the litter too!!! Love her sweet little face!!

[gracielove]

Congrats on your new baby. Welcome to YT!

Your pup is very small and very young. Make sure she is eating at regular intervals in order to avoid hypoglycemia. If she seems unusually tired and kind of limpish get the nubracal in her right away. She needs to be checked on a regular basis. Hypoglycemia can come on quickly.

You are create training.....does she have food and water with her at all times? A pup that age needs to have food and water available. Personally, I would not crate train a puppy that young unless someone was right there to take her out regularly. They cannot hold back urine or poo at that age so if she does not get out when she needs to she will learn to potty in the create.

I agree that training is really important but you can't do a lot of extensive obedience training on a baby. She is an infant and should not go out in public since she has not had all her shots yet. Sounds like she is quite cooperative for you but things often change as they adjust to their new home.

There is a lot of important info here in the "sticky" areas at the top of each forum. Learn as much as you can. There are lots of different methods of training out there but positive reinforcement plus lots of exercise usually works the best.

[vickyrola]

thank you for all the advice. Makes me kinda scared, all the things that could happen. I love her so much already and want to make sure I make the best decisions.

I am glad to be reminded that she's just a little baby and I can worry about taking care of her more right now vs. training her or being too strict.

she had her 1st set of shots last Wednesday (she was born August 15th, so she was 7 weeks then), so when should I scheduled her appointment for her next set of shots?

thank you

[Lilah Charm]

Originally Posted by vickyrola

thank you for all the advice. Makes me kinda scared, all the things that could happen. I love her so much already and want to make sure I make the best decisions.

I am glad to be reminded that she's just a little baby and I can worry about taking care of her more right now vs. training her or being too strict.

she had her 1st set of shots last Wednesday (she was born August 15th, so she was 7 weeks then), so when should I scheduled her appointment for her next set of shots?

thank you

Vaccinactions should be done 3-4 weeks apart and are not usually re commended until at least eight weeks old. A vaccine introduces small quantities of 'bad bacteria' to stimulate an immune response, it basically trains the body how to act if it is exposed to 'the bad stuff' again, which you can track in on your shoes even btw (parvo etc.) or pick up out and about. When a pup receives it's first vaccine it is usually still nursing and often moms antibodies present in the milk, fights off that small exposure and the pups immune response is limited. Because of that there is almost no security until at least the second round of vaccines. Even still, pups immunity has just started to build and too much time between vaccines they lose their leg up and you have to start all over. I wold really limit her exposure until all four rounds are complete. It is important to keep to a schedule. Also are you vaccinating yourself or is she going to the vet? If you are purchasing a vaccination to self administer is generally reccomended to get one without leptospirosis for smaller breed dogs. Your vet may have lepto appropriate for you dog but I wouldn't give it without their direct supervision. My lilah had Benadryl shots before each round Of vaccinations on the vets re commendation because she was so tiny that if she had a reaction it could be deadly so quickly they felt that a preventative antihistamine was the best choice. Good luck with your new dog!

[Lovetodream88]

Doesn't sound like she came from a reputable breeder having been taken from her mom before 12 weeks when reputable breeders know keeping them with there mom until 12 weeks is very important. I would make sure to get her checked out by a vet and get blood work and everything. Also because she is so small she should be allowed access to food all of the time and not left alone for more then an hour in case she has a hypoglycemic episode.

[gracielove]

I would talk to your vet about the shot schedule. Tiny pups don't usually get all their shots at once like a larger breed dog would because there is just too much of a chance of a bad reaction. Many times vets give the same dosage to a small breed pup that they would a large breed pup. It is just a dangerous practice and there have been serious reactions to such practices.

Gracie had shots one at a time a couple of weeks apart.(this was her last round of puppy shots. Her others were given while still with the breeder) We just made a tech appt (which is free) for the other injection. The vet has to give the rabies shot in our state but I would wait until she is quite a bit older before getting that one done.

Make sure your vet has experience dealing with tiny dogs, especially Yorkies. They do have their own issues and really need to be treated differently than even what would be considered small dogs, like 10 to 20lbs.

[SophieKatesMom]

I agree with the other advice given of getting her on a schedule for single shots until she is fully vacinated. Sophie Kate got her rabies shot at 4 months old (if I remember correctly) and it was one of her last shots.

Please be very careful with her unti then, no other dogs around her who may not be vacinated and please do not take her out in public. Call you Vet and get her on a schedule.

Congrats and you will love being a Yorkie owner.

[chestermama]

she is adorable, make sure she is socialized well, take her to places like office depot and let people pet her, puppy class is also a good thing, have her eat at least 3 times a day, good puppy food, dont let her down on floors like petsmart or places until she has had more shots, no ham or pork causes pancreatitis in yorkies, no treats or anything that is made in china. yorkies are wonderful my boy is 11 yrs old and is the love of my life. flea combs are a good thing to have on hand as well