Welcome to YT! I would like to say that I have a thirteen month old daughter. I recently got a Yorkie puppy who is two months old now. I also have a Chihuahua, & she is a very small dog - she only weighs five pounds. I know that everyone on here says that very young children cannot get along with such small dogs, but it really depends on how you teach your children to act around small dogs. My daughter (even though she is very young) knows to treat our Chi with respect. We do NOT allow her to pick her up, tease her, pick on her, etc. We never leave them alone together, either. I know that my Chi would never hurt her no matter how much she is poked & prodded, but we do not allow our daughter to do this in the first place. She knows that dogs, especially small dogs, are to be treated with respect. My Chi is very friendly towards her & would never bite her or even play with her at all. That being said, my Chi is not a puppy. She's three years old. I would recommend getting an older Yorkie if you're going to get one. I do have a Yorkie puppy, but we NEVER let my daughter near him. He is just too young & all he wants to do is play, & he does not understand yet that young children can't take the nipping & such. We are teaching him that nipping is not acceptable, nor is roughhousing, but he is only a puppy & sometimes he forgets. When my Yorkie is not on a leash next to me, I keep him in his play yard. In fact, I keep him in there when our daughter is crawling around, because gosh only knows that she'll sit on him, which could seriously injure or even kill him. There is no way that your son can learn right now to not sit on the dog & to be careful where he is stepping. I'm sure when my Yorkie is older though he will understand better & not play rough with her or nip her. Yorkies are very smart dogs. Like everyone else has said, you shouldn't get a Yorkie for your kid. There's NO WAY he is old enough to take care of a dog. If you do get one, please understand that you are the one who will be responsible for him, not your son. You will have to keep them apart until the dog gets older. Again, I would highly recommend getting a fully grown Yorkie.
-Amy |