[Zap4Devon]

Originally Posted by artie merlino

I am 45 yrs. old and I grew up w/Dogs all my Life, I have had every Breed from a Pitbull to a Newfoundland and everything in between. I have 3 Yorkie's
Artie 10 lbs./4 yrs. old, Abigail 8 lbs./3 yrs. old and Pom Pom their daughter
5 lbs./2 yrs. old. I am a true Yorkie Fan, of all the Dogs I have ever had my 3 are by far the most Impressive. I have such an incredible bond/connection with all 3 of them whether they are by themselves or all together as a Pack or in their case as a Family. They are very smart and learn things quickly!
They respond to voice and sound commands as well as hand signals.
They understand English, Filipino and Japanese (Since I'm from Hawaii).
They were all House Trained within a day or 2. They are all Healthy, except for an annoying honking/snorting cough from Artie when he gets excited.
I do NOT recommend this Breed for small children, I have Trained/Socialized mine to accept children of all ages but I can tell they are uncomfortable, except for Abigail, she was bred by a Woman who was a Grand Mother of 5,
so she was around that kind of comotion/energy all the time from birth which is rare for this Breed. I do not recommend this Breed for first time Dog Owners
that have never had or raised a Dog before, only b/c Yorkies usually figure out at an early age how much they can get away with and usually manipulate their Humans. The reasons I am so Happy and proud of mine are
endless. Poor Health is a sign of Poor Breeding, unfortunately you DON"T get what you pay for, regardless of the price it's NOT a Garauntee of Quality!
It's so sad to me that this is such a popular Breed that they are being over-bred w/NO "Quality Control" everybody wants to Breed their own to make a buck or save a buck? Bottom line is you must make the effort to Train and Socialize them just like any other Breed of Dog. I enjoy every moment w/mine
b/c I know that I am Lucky enough to have them!
For the record I have about 10 friends, 1 Sister and 3 Cousins that have Yorkie's and they all complain about the same problems and always ask for my advice since mine are so well behaved and actually Trained. So if you have had previous experience Training Dogs of any Breed you should'nt have any problems? My 3 know exactly what I want and what I expect of them.
Do your Research, read as much as you can about them so you won't be surprised and you will know what to expect. I personally ignored every negative thing I ever heard about them, I would tell myself "Not mine" and I would purposely try to prove them wrong. I would also see my Friend's Yorkie's act like Fool's @ my House while I was Dog Sitting or while I was @ their's and after about 5 min. around my 3 they all laid down and fell asleep.
Good Luck to everyone that reads this it's a hard decision b/c it is a long term
committment, but by all means recognize and admit your limitations. Yorkie's are NOT for everyone but I did notice you either Love them or Hate them with
all your Heart!

We are out to prove people wrong as well. Our family fell in love with these little guys the moment we saw them at the breeders. She brought in two sets of parents for us to visit with along with the three pups we had to choose from. They all behaved well and were happy to let us hold them and pet them for an extended period of time. Just days before, we visited with a Havanese breeder (which is another breed I highly recommend). All twelve dogs in the room (family of breeders in southern MO) were angels. Unbelievable behavior and they're cute as well. In fact until the moment we saw "Carter" (soon to be Zap) we were sure that we would be going back for a Havanese puppy at Christmas. My wife and I have just always loved the Yorkies. I will admit though, we did not realize until researching that they were as much work as some make it sound like. And her mom was dead set on us not getting a Yorkie because of the yapping and smallness factor and the fact that the Havanese seem to be such wonderful dogs on so many fronts. We even began to second guess our down payment after reading these boards and the books we picked up, but we have both decided that "any" dog is what you make it for the most part. They will all have their own little "issues", but any breed can be trained and that's exactly what we intend to do. The toughest part, obviously, is being consistent. And as of today, that's our full intent. Hopefully this little guy will help us out a little. lol The name is already setting him up for spunk, which worries me. haha It comes from Zapeta, which was my son's middle name before we adopted him from Guatemala. Oscar was his first, and I really like that as well, so whatever Devon decides to go with, we'll keep.

These boards are helping us out trememdously with research and we can't wait to get the little guy here to begin our new adventure. Thanks for all the help.