Be careful w/ the baby gates - we had a s**tzu before, and I tried to use the same baby gate for my Laila - she got stuck w/ in 5 minutes! Luckily I was close by and could hear her little feet moving back and forth to get out. I immediately threw it away and bought one w/ smaller holes, so she couldn't get her head stuck in them. You have to be sooo careful w/ a tiny yorkie.
Potty Training was really easy for me!! I immediately started her off w/ the potty pads. Start w/ 1 in each room, then widdle them down as she gets use to them. Now I only have 1 pad out, and she rarely even needs to use it. This technique also worked for night time. I put a pad in a gated area, and she would use the pad at night. They are scented to attract the dogs. I'm not a crate fan. As a baby my Laila pooped in her crate and it was a HUGE mess to clean up. As puppies some Yorkies don't have that great of bladder control or bowel control if you know what I mean. They need to go when they need to go! It is easy to get them to pee outside, but to teach them to 'let you know they have to pee' is difficult w/ having potty pads in the house. It took a while to teach my dog how to let me know. She still isn't that good at it, but I can tell when she needs to go.
My Yorkie does like to fight a little, but only w/ smaller dogs. She only wants to play w/ large dogs - and has come to realize she is tiny. She is more timid w/ big dogs. Teach them slowly, and with a really nice big dog, and they will be okay. I would worry more about the other dogs coming after the Yorkie, than the Yorkie after the other dogs. Don't ever assume a large dog w/ like the tiny Yorkie. A lot of times they don't even realize they are dogs - they might appear as squirrels or rabbits to some dogs.
I got Laila and at 7 months had to move to a new house. I thought she would have a lot of issues w/ the move and being so young. NO WAY! She actually did wonderful and was so excited to have a huge new area to take over. She quickly fell in love w/ the new house, and has never had an accident (2 months I've lived there now). It actually improved her, not the other way around. Weird, but true, at least in my case. Just break them in slowly. Do not let them have the whole house right away, it is too overwhelming. I put her on a long leash, and each day would give her more reign when I was out. Now she is great, and knows all the knooks and cranny's of the house.
Getting a yorkie was the best decision I ever made! Be sure to socialize them too! This helps tremendously, socialize w/ people and dogs! Good luck, let me know if you have any more questions. |