Que - My Yorkie is 14 weeks old. He runs the entire house. He is not afraid of any other dog, and wears my 4-year-old Bichon out. He loves company, loves children, and loves all my neighbors.
He does have a lot of energy - but he still sleeps alot. Most dogs do sleep a lot.
He has tons of room to run and play in my house. My house is large, but he would have just as much fun in an apartment.
Your puppy will probably not be afraid of the cats and will delight in interacting with them. If he gets scratched, he'll just stay a little further away and still enjoy them. Your puppy will learn to stay out of the cat's way, if they bother him. Otherwise, he'll enjoy teasing them. But, they can easily get up on something where he can't reach them. No problem there!
Yorkies are small - and you have to be careful with them in many ways because of their size. But, they are far from fragile. They are really very tough little guys. As sweet as he is, my little pup occasionally growls at me in an effort to get me to do what he wants me to do. I tell him "no no," and then he just runs off to play somewhere else.
My Yorkie is sweet, loveable, and playful. He loves my other dog and totally wears him out at times. My Bichon has literally drug the little Yorkie (who is hanging onto one of his ears) to me begging me to get him off.
I have had my Yorkie two months or so. He barks, but so far he is definitely not much of a barker. My other dog doesn't bark often, so the little Yorkie is the same. My dogs usually bark when someone comes to the door and when they see someone outside in the yard. I would expect your having only one dog will help keep the barking down a lot. But, yes, they can bark. You can really keep this to a minimum if you discourage it.
You may have trouble getting a Yorkie that is a year old or so (no one wants to give their Yorkie away). If you get a pup, don't take one from its mother until is is at least 10 or 12 weeks old.
You can find tons of information on this forum about potty training a puppy. It is always a deal to go through (and perhaps even more so with a little Yorkie), but you can do it...just be prepared for some accidents along the way.
Good luck -- Carol Jean |