que344, i don't think you understand the gravity of the "landlord thing". it's not a matter of sweet talking your landlord into overlooking a violation of your parents' rental agreement. and the difference between a small dog and a fat cat is more than just weight. dogs will bark and make noise, some will bark every time a phone rings, the door bell rings, a stranger walks by the door, etc. mine barks every time i'm out of his line of sight and he'll do it for a hour straight in the first couple weeks. all of which can be a noise nuisance to your neighbors leading to complaints to your landlord. a cat, whatever weight it's at, won't make the noise a dog can. so the "no dog rule" may not just be up to your parents' landlord. which is why more than one person is stressing that written approval from the landlord is first and foremost!!!!
as for the cat thing, if you already have a particular yorkie in mind, why not bring your cat over to meet the dog and see how they fare? otherwise there are these claw caps that you can buy that serves as a more humane alternative to declawing.
as for the peeing thing. your options are to come home cleaning up after all the messes your dog has left. OR train the dog to go potty indoors on paper, pottypad or litterbox and until that happens, you'll have to keep the dog confined to a smaller space and line the area with potty pads or newpaper. (which can still get messy and require cleaning up) OR reconsider if you and your family are ready for a yorkie if your schedule is not condusive to the time and care it needs. perhaps it is better to wait until you have more time to accomodate one especially in the early months of training, perhaps during summer vacation is a better time than now. |