[gemy]

Well from my point of view; first if the YTCA a respected breed club, with hundreds of years of combined breed experience recommends 12wks and 2 pounds; that is pretty persuasive to me, that it is in the best interests of the puppy and new puppy owner.

I think that 2lbs is still very tiny, but I'm thankful that my pup didn't come home when he only weighed a pound!. It is my understanding that the smaller weight wise a pup is the more danger of hypogylcemia.

A quality breeder of Yorkies, during that "additional" 4 wk or more period, can make a huge difference in the nature and character of the puppy. Basic obedience, hard food eating, learning more to focus on humans, she even begins leash training (in house), and toy motivation skills. But if the breeder doesn't add valuable life lessons to the puppy, still the puppy can learn more from Mom and siblings.

Funny my breeder and I were just having a discussion about best age to take puppy home. One pretty salient point she made was, if the breeder does no training of pup (and here specifically we were talking about older pups 4mths on), then it is best if pup goes to owner earlier so this can be done. As a breeder she has often had to deal with Yorkies who come to her at an older age and know nothing but kennel life.
It takes much time to socialize these dogs, give them confidence when outside, but certainly can be done.
I'd certainly wouldn't hesitate to take an older dog from Ilona.