Quote:
Originally Posted by withchoco  Hello,
We just adopted a 16-week old boy, Choco, last week, and he's a little gem. 
Although I grew up with small breed dogs, this is the first time having a male dog, and I have few questions.
1. He is 16 weeks old and weighs around 2lbs. He squats when he pees, and I am wondering when male Yorkies typically start spraying or peeing with a leg up. I have heard that many people wait to neuter/spay their Yorkies until reaching 6 months so that the milk teeth can be removed at the same time, if needed. For my male cats, I got them neutered before they started spraying, so that they don't get into a bad habit.
2. I am currently on vacation for about a month, and once the break is over, I will be away for about 4-5 hrs per day. I'm spending most of the time with Choco, and I am a bit concerned that he may get separation anxiety if I have to leave him alone after spending most of the time with him for a month. Any advice on how I should get him adjusted?
3. Do you let your Yorkies sleep in your bed? I have heard that dogs get confused about hierarchy when you let them sleep in the same bed with you. Currently, Choco sleeps in his crate at night, since he's still being potty-trained. He whine for 2-3 sec when I put him in his playpen, but shortly goes off to his bed without much begging. Would it be best to let him sleep in his crate?
Thank you in advance and happy holidays!
PS - I tried to upload some of his photos, but they exceeded the size limit. I will do so after adjusting the size. |
First off Congratulations! On both new Yokie Mommy-hood and becoming a member to YT!
1. Gizmo (my little male) was 6 months when he was neutered. He never (and still hasn't) lifted his leg on anything. He attempted once, and I looked and him and said in a firm voice, "No!" And he has never attempted since. He also doesn't "spray" like a cat does. Just get your little man neutered at 6 months and try to prevent any leg lifting. Some males do it, some don't. But I've never had a problem with Gizmo marking because he addressed it as a "no no" early on.
2. With regards to seperation anxiety, every pup wants to be with their Momma, however 4-5 hours isn't too bad. Gizmo has really, really bad seperation anxiety (he was a puppymill/BYB pup) so we bought him a thundershirt and when he was a puppy we got him a stuffed dog that had a heart beat (so it was like he was sleeping with his litter mates) and bought him a dog that I could warm up in the microwave for comfort.
3. It's your own personal opinion, but Gizmo sleeps in the bed with us at night. I was one of those people that said absolutely not, but 2 weeks later when I only had 2 hours of sleep because he whinned and pottied in his crate (this was a combination of seperation anxiety and a whole ton of other social problems that came with him being a puppymill/byb dog) that I picked him up, he laid down at the foot of my bed, and it's been that way ever since. I don't really believe in the whole hierarchy mentality. I think a dog thinks you're apart of his pack and you have certain duties that he establishes with you, but we've never had any problems with it. But if he's doing fine in the crate now, why change things up?
If you have any other questions, let us know, I hope I've answered everything for you!