[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by MelissaStiffler

Hello Everyone! I'm new to the community and a new owner of a 12 week old male yorkie. I actually just got him a couple of days ago and would love to have some answers to a few of my questions.

1. He is very scared like someone has been mean to him, When I go to pick him up he will get down on all fours and kind of shake, I don't think that is normal for a 12 week old. I saved him from a house with about 8 kids (no joke), so that may have something to do with it, not sure though. Puppies are sometimes scared/anxious after getting to a brand new environment...when they're whole little life was spent in one place. Did he come from a place where he had lots of human/dog interaction, btw? Don't worry, he'll get more comfy as time goes on.

2. Also his hair looks awful, I gave him a bath when I brought him old and then brushed his hair out but it still doesn't look nice. So I was wondering if I should take him to get a hair cut with him being so young. Don't take him to a groomer, he's too young and not fully vaccinated yet, most likely. Plus, I'd let him get used to his new enviro and to you before introducing anything else into his life. Let him get comfy. Puppies do go thru awkward, funny lookin' stages w/ their hair...maybe he is in his now...?

3. He is full blooded however I don't have any papers on him or any shot records so I'm calling the Vet on Tuesday to make an appointment to get him checked out. I purchased him off of Craigslist for a very low amount, so I'm hoping that there isn't something wrong with him for him to be sold so cheap. Is there ANY WAY you can get info on his past shots? Bc otherwise, you could end up double vaccinating him when you go to the vet...and that is not ideal, at all, for his immune system, now and later.

4. Now on to the happy things, He is black and brown, however he has some light silver hair coming through on top of his head, does that mean when his coat grows out more that his hair will end up being a different color then it is now? Most yorkies go thru the stage where the lighter colors start poking through their scalp, so this is normal. It's hard to tell what color he'll end up unless you saw the parents. As you'll see, we have all sorts of colors on YT. See YTCA.org for the breed club's color descriptions of purebred yorkies.

Also what is a good brush that some of you use that really gets into the hair and brushes it, I purchased a brush however it's cheap and only brushes the hair on top. Never use those sharp wire brushes like they use, for ex, on a husky - the ones that are short, needly, thin-needled - those are ONLY for dogs with undercoats. I use a flexible wire brush that looks like a human wire brush....with longer, flexible, thicker wires that don't scratch the skin. Yorkies have hair, not fur, and no undercoat - so they need gentle brushes.

Sorry for such a random post, as you can tell I'm a new yorkie owner and have tons of questions.

Thank you!

I answered in purple above. And WELCOME TO YT!