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Originally Posted by bjh  First of all, welcome to YorkieTalk. Honestly I have to tell you you are going to have to be so very careful with the puppy. It would be so much better for you and the puppy of the breeder would keep the puppy a little longer. Do you have any experience with raising a tiny puppy? How much does he weigh? As a breeder I don't even normally sell a pup to someone with kids that young unless the person has had experience with yorkies and knows the responsibility that goes along with it.
The question should not be can the yorkie get along with the kids but can the kids get along with the yorkie. Yorkies are very loving and they love people. Yorkies also all have different personalities just like our human kids do. Some yorkies are very active and demanding and other are quiet and laid back.
Some things you must do to make it work
1. Have a safe place for you puppy to go when it is not being supervised. I prefer putting them in a exercise pen so they can have their food and water, bed and pee pads all in one small area. Some people crate but I have never done that. Some people like to gate off a room so the pup cannot have free run of the house when not being supervised.
2. Do not allow your children to pick up the puppy and carry it around. Children should only be allowed to hold the puppy when they are sitting down and being supervised.
3. Children have to be taught not to feed the puppy any food other than what you tell them they can.
4. Children should be taught to not run through the house when the puppy is out. Yorkie owners soon learn to do the 'yorkie shuffle' in order to prevent stepping on their yorkie.
5. You have to be extra careful about putting the puppy on a bed, sofa or chair. Puppies can easily jump off and break a leg.
6. Your children will need to learn to not leave any toys or other items laying around on the floor. Yorkie pups love to chew on things and they are very good at chewing up shoes, cords and just about anything they can get their teeth on.
There is so much more to tell you but this is just a start. You will find so much information on YT about potty training, diet, grooming, etc. I hope you share pictures after you get your baby. Please feel free to ask any questions. There are many experienced yorkie owners on this site. |
Children under the age of 5 or 6 do NOT have the physical development or maturity to be around a small breed puppy at all.....they just can not balance and move without falling and tripping and running and making loud noises and wanting to "love" on the puppy, which can easily result in major injury as the puppy is "hugged" to death, or dropped. A lot of us will not sell to homes with children under 6 years of age, as I personally would never forgive myself if I did, and a toddler fell over the baby and injured or killed it.....I know people say they will make the child sit on the floor and never allow the child walk or run with the puppy.....but "accidents", (toddler jumps up or flops down on top of the puppy) happen and kids are kids and when we as adults expect them to have the precise mobility control an older child has, we are blindly endangering the puppy. I shudder to think of a 2 and a 4 year old navagating footloose and fancy free around a small Yorkie puppy.....disaster waiting to happen. Have the breeder keep the puppy until it is older? Absolutely....that is the first red flag....and that they are willing to let the baby that young go to a home with young toddlers present is the second red flag. Letting a baby go with no vaccinations is the third red flag. If there is no contract or health guarantee or return policy, that is red flags #4, 5, and 6. I am very strict on where I allow my puppies to go....I have to live with any decision I make about these babies.....I have to know I did everything I did for the well being of the puppy, period.