it's important to note that even "small breed" puppy classes will have pups that are much bigger than yorkies. "small breed" are usually dogs that will top out at about 20lbs when grown. so comparatively to our little yorkies, other small breed pups will probably be a good 2x or 3x bigger than your yorkie.
when i enrolled bunjee in puppy classes at petsmart, i asked ahead of time how many puppies are in the class and what breeds they are. there was a total of 7 pups in class with 2 larger pups (labs) and 4 other smaller pups (jrt, cocker, pom, min pin). bunjee was the smallest of them all and although he was rather intimidated in the first couple weeks of class, he did help with his confidence and socialization with dogs of varies sizes. there were exercises where the smaller pups were separated from the bigger pups and there were exercises where they interacted together. i remember at one point where the owners traded pups to practice loose leash walking and i traded with one of the lab owners. boy... is there a difference between walking a 40 lb lab vs. a 4 lbs yorkie. haha. lemme tell ya, it was a workout.
i think it's important for you to be able to observe a class and see how much emphasis the instructers place on the owners maintain control of their dogs. i wouldn't enroll my pup in a class where the owners are allowed to let their dogs do "whatever" with minimal control. you never know if the big pup will think your yorkie is a stuffed animal. eeks!
depending on where you are, petsmart *may* have a small breed class. in my area, they didn't but a friend of mine in southern california is also taking her pup to petsmart for class and they had one for small breed pups. |