[daimbert]

Hello everyone.

Thank god for this forum...its a godsend I tell you. I just acquired a yorkie from my father who in turn acquired it from a kennel up in Albany New York. He apparently paid a sum of 300 dollars for it. He's supposed to be 4 months old but am not to sure considering he had clearly visible canines. He's looks healthy but is missing quite a couple of his shots which seems to me shody. No matter now his my pup and I cannot abadoned him. My father has had him before for about 2 weeks and has developed or hasn't learn any good habits. Here are some of my questions.

1. We've changed his name from ninge (my father) to nemo. Is he young enough still to do this without getting confused. Or should I try to contact the breeder and find out his original name?

1. In terms of potty training considering I live in the Bronx in NYC in a fifth floor walk-up, where people commonly do not pick-up after their animals there are often alot of debri (glass, etc) should I even bother walking him outside? Also I've heard Yorkie get sick pretty easy and with the constant weather changes in NY is he likely to get sick quicker? So basically what I am saying is should I paper (wee wee pads) or outside train?

2. When I received the dog he came with a crate and I guess my dad brought him a separate bed. Should I take the bed away to encourage the crate or just keep it. I just don't want him to get confused. Is crate training the way to go..especially for a city dog. If so what are separate I can do to entice him to stay. Right now he will go in separate to chew his bone, etc but he doesn't sleep there. He always sleeping underneath the bed for some reason. Can I still crate train successfully while having a 9 - 5 job? If so what do I do during the day to keep him from destroying stuff?

3. Where should I put the dog especially if I am crate training. I live with my sister and mother. The dog right now is staying in my sisters room and I try to train him there. I was thinking of moving him to my room simply because he seems to obey me more than my sister and I heard that having one person doing most of the training helps with him not getting confused. Or doesn't it really matter?

4. What food do you feed your Yerkes. I think my father was feeding him pedigree dry food puppy bites and he eats it o.k. but not with much gusto and often we need to feed him by hand in order for him to eat well a habit I want to break soon. Is it the food? Living in new york there Tons of holistic pet store that are strong advocate of holistic canned goods. I just want to make sure he eats well.

5. What toys do yorkies seem to go wild for. I brought him a Kong but I think he's more annoyed by it than liking it and a squeky ball that he doesn't like. Any suggestions would be great.

5. Finally does anyone recommend any books on training and Yorkies in general.


Thanks everyone sorry for the above. I am just trying to do it right with this York (nemo). My last dog was a disaster and I know it was all my fault. Help me out please.

John