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SoCalyorkiLvr · 05-21-2005, 06:02 PM

The dog, ultimately, belongs to the parents because a minor cannot legally enter into a binding contract and is no more responsible enough to own a dog than they are to have and care for a human baby. If I were a breeder, I would deal directly with the parents only for this reason. Regardless of what the child may promise, the parents would have to accept the total responsibility for the animal from a legal and ethical stand point. I had wanted a yorkie all my life, but I waited until my kids were older and I was working less to get mine because I knew that they thrive on human interaction and contact. It would not be fair to this breed to not give them that in my opinion.

My 18 year old college daughter has a yorkie and I bought him for her, but she lives in private housing with 4 other girls and we picked a dog with a mellow personality that would suit her lifestyle. Santa Barbara is very dog friendly thank goodness and she is a photograper so Buddha goes everywhere with her!! He is tiny and the best, most well behaved yorkie. Hefner would never work in that environment. Buddha is never home alone and they come home most weekends.

My 17 year old also has a yorkie, but she is in school everyday so Chai is my responsibility a lot of the time. When Amy is home she cares for Chai, but a lot of the responsibility falls to me because yorkies are so "needy" and thrive on human contact and interaction. I accept full responsibility for Chai and Buddha because my daughters do not have the where with all at this stage in their lives to be financially responsible for another life. I am lucky enough to be able to provide the very best care for them and their dogs.

I think 12 is too young to be solely responsible for a dog as small, fragile and demanding as a yorkie. They are truly like babies, not dogs. I would not let a 12 year old babysit a newborn baby and, therefore, I would not let them be the sole responsibility for a yorkie baby puppy. To me, it is the same since yorkie puppies demand 24/7 attention and care in my opinion. If a parent were willing to be the primary care giver with the daughter assisting while supervised, that would probably work well. JMHO.

05-21-2005, 06:02 PM	#28
SoCalyorkiLvr BANNED! Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 8,246	The dog, ultimately, belongs to the parents because a minor cannot legally enter into a binding contract and is no more responsible enough to own a dog than they are to have and care for a human baby. If I were a breeder, I would deal directly with the parents only for this reason. Regardless of what the child may promise, the parents would have to accept the total responsibility for the animal from a legal and ethical stand point. I had wanted a yorkie all my life, but I waited until my kids were older and I was working less to get mine because I knew that they thrive on human interaction and contact. It would not be fair to this breed to not give them that in my opinion. My 18 year old college daughter has a yorkie and I bought him for her, but she lives in private housing with 4 other girls and we picked a dog with a mellow personality that would suit her lifestyle. Santa Barbara is very dog friendly thank goodness and she is a photograper so Buddha goes everywhere with her!! He is tiny and the best, most well behaved yorkie. Hefner would never work in that environment. Buddha is never home alone and they come home most weekends. My 17 year old also has a yorkie, but she is in school everyday so Chai is my responsibility a lot of the time. When Amy is home she cares for Chai, but a lot of the responsibility falls to me because yorkies are so "needy" and thrive on human contact and interaction. I accept full responsibility for Chai and Buddha because my daughters do not have the where with all at this stage in their lives to be financially responsible for another life. I am lucky enough to be able to provide the very best care for them and their dogs. I think 12 is too young to be solely responsible for a dog as small, fragile and demanding as a yorkie. They are truly like babies, not dogs. I would not let a 12 year old babysit a newborn baby and, therefore, I would not let them be the sole responsibility for a yorkie baby puppy. To me, it is the same since yorkie puppies demand 24/7 attention and care in my opinion. If a parent were willing to be the primary care giver with the daughter assisting while supervised, that would probably work well. JMHO.