New here..just want some answers
 

Hi...so im planning on getting a yorkie...and i would just like to be totally prepared
so my first question is of course about potty training..i would like to train my yorkie to be 100% house trained,because when I'm at school no ones gonna be able to take her out..also do i still take her outside to go potty when i am home,or will that just confuse the puppy on where to potty.
my second question is what is the best food brand to buy,and what food brand do you guys use??
third question is on this product Potty Training Bell | KV Supply you hang the bell on the door and when your puppy wants to be let outside they will ring the bell..has anyone brought something likes this or uses something like this??
my fourth question is since i know yorkies can be yappy,how do yall deal with a yappy dog or and aggressive dog??
and my last question is just out of curiosity,i just wanna know how much do y'all spend each month on your dog??
thank you :)

FIRST, get familiar with the breed....this may not be a good breed for you! I recommend "Yorkies for Dummies" and "Yorkshire Terriers: A Smart Owners Guide"....you need to read these two books cover to cover, and then put them where you can use them for reference for the rest of your pup's life! These two excellent books will tell you everythig you could possibly need to know about Yorkies and what it requires to be successful with them! All your questions asked above, as wel as hundreds more, are covered totally in these two books! Best of luck with this new adventure, and I hope you find Yorkies as endearing and irresistable as we all have!

I can answer a few of your questions:

(1) My Bella is trained to potty inside on a pad, but she can still potty outside without being confused. The most important thing is to emphasize the inside training first, if that's where you want her to go most of the time.

(2) Feed your dog what the breeder was feeding her for at least a few weeks before considering switching to another brand. If your dog does well, you can keep her on it.

(3) I have no experience with the pet bells.

(4) Bella is not a yappy dog, and I don't think that Yorkies are yappy dogs in general. Each dog is different.

(5) I suppose I spend about $10 in food and $10 in flea and tick control on a recurring monthly basis. Veterinary care (vaccinations, check-ups, etc.) are more expensive, but don't happen every month. Oh, I also have Bella groomed every 2 months @ $45 per visit. All told, I'd guesstimate that I spend about $100 per month on average, including vet care.

Hello and Welcome to YT. "Yorkies For Dummies" is the first one I recommend."Yorkshire Terriers: A Smart Owners Guide" is the second book. These are excellent resource books .Another book "How to Housebreak Your Dog in 7 Days" Is very helpful. They are not as easy to housebreak. Here is the schedule that they are using. It seemed to work for Galen. Good luck

http://www.leecharleskelley.com/imag...sebreaking.pdf

Hi and welcome to YT you will learn a lot here! I'm your neighbor in Sayreville! Do you go to Rutgers?
Many may not agree with me, but I always advise a first time yorkie owner to consider rescuing first. I think adopting an adult dog is better/ easier for a "newbie". First off, an adult can "hold it" longer than a puppy. Many times they are at least partially trained, and most are past the teething stage. Also, its easier to judge temperament with an adult dog.
There are many yorkies out there needing new homes for various reasons. I just saw a beautiful 21/2 year old 5# yorkie in S Brunswick looking for a home yesterday. I was sooo tempted to take him,.....
Feel free to PM me if I can help in any way! Its always nice to meet yorkie neighbors!

I agree that a rescue would be a way better option for a student. Raising a yorkie puppy is really rewarding, but will eat a lot more of your limited time than having an adult will. When they're really young (e.g., <4.5 months) you have to constantly keep a hawk eye on them, not only for potty training, but also because they will try to chew on and eat every thing. Well, at least if Cookie is any indication; she has grown out of trying to put everything in her mouth quite a bit though, thankfully. It really is like having a toddler though early on.

My brother rescues a lot of dogs, and he uses the bells on the door. When one has an accident he walks the dog to the door, grabs its paw, and hits the bell with it. He has had a lot of success, but we're talking mostly adult mutts over 20 pounds. Yorkies are usually harder to potty train than a lot of other breeds, so I have no idea how the bells would work for you there (my brother has never fostered a yorkie).

thanks for your help..i do not go to rutgers but i do live in new brunswick...i am actually a sophomore and im 15...and yes i have looked at animal rescue shelters around me and found some places of course i would NEVER buy any pet from petsmart or petco..and i know that a puppy would be a lot more to handle but i do have time and i would mainly like a younger dog so that way i could teach her whats acceptable and whats not while she's young because their previous owners might have taught them different

Oh OK, disregard what I said about the limited time then. A puppy might not be a bad idea then if your parents are ok with a possibly tough potty training period that could last a year even. Oh wow, I love my 5 month old yorkie pup like absolutely nothing else in this world, but just when I think I have the potty training down she'll have a really stubborn day like the last two (seems like on average once a month) where she's a terror to get to go outside. I know it's not unique to me based on all the threads here in this forum with fellow posters pulling their hair out in frustration too lol.

Sweetest and most fun animals in the world.

Change in boundaries & method slowy worked wonders
 

Well, my breeder/friend said all her Yorkies were trained to use newspapers in their basement doggie runs & also went outside when she gave them the free run of her fenced in backyard. When I first brought Taffy home, I was still in my last year of teaching school, and he used newspapers in his "puppy room", which was half of the kitchen!..I would take him outside to pee & poo in the a.m. as Soon as I had on my robe & slippers; no house is next to ours, thank God! We stayed in the Same area of the yard at 1st or the pup would not realize he was not out side to play!! I praised him and gave him a little piece of soft meat treat. (He loved that!) Then, back in house for me & hubby to get ready for work. He would follow us around the house--When we left, he had the kitchen...doors closed. I would cean up his wet newspapers from his tray, etc. when I got home...I got home 1st! He would sometimes do his poo beside the boot tray that held the newspapers, so I tried an extra sheet next to the tray, that helped. (I found boot trays at Wal-Mart for $5.00, and he was pretty good at staying on the paper in the boot tray). While he was young, we also kept one tray outside the t.v. room in the hall that had wooden floors, but husband did not like that! As Taffy got older, I shifted over to taking him outdoors more and more often during school holidays, the mornings, afternoons, evenings, and especially in the summers when we were both home. We found a type of meat treat that we could use as a reward, and we kept praising him for going "right away"! OUR FUN WALKS WERE LATER ON, NOT DURING POTTY TIME!! Now, he always slept on the big bed at night, and I had another boot tray & newspaper in the corner of that bedroom with a 6" piece of "used newspaper" under a clean top sheet of paper as a reminder...it worked well when he was little. Now that he is 3 years old, he sleeps all night, but I still leave that tray & paper in the bedroom corner, and he rarely uses it at all. We found out from reading and talking to other owners that if there were TOO MANY Rooms that the pup is allowed into, then the More Mistakes he will make, especially in those rooms that were not used often by us, rooms we did not really "live in" or spend a lot of time in! This old, two story farmhouse was built by Mike's grandparents in the 1930's, so there was a room we use daily as our t.v. room right beside the kitchen. We learned Very quickly to "close off" the front dining room door and also the old fashioned-double doors that went into Front living room (there were rugs!)--these rooms we only used if there was company! So, the pup had figured, hey, no one in my family is "using" these 2 rooms...I guess I can pee or poo on the rugs in there! NO! This meant our Taffy was really only in the t.v. room and the kitchen during the day while we were home, or hewas following us...which he always wants to happily do! When a puppy, he stayed in the kitchen with his food&water, the puppy newspaper tray, and his small wire crate with a soft puppy bed in the crate while we both taught at nearby schools. As he got older, the dog crate was put into the t.v. room...by then he was 2 yrs old, and I was "retired from school" and I still would take him outside 1st thing when we got up, AND I took him outdoors more and more during the day!--remember, these are small dogs with LITTLE bladders.! At first, we went out @ every hour, but that tapered off pretty soon as he got on a routine & he got older. HE was not using the boot tray in the kitchen, and my hubby happily took it out! Now, Taffy was going outside most all the time, and he would do it right away too because I went Back inside the house! I could peak through the window to watch him, AND Taffy WOULD bark when he was done, so I would come take him inside with me! He likes his outdoor bathroom "privacy", so we put 3 metal doggy stakes outside near different spots in the back. I would take him outside to a stake and he would do his pee, then move near the bush to poo. (I always took along a paper Kleenex or piece of toilet paper to lift up his little poo to flush in the downstairs toilet. Also, since we live out in the countryside with a pasture across from the yard fences, we could also take a nice big tree leaf and throw the poo wrapped inside the leaf out into the cattle pasture! It would deter wild skunks, foxes, and then it would just disintegrate from rain! Gone! Now, Taffy follows me all around the house while I clean. He still stays OUT of the dining room and the front living room, because they aren't used much at all, and we keep the doors closed!! He loves to "guard" the bedroom where we sleep when I go to town; he naps on the bed, and at 5 1/4 pounds, he now waits till I get home to go outside to pee...even with the old boot tray in the bad room corner, he ignores it now!! Taffy is now basically an "outside trained dog". He still has a large puppy play pen in the basement that can be all fixed up with dog crate, tray & his newspaper, food & water dishes, and our sister comes over to take him for walks and clean the wet newspapers & change food while we may take a rare weekend trip. (There is also a great kennel where we once left Taffy with his own food and his own crate in his kennel dog run that goes into a nice, clean building, and they walk the dogs every day..this is great if our sister is out of town.) But, to train a dog takes patience! If you PUNISH the pup, he thinks he is being punished FOR PEEING OR POOING!! True Story: My younger brother & wife (both young & working) finally gave away their small dog in the 1980's because he was "hiding" peee & poo behind the sofa & chairs, etc. Then, he was getting scolded and put in his crate ("Bad Dog!!")..so, the poor dog thought his humans HATED HIS Needing to POTTY!! He thought he should NOT be PEEING AT ALL!! Finally, an older, retired couple down the street adopted their little dog and took him outdoors during the day and gave him treats and praise, the little guy stopped going in the house!! All trained after 4 months of patient work!
So, if you can't invest the time to train a puppy, you may be better off getting a dog that is older and already trained! But, if you are gone all day, it IS NOT the dog's fault....his bladder is killing him, and he needs to go!!
LOVE YOUR DOG!!



After cleaning the rug in the dining room

My boyfriend and I are both students/research assistants and we just got a puppy this summer. I would recommend to get a puppy during your school breaks, so you can have days off and take care of the new puppy. We got our puppy in July and we were able to go home during lunch time or just work at home during summer. I can't imagine dealing with all new puppy things during the school year.

1) We contain the puppy in his exercise pen, 4 by 4 ft. and leave down two pee pads for him to use during the day. He usually use one and make snow with the other one, haha. Pee pads are much cheaper at Meijer/Kroger/Walmart/Online.

2) We are first time dog owner... Not much experience, but any food for small breed puppy should be okay :) Our dog food is chicken and rice based, it is easy on the stomach according to our vet.

3) We use the bell method. It works well. Our puppy sits by the door or hits the bell when he needs to go. It took about one week for him to get the idea and about one month for him to do it more consistently. I feel another important thing is to catch him/her when he/she is doing it inside and bring him/her outside right away. Our small apartment actually made this easier :P as he doesn't have too much room to roam around.

4) 10 on food, 20 on preventative meds for worms and flea, 10 on pee pads, 20 on toys (he destroys his toys...), ~60 for each wellness exam and shots (totally 3), 30 on insurance. Yesterday, we just spent ~100 as our puppy had vomiting and diarrhea... I'd say $150 -$200 /month for the first 6 month... I hope it gets cheaper when he gets older... Definitely cost more than what we thought, but still affordable if you find the stuff at the right place (pet store is always more expensive).

potty training bell
 

There is a puppy training video for sale at Pet Smart stores which has a top woman trainer who helps family pets and rescue-pound dogs. Part of the proceeds from video sale go to the shelters, great! She showed training a collie or sheltie dog to use a bell hanging from the SAME DOOR the dog exits daily to go out to potty. At first the owner has to ring the bell. "Yay!" Says owner, dog gets small TREAT, and he also gets the small TREAT, then, they go to yard to potty in same area of yard. Now, the bell is at the dog's head height on that door. EVERY time they went for potty; boy ALWAYS jingles the bell...Yay!....treat...go out. Then, finally he held treat UNDER the bell...of course, dog pushes to get treat...RING!...Yay!...dog got TREAT Immediately!! Out for potty! This UNDER the bell with treat is repeated for several times over a few days. Finally, as the 2 head toward the door, the dog nudges the bell on his own! BIG "YAY!" Treat and out to potty. After a while dog is ringing bell on its own. PROBLEM: Some dogs will start Ringing bell at odd times, just for treat! So, now she has the dog very
Tiny piece of treat and the rest After pottying, no per, no rest of TREAT!

Have you thought about what you're going to do with the dog when you go to college?

I've spent at least $500 on Lola in the 3 months I've had her.
2 rounds of puppy shots, rabies, flea drops, steps for my bed, grooming supplies, potty pads, food, treats, toys, etc.
Pretty soon I'm going to have to pay $60+ to get her groomed and a few hundred to get her spayed.

I'd try to have at least $1000 saved to top of the price of the dog, maybe a bit less for an older dog.

Btw petco and petsmart don't sell dogs, they have adoption days where shelters and rescues bring dogs. It's the little pet stores you have to watch out for.

I'd wait until winter or spring break to get a dog, ideally summer break.

well thanks guys for your help...maybe it would be better to wait until spring break or next summer to get a puppy so that way i could spend more time with it....and i also have thought about college ,when i go to college i want to live off campus so i could bring my puppy with me to live with me

Hey,

Welcome and I only want to offer one bit of advice with your new puppy, keep things positive, all the time. Ensure that you always reward good behaviour, ignore the bad stuff and never punish your Yorkie. And never ever pay any heed to the theory of dominance or pack leadership. Yorkies are far too clever to think that they are wolves :)

Whenever you decide to have a new pupster it will be wonderful, hard work but every minute will be worth it! Enjoy ..

This is not the best info I've seen here, Yorkies are dogs first and yes they most certainly do have pack mentality, I've seen it first hand, I have 3. They are not wild wolves but their instinct for being pack dogs is still very evident.

Ignoring bad behaviors will never help to train a Yorkie.

For Lynzy420
 

Lynzy - Dogs are not wolves, the pack theory was based on a study of captive wolves who were forced into unnatural behaviours because of their circumstance. The same theory has been discredited by exactly the same group of scientists.

Interestingly I have two yorkies (and two Jack Russells) on my sofa right now with no issues. I expect the 'pack mentality crew' would have a little to say about that.

In public response to your PM asking where my information comes from I have a folder full of dog training and behaviour certificates some earned whilst I was a military dog trainer, others when I was training small dogs to be deaf peoples ears both full time respected dog training jobs. In addition to many years of rescue work.

Yet exactly why I have to defend myself against your misguided theories in personal messages :thumbdown I do not know? So I won't reply and kindly refrain from doing that again! You may live with three yorkies, but you know nothing about me, so be careful who you run around accosting!

Thank you!

On the bells - we use them, and they work. Pluto lets us know when he has to go.

On the training, just wanted to chime in that Pluto always does better with positive reinforcement - so I would agree with one of the other posters about not punishing or disciplining outside of timeouts - get them to do what you want (good behaviors) through reinforcement.

Example - If they are mouthing, get them to stop buy training them that they get treats when they don't mouth. A puppy training class is money well spent! :)

Just like kids, you have to redirect a lot - but redirection works really well. For both kids and dogs and training can be fun.

Good luck in whatever you do.

Why so defensive? I asked you where you got your information from? Obviously you were stating from a source. Albeit, I disagree.

Redirection, is for me the best course, it does work; however, when they are doing something wrong, I also say NO and redirect.

My source was my own learning. And if you go back and read the pm you sent to me then perhaps you will be able to answer your own question on why so 'defensive'

:)

But we are talking about dog training, are we not? So let's do that...

Redirection has its place. But it fails to prevent the behavior taking place initially. To be a good dog trainer you need to be two steps ahead of your dog at all times - For example jumping up - You need to know that he is going to jump up before he even knows it himself then offer another option.

To allow a behaviour to get to point of the dog doing something wrong, ie he has already jumped up when you redirect him, and you having to tell him 'No' is still allowing the habit to develop. It is too late by this point and he has then learned to repeat the behaviour.

So if your dog jumps up, teach him to sit instead. BUT do it before he has begun to think about jumping up.

If you see what I mean....

Quoting myself: "Where are you getting your information from? Yorkies are not pack dogs? They most certainly are and ignoring bad behavior will never help to train a Yorkie. What makes you say this?"

I'm not seeing anything wrong with that statement that I sent you, still didn't answer, what is the source? I've got a lot of experience with dogs as well, many many many and much experience. There is a pecking order and there is a pack mentality....so I'm asking what source can you direct me to that says they are not packs? Is their verifiable research? I asked in a pm so as to not go off topic....so if you can provide a link I'd be interested in reading this.

Lynzy I am not going to carry on getting into this with you. Read anything by Gwen Bailey, John Fisher, John Bradshaw, Karen Pryor. Dogs live in groups with different roles. They have strengths and weaknesses. They are not all wanting to get to the top of the pile. They just want to be understood, taught properly with effort and without punishment. Thats all I am going to say on the subject. I am not interested into getting into this with a stranger for no reason other than they won't open their mind and seem to want a row. Read read and read some more but I'm not trailing around the internet to find links for you. Half of the content out there is slush anyway Do it yourself if you want to learn.

End of conversation :cool:

Positives VS Negatives
 

All dogs, like people, have their own personality differences, but it is good to Let your little furball know that With Taffy, all my husband or I have to do is say "Taffy...." in a really disappointed, low tone, and his whole body language changes. His ears droop, head lowers, and he stops whatever he's doing. That's all it takes with him! (Sure, my hubby likes to play all kinds of crazy games with Taff on the den rug...they tug stuffed toys at Taffy's own height-level which Taff loves. I told Mike that he needs to "win" some of these games, too, so Taffy will "respect him" as the other male in the house, and Taff now knows that after 3 yrs sometimes "Dad" will win a game! Taff is perfectly fine with this, and he returns happily for a 'rematch'...no nipping, no anger issues. I also read in a couple of good training books that to keep a puppy from ever getting all "possessive" and "growly" over their food dish, that when your pup learns to "sit or stay", tell him to "sit" and then let him see You bend over and Let him sniff the food while You Hold the Bowl! Then, you just put the dish down in his feeding area. He begins to realize that You (his wonderful owner) are in Control of his food...it doesn't just appear on its own and need to be 'guarded' from everybody...you Gave it to him..that is so nice of Mom, or Dad! It only takes a second to do! I also try to remember to have Taff "stay" when we come to our back porch door, so I can hunt for keys or close an umbrella, and then he follows me inside. Since I'm in my 60's, I am less afraid of tripping over his little 5 pound body if I can get in the door first & then hold it for him. Yorkies are smart, and you can train them to 'stay' or 'stand' while you put on a leash or a hooded coat when it's raining outside.

Its not that deep Melanie, really....your over an edge that I have no idea the reason for, because I disagree with you? That is what a forum is all about, try to be a little more open to responses.

I am going to get the bells. I am putting a totally enclosed fence closure on the back of my house for them. There is a privacy fence around my backyard which is 100 ft deep and and 80 ft wide, but they can get under the fence quite easily and we have hawks and coyotes in the are, in addition to other creatures and rabbit poop- which I find pups find delectable!

Be wary of Hawks!
 

I saw that you mentioned there are hawks in your area. We have several types here in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. There was a very sad incident in Waynesboro, Va,a 30 minute drive from our area, about 6 years ago. The story was in the local paper and had owners of small pets very concerned. A lady
had put her small poodle in the family's fenced-in back yard for a bit of free play. She came to the door to bring her poodle inside when a "big hawk" swooped down and grabbed her poor dog. She ran out, screaming, the poodle was struggling and yelping, and the hawk was trying to carry the dog upward. Somehow, the poodle got loose, but died from the fall. The reporter questioned a local ranger from the nearby National Park, and the ranger said it was very probably a large Red Tail Hawk as they are common here. To the big hawk, the little poodle would have been an easy size to attack. If you have large hawk species in your area and if you buy a small dog, like a little Yorkie, try not to leave it all alone in your fenced-in area, especially if you have fields nearby. We have a pair of Red Tail Hawks which do circle our pasture for rabbits, etc. I keep our Yorkie on a leash and walk him along our lane, but there are too many wild animals that could make a "snack" out of our little guy if he was loose in the yard.

We live within a few miles of a large Nature Preserve, their are Hawks and other huge birds that I don't know what they are....coyotes have been seen in the area...I just would never take a chance...That poor poodle. Unfortunately it happens more often than people realize.

Thanks for sharing this...its always good to be mindful of the surroundings.

I'm 16 and just got a yorkie puppy. I have had Zeus for about a week and a half (Not long enough to give much advice) I would recommend getting it close to school holidays.I live in Australia and am currently on holidays. Don't let your age stop you from getting a puppy, as long as you have plenty of time and patience. Will your puppy be alone while you are at school?

I'm sorry but this post has been bothering me from the beginning and I need to give you some things to think about. I don't want to be mean, but I've seen this situation play out badly.

First it's wonderful that you made this post, but I'm not sure you know what you're getting into. It sounds like this would be your first dog.

Are your parents 100% on board with this? Are they willing to help financially and with taking care of it? Are they going to freak if it pees on the floor or ruins things? If you can't take the dog to college are they ok with that?

You probably won't be able to take the dog away to college, at least for your first year. Most places make first years live on campus or at home.

How much time and money are you really going to have for the dog?
Your life is going to get expensive and busy in the next few years. Driving, prom, senior trip, college, etc. I didn't realize how expensive until my friends and I went through it.
Do you do after school activities? Go out with friends a lot? Have a job? Will you be doing these things in the future?

I'm not saying you shouldn't get a dog, but please make sure you know what you're getting into and that the dog would have a good life.

My friend got a dog when she was around your age, her family already had 2 dogs. Her family paid for everything for the dog until she got a job at 18. She doesn't go out much and someone in her family is usually home, so the dog has plenty of attention. She chose to go to a local college so she could stay home with him. She couldn't have afforded to get an apartment to take him.
When she was working and going to school she constantly felt bad about leaving him and she devoted all of her spare time to him.