Good luck honey. I think it's great to want to help these precious babies.

omg i wasn't going to say anything but.. i get that you like smaller but are you kidding? 3lbs is tiny, anything under 10lbs is a tiny dog. i think its crazy that you're turning away a perfectly good puppy because itll grow to be 3.5lbs.. and then the puppy you just got, 2.5lbs and full grown, and you're saying that you are still looking for a tiny? 2.5lb is pretty tiny, doesn't get much smaller..

I have seen rescues that limit themselves to toy dogs or small breeds. But I don't believe I've ever seen a weight restriction as a way of controlling intake. Area? Yes. Or perhaps need? Yes. Strays only? Yes. But never weight. You can always say "No, but I can refer you to XYZ rescue".
I've been in and around shelters and rescue for many, many years. The tiny ones always find wonderful homes very easy. At least if they are healthy. The tiny sick ones often require thousands of dollars of care. And the others you may come accross can be extremely behavioral because of past experiences...that means months in rehabilitation and dealing with a possibly nasty dog until things change. As far as volunteers in the fields where you need them, medical, they need to be skilled and available and willing to abide by your tiny dog policy as well. Many that will donate time will feel it unethical to discriminate that way. And volunteer foster homes around the country would require you to approve them, check on them and them to have access to funds and veteranary services to care for these babies.

There is a TON to deal with. I can go on and on. Seriously, if you feel you have the time and energy and desire, channel it towards volunteering at a shelter that cares for cats, dogs, birds, mice...everything.

Even volunteering can take a tremendous amount of love and time and patience.

Joy

2 1/2 lbs is a tiny!

Why ask for "honest input" and then get offended by it? I'm sorry but that just doesn't make any sense.

I believe she wanted opinions about starting a yorkie rescue and opinions on the criteria and ideas she posted. This thread was not about her personal pets which some are focusing on instead of the rescue topic. I think she just wants to keep this thread more on topic toward the subject of a rescue.

I have to apologize, I should not have brought up the yorkie that you turned away in this thread, this thread wasnt about you looking for a new baby but about the rescue you want to open. I am not saying that what I wrote I am wrong about I am just saying this wasnt the thread it belongs in.

I think that while it's great to have the goal of organizing and being in charge of a rescue, that it's a process that would need a ton of research.

Starting out voulenteering for another rescue might be a way you can learn from the ground up, and then decide if it's still something you feel passionate about doing yourself. You may find helping dogs (even of all breeds and sizes) will make you feel good about what you are doing and honor Natalie's memory all at the same time.

I think this was mentioned before, but the heads of rescues never get a moment off. It's a constant circular door of dogs needing help and hard decisions you will have to make regarding these animals. You will likely not get to spend as much time with your dogs because you are so busy helping others (especially in the beginning).

You also will need to be sure you have the funds, or can collect the funds through volunteers. This is surely a long process and before you take in needy animals I'd imagine you would have to have a reserve (quite large) of income for their serious vetting needs.

I think that it's very admirable to want to start a rescue, but there are SO many in place already that need volunteers, donations, ect that it's just as worthwhile to participate in those IMO.

I also think the weight limit will be offensive to volunteers or donaters. It's fine to limit a rescue to a certain breed or the amount of animals you can safely take because there do need to be limits set in order to succeed... but if you start accepting animals only by weight, it seems superficial and unimportant, IMO.

Although I'm not well-versed in rescue organizations per se, I agree with taking in a limited number rather than a limit on size. Although, it might be plausible to sort of lean toward the tinies that have stolen your heart as time goes on and you'd maybe become an "expert" in that area. I do a lot of volunteer work and am on the auxiliary (read: fundraising and supporting) one of the local animal SPCA shelters here. I think it's an EXCELLENT idea to start doing your homework at a local shelter. See what's involved in the day to day, month to month duties, care, supporting, maintaining etc. I'm sure you have an idea, but when you're responsible for a bunch (regardless of how many...if they're really sick/injured...there's SO MANY things that can be wrong with them) ...do they need to be isolated? If they do, you need to have the policies and procedures in place, not to mention, an area that they can be isloated from another animals, including their food and dishes; and you sure don't want to be exposing your own dogs to contagious diseases, whatever it might be. Sanitation is another big issue too.

My one thought about not just being strictly tinies, is that if you have several of them that are really needy, you get really exhausted really quick. Kind of like how they (should) assign a patient load in the hospital; you might have one super super sick patient, but the rest are just moderately ill. Instead of having 'X' number of all super super sick patients. So, if you had some of the more normal sized Yorkies, you might have at least a few issues that you don't need to deal with.

And you have to keep in mind that you have your own pets that need and deserve your love and attention. I can tell you that I would LOVE to volunteer a LOT more of my time to walking the dogs, cleaning their crates and cages and just spending time petting or brushing them, but my first duty is to my OWN dog (and cats and birds) that I CHOSE to bring into my life and "love and cherish til death do us part" in my opinion....An hour or two a day I can spare, but more than that, I have other things that take me away from the animals too just in daily life; normal daily life type of stuff; and if it were a turtle or some fish who don't really give a hoot if I'm around all day, it would be different, but I just really think Yorkies need more than a passing pat on the head. And I'm not here to save the world; I'm here to do the best for what I've committed to bring into my life without shortchanging them in any way, just because I have a need to save and love everything (I'm not belittling YOU, I'm just saying that I might have a tendency to do that if I didnt' have more rational people around ME at times).

I think your heart is in the right place; but I can say almost without a doubt that your own pets, unless they're being cared for by someone else most of the time will suffer. I could read you chapter and verse about that b/c I've got a very good friend who is a perfect example.
I think just volunteering at an animal shelter and maybe doing some fundraising or volunteering for some of their fundraisers (contact their auxiliary) would give you some good experience and see what all is involved.

I'm certainly not saying it can't be done; and I can see you're just feeling your way around it....but this is my opinion and advice to you. I know a woman and her husband who started and maintain a wild animal rescue basically on their own; if you're interested in contacting them, PM me and I'll get their info for you. She was recently nominated for a "Hero of the Year" award on the Animal Planet. Actually, here's the story:
http://animal.discovery.com/converge...007/linda.html

Here is a list from the Yorkshire Terrier Club of America, an affiliate of the American Kennel Club. You will see that, listed by state, are breeder referrals. Those with an "R" listed are rescues. As you can see most states have lots of rescues, but probably need more homes. I did not see any for Oklahoma though, so maybe you could start one in your state.
Yorkshire Terrier Club of America
http://www.ytca.org/breeder4.html#OK

For information on starting a rescue for Yorkies contact Barbara Meskan; YorkRescue@aol.com . Her address was found on the American Kennel Website http://www.akc.org/breeds/rescue.cfm

Working with an established network I think you would find much more doable and not so overwhelming. Good luck with your efforts.

Anyone reading this could check out the rescue groups located in your state and offer foster care. Hopefully, with better breeding and a more educated public we will not need Yorky rescue groups in the future.

haven't read all the posts here.. just wanted to say. the local shelter I worked for didn't get anyone to do work "pro bono" but we did have a volunteer vet tech to help out daily and paid a retired vet to do other tasks.. spay/neuter, health certificates, rabies, etc. he came to us for a fraction of what it would have cost otherwise. Just an idea, good luck ;)

I must admit I'm a little distracted right now becaus of my new baby, so I haven't read all of your post.

However, I'm from the Oklahoma City/Norman area (I go to OU) and I would love to help out in any way I can!

I have never done a rescue on my own, My husband and I have taken in 7servicemen dogs when their owners were shipped out for 6 mos, out of the 7 dogs we still have 3 (2 labs) and a jack russell terrier. This started with my son dog and his fellow marines who couldn't find home for their dogs, we have the land it seem the right thing to do. but it's a lot of work just the day end and day out things that these dogs require. feeding, bath once a week, flea and heart guard pill once a month, and playing ball with them, as far as vets go I got a 20 percent discount because they were military dogs.
my husband and I couldn't leave for a weekend who would take care of the dogs? now I am talking about larger dogs labs and a great dane, jack russell was the smallest of the group.
I was inform christmas that in March these dogs will be back for another 6 mos, the 3 we still have now, will be with us forever.
I guess what I am saying is just make sure you have the time, it's not only the money, it changes your whole life syle.
In whatever you decided I wish you the best of luck.