For those of you with smaller Yorkies
 

I have a new addition named Kita. She is expected to be 2.5 to 3 pounds full grown. Right now she is 1lb 9oz and so different from my other Yorkie, Krishna, who is 7.5 months (and 4.5lbs) in every way. I am well versed in hypoglycemia, but I am wondering if anyone has any words of wisdom for me with my first tiny. Will she be harder to potty train? How rough is too rough for Krishna to be playing with her? He is actually a very laid back little guy, but she is not one to give in and is very persistent. I finally had to put her in a kennel to force her to take a nap today (Krishna slept for 4 hours every afternoon when I brought him home at 16 weeks). She is 16 weeks old right now and I am mostly worried about training issues. Will she be harder to potty train? Can I expect her to make it through the night without a potty trip? How much freedom did you give your little one? One room seems like way to much space for her and her curiousity is boundless (as is her determination) so she already thinks one room is not near enough space.

In short, For those of you with smaller Yorkies, what words of wisdom would you give me?

The first pic is of Krishna, the second Kita.

Thanks,
Julie

My 2nd yorkie, Daisy, will be around 4lbs fully grown (or so I am guessing). Sophie is 7 mos old and is 5.5 lbs. Daisy plays really rough with Sophie and hasn't been harmed by it at all. She will also crash when she's tired. Really, really tired :)

SHe is sleeping thru the night, even though her bladder is much smaller than Sophie's. It took almost 5 weeks and we got her at 9.5 weeks.

I keep her in an x-pen when I'm gone. It's 10 panels and is about 50 sq ft. She has her bed, toys food/water and pee pads there. Sophie stays there as well. At this point, Daisy is as trained as Sophie is! LOL I am slowly giving them more room to roam when I'mhome, *after* they've pooped &pottied!

I have a 4lb yorkie and a 8 lb yorkie. When they were little I had to separate them at times because Chachi would play a little rough. I dont have to separate them at all now. Jewels can hold her own with Chachi. I gave Jewels Nutrical on a regular basis when she was little but stopped giving it to her about 3 months old. She was more difficult to potty train but I dont know if thats the norm. Good luck.

Congratulations on KITA! I keep Ava in a palypen at night with a wee wee pad which she does use at about 4 am i think. She is 2 lbs at 17 weeks and has been the easiest to potty train because her breeder was very strict and she is better than my others already. She will go on pee pads inside and on her pet-a-potty of the grass outside. I only allowed supervised play with the others at first but she has been here 5 weeks now so I let her have free roam with the others and she does great. Chai gets jealous and attacks her if I am around so Chai has been getting lots of time outs but Ava is very strong and can take care of herself. Definitely all terrier!

I have a 3 1/2 lb girl, so I don't know what its like to have a bigger Yorkie, but the one piece of advise is..until Kita learns to keep away from your feet, always watch where you step. I learned that the hard way.

Both of your babies are BEAUTIES! Congrats.

My Snoodles is 3#1 oz. She was 1#9oz. when I got her at 12 weeks. She had to go potty frequently. As I stated before, I was never so tired in my life as after I got her. I kept Karo syrum handy and had to run it on her gums a couple of times. Many a night I was outside in my nightgown yelling "Go Potty". She would cry in the night. Had her by my bed in a crate, (after she was potty trained, she sleeps with me, now) I would take her out to go potty, she would come back in, and poop or pee right in front of me. Finally one day, I got fed up with it, and did a controlled fit. I showed her her poop, put her up to my face, growled at her like her mother would do, gave her a small slap on the butt, and threw her out the door and the worst part!!!!!! Closed It! She has never peed or pooped in my house since that day! She was nine months old then. I do believe it takes a long while for their bladders to mature.
As to playing with the other dog, don't let it get too aggressive. They can get hurt very easily. Not worth it in the long run.
Be prepared to be really tired for a while. I was 64, and felt like I had just given birth to my 6th baby! LOL!
Pat

I have a 2# girl and much larger boys. My littlest one is very tough, but the biggest problem is she is so small it is a danger if I step on her. Get a collar with a bell. Also, she is fully potty trained, but still has a tiny bladder and can't hold it as long as the big guys. No sleeping in for me!

Thanks for the replies. I guess she's so small she just scares me a little. Of course she doesn't seem to realize she's so small either which also scares me.
Right now she doesn't recognize her name yet and it seems like Krishna just always knew when I was addressing him. She is certainly showing her terrier side already. If I expect her to take longer to potty train does that mean I should expect her to take longer to learn other things?

Polly was 1 lb 4 oz when I brought her home at 12 weeks and I worried about her being so small. My two other yorkies are larger. Maddie plays with Polly, but Rudy and Polly are always together. Polly is 6 months now and 2 lb 9 oz and she keeps up with her big sister and brother. I was letting her have free roam, but she can jump on the sofa and is not sure how to get down so I leave her in her play pen when I go out. From day one Polly has gone to her pee pad. I don'te even put one in her play pen anymore, she hold it and as soon as I come home I take her out.

my little one
 

my little one tends to be more snapy and growly at the bigger yorkies i think its for fear of getting run over by big ones and also i made a mistake by not wanting to leash train my tiny one in fear of hurting her :animal36

I have no advice, but I just wanted to say congrats on your new baby. Her face is just priceless! I love her little topknot, too!

Heck, as long as I have owned and bred Yorkies I still am scared when these tinies are under foot. They can be amazingly fragile and amazingly hardy at the same time. It is like they are 2 different creatures in one wee body.
I would say that you must supervise the play and when your boy gets too aggressive (that is a step past assertive, to me) separate them and distract him. I would not let the newbie have run of a room if they are both home alone. I am a great believer in using the X pen for safety. She may or may not make it thru the night without potty--just take your clue from her.. Potty break right before bedtime is a must. I cannot stand to think about putting any size or age Yorkie to bed without a little water in the enclosure..
My biggest worry with tinies is that they are tiny because of a genetic problem..So keep a close eye on her and love her to pieces.

My little Rupert was only 14 ounces at 12 weeks old, so the breeder and her vet wouldn't let her fly him to me. So I flew cross country for him. He is now only 1.10 ounces at 6 months old, soon to be 7 months old on Sept 3. He is supposed to get to 2.5-3.0 pounds as an adult. I have 4 other dogs that are from 70 pounds up to 110 pound puppy. Rupert is a dwarf compared to them. But because Rupert is so small, he has to sleep in his crate at night. So that is the only info I can shed light on. But, I can say that Rupert has been sent airborne a couple of times by the bigger dogs and he wasn't hurt. Thank my lucky stars. They are tougher then you can imagine, even though they are so small. Congrats on your new baby! I am very happy for you!
Jody and Rupert

I forgot to tell you how beautiful her hair is! I am jealous! My vet stated that because Rupert is so small, she believes his hair is problematic because of it. My poor baby's hair is not very full. Okay, you can say he is close to bald :eek: So you are very fortunate to have a girl with such a head of hair! She is beautiful!!!!!!
Jody and Rupert

CHloe is my first yorkie so I really dont have anything to compare her on as far as potty training. I think she is about the same as my other dogs of diff breeds on that issue but with a much smaller bladder. However Chloe was I think 8 oz at 12 weeks when I got her and hypoglycemia was a HUGE problem for the first 2 months that i had her. SHe HAD to eat every 2-3 hours. I had to get up at least once in the middle of the night to make sure she ate. She slept in a large kennel/crate at night that had food and water available and a heating pad and blankets, but just to be sure she ate I still woke up and hand fed her some food. Most of the time she would eat on her own, but I slept better knowing she had eaten. I cant stress enough how important eating every few hours is. Nutrical is not enough. And give him karosyrup mixed with water if he starts getting lathargic or refuses food, even if you have to do it with a medicine dropper. This is what I have learned. Chloe was quite an experience the first few months. I didnt sleep for weeks and everyone said it was good practice for me having kids someday :D CHloe never had anymore hypoglycemia problems after 5 months of age. At 8 months and 2 lbs she is pretty well potty trained and sleeps with us in bed at night. Good luck :love:

My Olivia is 3 lbs at 11 months, and yes I am terrified I am going to step on her! A collar with a bell is a good idea, but make sure it is a harness bc her little neck is so fragile. The ones made for cats are smaller and they fit Livy wonderfully. Housebreaking for me was all a matter of timing. I still take her out every 2 hours, which might be a good starting point for you to try, since as you can imagine, her bladder is probably almost nonexistant! Also, I got her gradually used to rooms one at a time. Olivia really had a hard time going up and down the stairs, too, since her legs are so tiny. She only started using them in June or so, and she goes down sideways lol. I coaxed her with treats starting from the lower steps and gradually making her walk down more and more at a time. It took a few weeks, but now she doesn't hesitate.

Good luck, she's a cutie!

Yes, Congrats on your new addition. My only real advice is to especially watch the little ones around young children. It is their (kiddos) nature to want to hold and cuddle the little pups/dogs but due to their small body frames, etc., it doen't take much of a drop to cause real damage. Good luck to you and I am sure that small new bundle will be giving you huge quantites of kisses and joy.

She's absolutely adorable. Gwen's really small too, and watching where you step is a good idea. Their so quick that before you know it their under you're feet. Gwen can hold her own with my other dogs, but when she's had enough she's up on my lap. She's super hard to housebreak, and she's 3 years old. She can't make it through the night, so I have to put a pad down for her. Anyway any extra work is well worth the rewards.

Wow! That describes her exactly. While Krishna seems to be very aware of his size and its limits Kita is completely oblivious in all respects. She was on my lap last night looking over the edge which Krishna does all the time (reminds me of Snoopy playing the vulture from the top of his dog house), but I caught her gauging the distance to the floor. I have no doubt she was going to jump!

I keep them both crated (separately) when I am unavailable to supervise them as they don't know/like each other well enough yet and they seem to be able to get into extraordinary amounts of trouble very quickly.

I do have a very good breeder who took Kita for one last vet check before I could have her just to check for genetic defects. The breeder is very good though and she pretty much makes herself available 24/7 through phone, email, and cell phone. She is going to my vet today.

She was chosen based on size and personality to be a playmate for my Krishna, but unless he shows some assertiveness REAL SOON she is going to be in charge.

It is interesting comparing the two as he was very needy and is still very eager to please. From day one she has been very independant and finds it nice but not necessary to have me near. I am foreseeing obedience training issues with this one so hopefully she can start early!

Smaller Yorkies
 

I have several and my smallest is 3 pounds and my largest is almost 7 pounds. :p I have a six week old pup that is trying so hard to get in the mix of the others. :eek: The little pup is so quick I have to watch her like a hawk. She is seperated from the others, other than her mother visiting her and my smallest Itzi. (Itzi is three and knows how to play with pups.) But Itzi is the queen of the Castle, so to speak even though she is the smallest, she will stand her ground with the others. With the smaller yorkies you will tend to watch them a little closer. In my home we do what we call the yorkie shuffle. We rarely pick up our feet. After they have been scooted on the floor a couple of times they learn to stay in front of you are beside you and or behind you. I too have a couple of collars that I use that have bells sewn on them to use until they learn. I attached a picture of Itzi the smallest. Good luck you will enjoy her. :D

Gus is going on 1 year and 5 months on Sep. 3rd and is 2.9 lbs. Very tiny guy. He is my first yorkie,, but compared to other breeds that I've owned, he has been the easiest to train. We have to be a bit more careful with him because of his size. We have to watch our step because he gets uderfoot all the time. We have all adjusted to walking with our feet closer to the floor and yes we have accidently kick him around a few times. but he was just fine got right up and thought it was time to play. The only problem with Gus is,,,,, he is not only tiny in size, he is skinny too. We just got him to where he has some meat on his bones. Knowing how much to feed him was tricky. He doesn't eat much at all. Dry food is left out for him all day. He gets Nutical in the morning when he gets up Then for breakfast he gets half of Cesers, dry food if he gets hungry when ever he wants it, and boiled chicken or ground beef or the other half of the Cesars at dinner time. And he seems to be doing good with the weight and is maintaining is own. As long as we don't see ribs and the vet says he's healthy, we're all fine with his tiny size.

I would like to get another yorkie but do worry about Gus's size can you let us know how your tiny girl gets along with the others? I'm usre they will be just fine, but that is my biggest worry,,,,, Gus getting hurt with a bigger yorkie. Contrags with your new baby girl. Hope to see lots of pictures of her growing up!

Hi All,
Thanks for all the compliments on my babies :D
Is there a special kind of heating pad to use in their crates at night? I worry about them getting cold in the winter (I am in Montana), but I also worry about them getting too hot, or worse yet, burned.

I don't think I have to worry about Kita taking the stairs yet, though she is definitely a climber. Though she doesn't have the size to climb the steps I wouldn't put it past her to dig her little toenails in and force her way up. Little Stinker :p

Now I'm just hoping that they decide to be friends soon. I know I've had her less than a week, but it is nerve wracking watching Krishna avoid her, pretend she isn't there, and every now and then he zooms across the room growling and knocking her over or spinning her around (which I put a stop to as she is so small). I can tell it's not a game then as she tries to get to me to hide behind my feet instead of pushing back as she normally does in the few minutes that they play well together each day.

Mac is 2.15 lbs at 15 months and Mellie is 4.4 lbs. at 11 months. I am more worried about Mac being underfoot. Watch out for the doors when you close them. My biggest concern right now is how fragile his neck is. I special order his harnesses in XXS. He thinks he is a great dane at times and really loves to rough house. As far as training we are still working on that one. Mac does much better than Mellie. She would rather go outside and play.

Smaller yorkie
 

Mine full grown are 4lbs and I needed to have bells on their collars because I was scared of stepping or sitting on them. :eek:

Krishna's Mom!!!!! Yea! Another person from Montana! How wonderful! Where do you live? I live in Butte, Mt. Little Snoodles 3#1oz. sleeps all night now. In fact, I currently have a kidney infection, and I went to bed at 10 and I never woke up until 10:30 this morning! My first thought was "Oh my gosh my poor Snoodles" bladder must be bursting!" But she was fine and took her time going this morning. It's so nice now that she is potty trained! Let me know where you live!
Pat

I have a 7 month yorkie, Twinkie (my first tiny), who is 2# 4oz and she was much easier than my other 2 dogs who are both chihuahuas and 4.5#'s and 5#'s. Twinkie was not wee wee pad trained when I got her at 5.5 months old, but within 2 weeks she was completely potty trained. This was fast compared to my male chihuahua who I got when he was 12 weeks but was not fully potty trained until about 7 months.
As for playing, Twinkie will play with them with no problem. I was really worried when I first got her that she would get hurt but she beats up on my 2 chihuahus so I no longer worry about her. I would keep an eye on your little yorkie until you're comfortable with the 2 playing together.
All 3 dogs have an ability to get underfoot, but they learn quickly to keep out of the way :)

My yorkie is 12 weeks old, he learned how to sit and fetch the first week we had him, he seems alot smarter than my 12 year old sheltie who only knows how to shake hands. i have been using a harness instead of a collar while trying to train on a leash. it comes in handy when you have to pick them up out of the way quickly, no pulling on the neck.( he weighs 2.5 pounds but is not afraid of anything)

My Nugget is now 17 weeks and 1 lb 12 oz. She has been with us for about 10 days. I have two other yorkies but she is the smallest by far. She has been much easier to train than the other two were, although she does have to go pee more often and she cannot hold her poo for even 5 seconds. Once she's decided she has to go it is go now or else. She sleeps through the night.

I've not had any problems re feeding or hypoglycemia (sp?) nor am I expecting any. She's very good at telling us that she is hungry. I feed her three times a day, small portions. Periodically she will push the bowels around the room between meals and so I'll give her three or four pieces of kibble just to tide her over.

Tonight we are going to attempt our first bath. This should be fun.

I don't treat her any differently than I do the other two except to make sure she doesn't attempt to jump off anything. She has mastered the stairs in the house which really surprised us. She wrestles with Turbo, chases him round and round the house. Every now and then her sharp baby teeth nip Turbo a little too hard and he gives her what for. She doesn't play with Little Bear our 12 year old female, she seems to instinctively know that Little Bear is not well.

The vet says she's healthy as a horse and except for her tiny size is a great little yorkie. He worries about her being too small as it makes surgery etc a little more risky.

Enjoy your little angel.