our first furbaby but we do have 4 humans
 

So, due to my husband being allergic to dogs and cats we have never been able to get the kids (14, 12, 9 and 7) a dog until we found this Yorkie. He was born November 30th, so he is...12 weeks old this weekend.

We have never had a dog or a cat before so this is new territory for us and Boy Oh Boy what a LOT to learn! The dog (puppy?) was gifted on us, so we are REALLY unprepared.

I was thinking of making his food but the food thread has me thinking that's not a good idea. I'm not very trusting of the commercial foods available here (did I mention we live in Mexico on the Caribbean?) but I know I won't be able to figure out supplements.

I'll take him to the vet tomorrow to check on needed vaccinations (he has had one) but seems to be a real mellow puppy. Which makes me wonder if that is a healthy sign. I read these threads about how dominant this breed is and I just don't see that in our puppy. Course, the kids do keep him very busy.

Anyway, he isn't eating much so we'll address that first I guess, but pooped well this am and has peed a few times today. Most of our house is outside (kitchen, dining, sala) so spills and messes aren't even a blip on the radar. And the human kids make much more mess anyway.

Any obvious pointers for us? Pictures to come.

Woo Hoo - welcome to YT!!

Lots of info on food - good luck in making a good choice for your baby.

You're probably right, the baby is just tired. It will be some time before you see his real personality!! Bailey is a little more calmer than most - and I really like it that way. I think it has to do with the fact the she was the younger and smaller of two in jer litter. She's never been the pack leader.

Good luck!! :)

Welcome and congratulations!!! Just as long as he is eating he should be ok.

Here's a first question - we have a cat kennel (plastic) that we are using to "crate" him at night and that worked well last night (though, to be honest, I'm perfectly happy with him sleeping with any kid - I just worry (as do they) that they'd roll over him at night) which stays in my bedroom at night (well, that's what we did last night). Today, we took the kennel out to the (outside) diningroom and he went in and out at lesiure. It sounds like many of you have a specific room you've dedicated to your Yorkie - is there a problem with us using a movable kennel? We'd also use it when putting him in the car and driving anywhere. Oh, then kennel thing has a soft towel in there and a couple soft toys. Tomorrow we'll see what we can find in the way of a leash and collar and real toys and treats.

Well, he ate a whole bowl of dry food so I guess he just wasn't hungry before. We also just took him for a pee and he did! I guess we need to get him treats to reward him for this behavoir now. We also need to figure out WHERE we want him to pee. :)

Here's a picture with my youngest...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3153/...0a9ece6c_m.jpg

he's just beautiful ! give him a couple week's and he will come into his personality. he will learn to bark and run and do all the things your kids do! are you excited yet???? watch out for little things on the floor, they are everything goes in the mouth dogs!!! if your using pee pads try your best to keep it in the same place all the time. They need down time, as in nap time and quiet time when they are little or they can get over done and stressed. you are raising another baby and they absolutly love being babied! roxy is the most human dog i have ever had. if you need any help, please feel free to call me, i don't know much more than that but i also have never been to the carribean!!! good luck

Wow, you've got your work cut out for you... but hey, congratulations! I'm terribly allergic to dogs, and even worse with cats... but so long as we keep our lil' boy in a short puppy cut, I don't have any problems at all with allergies with him.

First off, we are portable crate people too. I don't think it's caused us any harm - the crate goes in the room we are in. We'd probably prefer buying a crate for every room so we don't have to lug it around, but hey - I'd rather buy him a couple new toys or a higher quality kibble instead of multiple crates.

Don't worry too much about him being a mellow puppy right now. Our boy Nikko is getting close to 6mo old, and still every day now he shows us a new side of his wild personality. Some new thing he decides is fun, or just as an example this past week he discovered the joys of digging, lol. Just wait - he will get TONS of personality and energy you never before thought was possible out of your calm happy docile little puppy. :cool:

One of the things you could look into as far as feeding goes is Prey Model Raw, especially if you don't trust any locally available brands of kibble... we are looking into starting to give Nikko some (or all) of of this in the near future. A good thread to check out for info on this type of food is HERE.

Definitely get him a designated potty area, and preferably a door that is designated for potty-time only so he can learn how to tell you when he has to pee (and doesn't get that confused with when he wants to play or go for a walk). Read up here on YorkieTalk about potty training... it's no easy task with these super-smart independent little buggars. Some people luck out, but most of us go through heck getting our little ones potty trained!

Have fun! ;)

Lauren & Nikko

welcome to YT...glad to have you here!

Welcome to YorkieTalk! :)

Welcome to YT lots of great people and info here. We to have a new baby our little guy is 16 weeks old on tuesday. He sleeps in his crate with a little bed in it at the moment and loves it ...during the day he has his big bed in living room and sleeps there. He also is laid back but loves his play time when the grandkids come over and as others have stated they surprise you every day with something new. They are such intelligent fast learning little ones you will be amazed how fast he picks up on things. Gl and enjoy enjoy enjoy

Welcome to YT. You will learn so much on this site

Congrats on your new puppy
It sounds like you are on the road to getting him all set
Food is hard when you are trying to provide everything that a puppy needs
esp when you wanna prepare it yourself
that's why I just went to a good puppy formula
The good ones like Iams smart puppy has all the ingredients you want for a healthy puppy
and you don't want the ups and downs or changing what they eat every few days or weeks
that's upsetting to a puppy's stomach
and you got it right when worrying about a child rolling over unto the puppy .... it's also important for a puppy to get used to being alone sometimes so they won't be a problem when you and your family have to leave him every once and a while

Thanks so much, everyone. We checked out the largest store here, Chedraui, and they had Purina, Pedigree and two other brands of dog food. We got the Pedigree puppy food (shows rice, chicken and milk on the front) and he did enjoy that tonight. I'll keep an eye out for other food sources. He seems to be taking to potty training really well - our house is a palapa - grass roof and no doors, so there is no doggie door for him to go out - but we're above the jungle so he'll be safe from the snakes.

Got a leash and boy, he wasn't enthralled with that. :) We do have two inside spaces so we're keeping him in at night and so far no accidents. he is sleeping an awful lot but the kids keep him really busy and I'm not sure how much he sleeps at night (gets quiet here around 1am and then I'm up at 7-8am). Poor guy will need a vacation from us. :)

He is eating better, got him some treats but we keep forgetting to reward him for peeing and pooping but he seems to have it down without the treats. Maybe this is just the honeymoon stage. :) Everyone loves him and it seems he is definitely bonding to me and the youngest.

We'll take him to the vet Wednesday when we go into town (we're about 18-20 km from the nearest town) and see what's what and look into heartworm (it is endemic down here) and what shots he needs. He sure is a cutie and when he's awake he is full of vigor!

im pretty new to this site but it sure has a lot of great info . what is his name he is so sweet we have a house full of them we have 5 adults dogs and a litter of 5 babys right now

Congratulations, he is so sweet! You sound totally in love with him. :)