Hello! New mom of a yorkie - welcomes advice.
 

Hi. I am Becky and on St Patricks Day became a new Mom to our little puppy Finnigan. He was born on January 22, 2009. I dont really know what I am doing and am trying to read as much as I can on how to take care of him properly. I do know that we give him tons of love. My 5 yr old and 7 yr old adore him and also so does my husband as do I. He is about 2lbs right now. I am not sure how big he will get. His mother was 9lbs and his father was 3lbs. If anyone has any suggestions on anything. I will gladly take any advice. I feel like I am a new mother all over again with this little guy and dont want to make any mistakes with him. He is a feisty little guy and loves to romp around and play but also loves in the evenings to cuddle. We are having an issue with the potty training. He did great the first month and now he is going in the house everywhere. Also any pointers on taking care of his hair. He seems to get real scraggly lookin after so many days we try and comb him but he bites the brush alot. He seems to be teething and chews on everything. And when I bathe him which he doesnt like he and I only do maybe every week and 1/2 or so he gets like dandruff type flakes the first day after he has been bathed. Anyways. I apologize for asking so many questions. Any advise is welcome. Thanks. :)

Hi Becky and Finnigan. Welcome to YT!
Well you've certainly come to the right place for questions and advice. You've got a lot of great questions, each of which are in depth. Instead of a 100 page answer from me :) you might want to start going through the threads labeled with the same issues as you bring up. There are tons of great advice in them.
I look forward to seeing some pics of Finnigan.

Hi Becky & Finnigan! :wavey: :welcome4: :yorkiesar

What a great name! Would love to see pictures when you can post some.

Gracie Ruth didn't like the brushing too much as a puppy either. I tried to break it up and not do it all at once. I'd comb and work on a few rats and then give her a couple of Cheerios as a treat. Her coping mechanism was to lick me, lick the comb, lick anything to try and distract me. I tried to keep the grooming sessions short and not too 'painful' for her. Trying to stop just short of her limit. If I didn't get her all combed in one sitting it didn't matter, I'd just do some more later. Their attention span is so short, they have trouble sitting still for too long and I didn't want her to totally hate grooming. She still will do the licking some, but she knows when it's time to be combed there's little she can do to stop it and will usually stand quietly for me. I still give lots of Cheerio treats tho, to help her out to be a good girl. Also, finish up your grooming with a soft brush, firmly brushing from the skin outward to help move their natural oils onto the hairs. This will help to keep the hair healthy and shiny.

Welcome to YT...I love his name...

I am a new Yorkie mom also.. We have a lab mix.

We have the same problems with our little girl Mia. She was born Dec 26, 2008. For the flakiness and the itching my vet put her on Derma caps. You can also find them online. She has been on them for a week now. It is just a capsule of liquid you put on their food. Mia seems to be getting softer every day. For potty training I use pee pads. She had a few spots she likes to go and I always refresh the pads. I own a bissel Green machine and I am bisseling every weekend. Baking soda helps too. Also, For the teary eyes I give Mia Angel Eyes (also online) this really helps with the tear ducts. They can get bacterial infections from being all icky in the eye region. My vet says it's fine to give her. It's just a powder you sprinkle on their food. As far as chewing....Mia loves her water bottles with a couple of inches of water in them. She chases them around the house. Ropes and the little tennis balls that squeek. (we have to hide Shoes, hats and barbies, I don't think any of my daughters barbies have hands or feet):aimeeyork

Hope any of this helps... Good luck.

Welcome Becky and Finnegan! Love the name Finnegan for a puppy that found his new home on St. Patty's Day! It is a little early to predict a weight but being 15 weeks old and 2 pounds puts the Guestimate at 3-3.5 lbs full grown. You can also take what he weighed at 12 weeks and double it for an estimate. But it is all still guess work and they can fool you with a growth spurt.

He is at the "bad hair" stage. When they first start really growing out it may look a little unruly no matter what. Use a good quality shampoo and make sure to rinse, rinse, and rinse again when you think you've rinsed enough. That downy baby hair can trap the shampoo in and that may be what is resulting in those little white flakes. If you think the flakes are just dry skin, a little remoiturizing with a product like Espree Luxury Remoisturizer or one that works from the inside out like Grizzly Salmon Oil can help with that. As far as the potty training.....I would check for other threads on that topic. I thought I knew what I was doing and then Ben grew up and started marking so we are back to basics again!

I had to smile and wince at the same time at the memory that brought up! I have all boys so no Barbies in the house these days. But I remember one particular puppy that made it a goal to attack all of my Barbies when I was young. I always got the lecture that it was my fault because I left them out. But nothing breaks a little girl's heart like having the hands and feet of her favorite Barbie chewed off!

Tobie is my first Yorkie and I had so many questions about his hair in the beginning. My biggest mistake was that I didn't start brushing him right away because I was afraid I was going to hurt him. He ended up with some pretty bad tangles that were really hard to get out! Since then I have made sure to brush him every day and that has helped with the tangles but I have also learned that he looks messy again within a few minutes of brushing. lol. I have read on here that it gets much better with their adult hair. Anyway, that would be my advice... make sure to do a lot of brushing because the puppy hair tangles really easily and those tangles are tough to get out!

Thank you for all the great advice. I will try those helpful hints on the grooming. And also chckout the other threads on potty training hints. I welcome any and all advice on what each and every one has learned and found most helpful with thier own expieriences. I will try and post more pictures of Finnigan although I am not sure how. He is a feisty little playful thing. We just love him so much. :woof:

get him used to combing and also clipping of the nails

If you are frightened of the nails take him to the vet every month £5.00 for a clip

Hair, well If he likes your manner you are in

clipping and grooming

If not a proffesional clipper will do him every 3 months for £20.00

My alfie wont let me touch him, yet the groomer says he gives in and is easy

Little so and so

problem

cutting yorkie nails is hard

they are all black and you cannot see the quick

be very careful