New Yorkie Puppy! Hello to Everyone!
 

Hi everyone! I just got a female Yorkie, she is 7 weeks old and her name is Ruby!

I just wanted to say that the forums have helped me very much in preparing for her arrival and now that I've got her! So thank you very very much!

I do have a question though...is she too young to learn commands like sit etc? I've only tried to teach her the word "no!" and her name up till now but she's having trouble learning either one :animal36

She already goes on the newspaper though! :cool: (maybe not always for #2!)

Also...she doesn't eat much...Or at least I think she doesn't...I've bought special yorkie puppy dry food for her and she can chew it and everything but I don't think she eats enough...should I be worried? How much should a yorkie puppy be eating at her age? I've continued with the food the breeder was giving her but she doesn't seem to care about eating! What's the best way to get her to eat more?

And my most important question involves...chewing! She chews on EVERYTHING! Including fingers, toes, shoes and furniture...(i have all the cords and wires hidden or covered so she won't get hurt). I realize she's teething but if she gets used to chewing on everything now will she be like that as an adult? Or is it just a phase? If I do have to teach her not to do this...what is the best way if she doesn't really understand "no!" yet? I've tried distracting her with another toy but she just goes back to chewing after playing with the toy...

Sorry for all the questions but I'm really nervous and I want her to be well behaved and everything as an adult...is she too young to be learning anything yet? Whenever I try to teach her something, part of me thinks it's pointless because she's still so tiny and just a puppy!

Thank you so much for everything!

oh my a tiny baby
 

I would say she is to young ,way to young to be learning.I have learned here at YT that a puppy at that age should still be with it's mommie.But now that you have her.here is what i was told to do when i got mine at 8wks. Feed her 4 times a day ,keep her warm and give her lots of love .I would'nt put any added stress on her .She is a cutie .Good luck

She is a bit young but very well developed...she's very healthy.

The problem is that she's not much into food, so she won't eat four times a day...i separate her meals into four times but she still won't eat enough I think...

Other than that and the chewing (!) she's a very happy, healthy puppy, very playful and friendly. She just tends to chew on fingers alot...!

Thank you!

Any thoughts on the chewing? Is there a way to minimize it? Did someone have a similar problem? :confused:

Thank youou!

Are you feeding her the same food as the breeder? Is it a dry kibble? You might try putting a bit of water on her food if she seems to be having trouble chewing it??? Otherwise, she is very young and if she is very tiny, then she won't eat a lot at a time. I don't know what you would have there that would be similar to Nutrical, but that is to keep her from becoming hypoglycemic which can easily happen in the little one's when they don't eat properly. To keep her from biting? They all chew!:D Just say "ouch" sharply and withdraw your hand and stop playing for a bit and wait for her to come to you and make up again.:) Try this and let us know what happens. We like to give them bully sticks here for them to chew on. They occupy them and it gives them something to satisfy their need to chew. Probably saves a lot of furniture and fingers, too.:D

You can try with repeating "no" to her, but she is too young! Momma has not been able to teach valuable social skills to her. This is done between 10-12 weeks of age!

Hi and thank you for replying!

I am feeding her a dry kibble that's special for yorkie puppies and it is the same one the breeder was giving her, so she is used to it, she just doesn't have much of an appetite even though i try to separate her meals into four/day like you have to do with puppies...But if she misses one by not eating then they become three and so on!

They do have vitamin/food supplements for puppies here in Greece, not Nutrical as a brand but something similar. According to the vet that saw her though, she doesn't need anything like that yet because she's very energetic and healthy, not bony or anything! I'm just worried that she won't catch up on her eating and become "not healthy" eventually. I'm aware of the hypoglycemia condition that may affect yorkie pups but she's so energetic and playful that I'm not worried about that yet...I'm watching for any signs though!

I realize they chew on things at this age, I'm just worried it'll become a habit and that she won't stop even as an adult! Sometimes she gets carried away and bites harder without letting go at all!

Do you think she's too young to be away from her mom? I also read online, about the chewing, that you can freeze a wet towel with crushed ice in it and give her that to chew at times, that is soothes the teething process? Does that really work?

Thank you for all the advice :)

How much does she weigh? At 7 weeks, we here consider too young to leave mom and believe they should stay with mom until they are 12 weeks so they learn not to bite (hopefully) from their litter mates. She won't be teething until she is approx 5 months old, so her gums should not be bothering her yet! You can give her baby carrots to munch on just for something healthy. They like them because they are crunchy.

Yes, she is too young to be away from momma! Momma teaches them about chewing, she will miss that from momma because she is too young.

Yes, littermates help with the biting as well!

She weighs 760 grams right now...I think that's under 2 pounds...

Ok so she wasn't socialized by her mommy...but how can I help her get socialized now? Do you mean she will chew and chew and then become a biter when she grows up?

I try to repeat "no" to her but I think she's too young to understand it yet...she doesn't even know her name. So i say "no" and accompany it with a loud noise to distract her and she miiiight stop...but usually after 2-4 repeats :P

There are a number of things you can try. She's just very young, so you will have to be patient. She will learn what "no" means, especially when it's repeated:D

One thing someone on here suggested is to snap at her as if you were her mother and sort of pinch her. That's one I never did.

I would just say "no" sharply and with force and turn away - stop playing with her. If she quits biting, then let her come back to you and play nicely. If she starts again, then repeat that until she understands. She will understand soon. She's just a baby.

Something else you can try is to put a bunch of coins in a metal container and shake it whenever she starts biting and see if that works better. If not, then try what we suggested above. It will just take patience. Don't expect miracles overnight, because she is so very young. But they are very smart and she will learn. Patience and consistency in training are the two things that will work.:)

:thumbup: Patience will be key. Repetitive actions will be most successful! And yes, she is just a baby!

Thank you everyone! I will try all the advice and I am patient with her...I realize she's just a baby, which is why I don't want to stress her out with commands and stuff...but I'm worried about her adult behavior too! :rolleyes:

She ate a little bit tonight (in Greece it's night-time right now), about 40 dry kibble "bits"...I hope she starts eating more! Her vet said not to worry yet...I hope she's right!

Anyway, thank you for everything! I'm so happy I joined this site! Very very helpful for worried Yorkie parents :D

I'm glad you joined, too. Your little one is so young and playful right now and biting you is the only way she knows to play. She's been playing with her litter mates before she came to play with you and you are now her new litter mate!:D That's probably why they do all of that biting. Let us know how she progresses. OK?

That's quite a bit for a little one like her to eat. I think she's doing fine.