New here, with a dilemna
 

Hi, we are new here. We have paid for our yorkie, and had originally planned to pick it up and take it home when it got to be 12 weeks old. However, circumstances have changed in the breeder's life and we are now considering picking the yorkie puppy early. My husband met the breeder and bought the puppy a few weeks ago.

To make a long story short, the breeder has cancer and is having a hard time. She said the puppies are now staying outdoors with their mother, but that they were weaned at four weeks. She originally told us the pups would get their shots at six weeks, but she acknowledged today that she had not been able to do it due to complications with her cancer treatments.

She also said she is feeding the puppies Beneful instead of the usual food she feeds yorkie puppies.

This breeder is a good person who is going through a very difficult time right now. I do not fault her, I just wish I lived close by so that I could offer my help and support. But we are four hours away, and therefore day to day help is out of the question.

In this situation, we are considering picking up the puppy early. I am home all day and I have the time and financial resources that would allow me to be with the puppy almost constantly. Our veterinarian actually lives down the street from us and has a practice less than half a mile away.

I am especially concerned that the puppy did not have her shots last week. If we wait five more weeks, additional shots could be missed and that would put the puppy at risk. The puppy is left outside alone with its mother most of the day, instead of being inside with me. Of course, a yorkie mother probably has a lot more experience with yorkie pups than I do!

Please tell me what you would do in this situation. This is our first yorkie, and only our second puppy. However, we have had tons of experience with dogs.

Six weeks is much to young for shots. Most recommendations nowadays are 9-10 weeks for the first shot. Anything earlier is pretty much useless because of mom's antibodies. I don't agree with leaving yorkie puppies outside either. I don't know what to tell you, it sounds like a sad situation all around.

Have you asked your vet for his opinion on picking up the puppy early?

I understand she is sick, but there are just soooo many red flags here, that I would be afraid of bringing this puppy home at all. Outside, feeding cruddy food, no vaccines (which reads to me as no vet checks, either)... Even the fact that she would consider letting you take the puppy early is another flag, IMO.

I'm going to shut up now. I'm sure one of the good breeders on here will give you some really good advice.

I agree with you about the red flags. I won't say anything more on that point, cough.

She told me they usually get their shots at six weeks. Is that not correct? Plus, that is a good idea, I will call our vet. I wish I had thought of that! I feel that in this situation, it may be best to just pick up the puppy. Or just give up and look for another puppy.

Red flags aside...How much earlier are we talking here? 10 weeks, or picking the dog up at 6?

(Welcome to YT!:))

My husband is interested in picking the puppy up this weekend, when the puppy would be seven weeks old. He is a major dog lover and feels that the puppy would be better off with us. He is the type of man who picks up pitiful stray dogs from the side of the road, so he is pretty concerned.

The breeder is Ok with this -- she told us that she was hospitalized for part of last week.

Do you have other dogs in the house? That would certainly be a factor in bringing an un-vaccinated dog in to the picture (both for it's protection and your other pets~worms!). There's lots of discussion on this board about when to start vaccines. Lots of controversy among the vets, too. Mine starts at 6 weeks, then 9, 12 and 16. I know not everyone here agrees with that.

There's just so much socialization that goes on during those first 12 weeks with mom. But a good breeder is also socializing the dog to people during that time. It sounds like the puppies are all missing that aspect if they are being stuck outside.

It's just sad, no matter how you look at it.

I NEVER advocate bringing a dog home as early as you are talking, but in this case, it honestly may be better then the alternative.

If these dogs are living outside right now, they are not getting the kind of care they need, even almost as much care as they need. This puppy may not be alive in 6 weeks if left with this "breeder" and I dont mean that to sound harsh, its just the reality of putting a 6 week old yorkie outside.

This would require a lot of research, care, and time on your part. You will need to research hypoglycemia most importantly. You will need to keep this pup near you at all times, you will need to get up in the middle of the night and check on the pup. You should plan to keep this pup inside for a few weeks.

Good Luck with whatever decision you make.

We have two other dogs. One is a two year old female miniature poodle, who stays in the house most of the time. We also have one geriatric mixed breed dog (who my husband picked up as a skin and bones stray from the side of the road 15 years ago) who must live inside of a crate when he is inside the house because he has a compulsion to pee on furniture and walls. By the way, this is not because of his age, he has done this all of his life. He strongly believes that he must wee on everything in the house as quickly as possible, and no, neutering him did not help.

We do partial vax with our dogs and with our children. :aimeeyork

Our poodle has the shots required by law and by her groomer, and our mixed breed has those required by law and by the kennel he stays at when we are out of town. But to be honest, I cannot remember what all of those shots are. I know both dogs have had rabies and bordatella. My husband wants to get both of our dogs vaxxed for parvo before the puppy arrives. He said they do not have that shot yet and he doesn't want the puppy exposed.

I hope you are able to rescue this unfortunate puppy..and not paying too much. Puppies should not be vaccinated before 9 weeks..but need a worm check and worming at 6 wks if necessary.
At this point you are dealing with a breeder who is not interested in the welfare of her dogs...hope all goes well..

Also would it be possible to set up an expen in a room in your house where your other dogs do not have access? This way they could be totally separated for the first few weeks at least?

Vaccines take a couple of weeks to go in to full effect and a one time dose doesn't develop immunity. They will NOT prevent a dog who is already infected with the Parvo virus from developing it or spreading it.

Offer to take the mother and the pups, if she is dealing with cancer, prehaps this would be lifting her up. She won't have to take care of any dogs while she is ill.

Or at least offer to take the mom and raise the pups up until they are 12 weeks old.
Please do everything you can to get the pups inside, that is not a good situation at all.
I am not going to go into all of the red flags etc. But these pups and the mother dog needs help.

I am a homemaker so I can keep the puppy with me at all times. When I am gone, my husband will be able to care for it.

I feel pretty inadequate about this whole thing, though. Dogs, yes, we have had plenty of full grown dogs, and in fact, we used to do dog rescue work. But we have only had one puppy, a seriously injured mixed breed puppy that my husband found -- yes, another stray. But that puppy was big, at least a few months old.

I'm scared it will die and then all of our hearts will be broken.

Does this mean that our other dogs will be at risk? OR that the puppy will be at risk from our dogs, or both?

So getting our dogs vaxxed tomorrow will not help if we pick up the puppy on Saturday (the earliest we can get the puppy, due to my husband's work).

I think her serious health problems are the breeder's major concern right now. But I hardly know her. I cannot imagine her letting me take her dogs for the next month.

my qustion is how big is your pup ? we got our axel at 8 weeks he is now been 8 months and we had no trouble at all he was a good size and the vet said very health he weighed 2.2 ounces when we got him he is now 5 1/2 lbs so...it could work and be a better situation then he/she is in now...good luck, if it were me I would be getting him!

This is what I was thinking also.

I am curious as to why she is keeping them outside. feeding them poor food, giving shots at 6 weeks?. Even if she is sick, that does not sound reasonable.

also does she not have family or friend that would take the dogs for a few weeks.

Maybe she is just playing on your sympathy and nothing she is saying is true.


I don't mean to sound heartless, just dont understand all that is going on here. a lot of red flags.

I would offer to do this as well. It will get you out of wondering if this lady is pulling your leg, or if this is really happening. Sorry if my post sounds pessimistic, but it wouldn't be the first time a member gets scammed with a sad story like this one. If you can bring these pups in, know that the wonderful knowledgeable breeders will help you care for these babies until they are 12 weeks old. GOOD LUCK!

The risk runs both ways. You really have no idea what you will be bringing in to your home with this dog.

Vaccines work by tricking the immune system in to thinking it has been exposed to the particular disease (I'm sure you know that, but I'm repeating it anyway). The immune system takes time to develop the antibodies, it's not instantaneous. If you were to bring a puppy who was carrying the virus in to your home, your newly vaccinated dogs would still be vulnerable. Even if you were to take the puppy straight to the vet and get it vaccinated immediately, if it's carrying the virus it will still be shed in the feces for a couple of weeks until it's immunity kicks in.

Talk to your vet. See what he recommends. I'm sure there is a way to protect keep all of them safe.

I don't imagine she would be all that receptive to you offering to take the mom and pups for a couple of weeks (after all, she doesn't know you from Adam), but if she's a good breeder I would think she might welcome some help from a rescue while she's too ill to care for them. If not, and the conditions are bad, I would call the ASPCA.

I would hope that she has no plans to further breed any of her dogs while she is ill. It's not fair to the dogs.

My husband said the puppies were indoors but the mom was outdoors when he visited and that the breeder said she keeps the puppies indoors at all times, but the mom went in and out at will. He felt very comfortable with the situation when he was there. He liked the woman andd he liked the way she cared for her dogs. She was not wealthy, but she was thoughtful and obviously cared for her animals.

My husband just said that he is going to go get our puppy as early as possible on Saturday. He said he is willing to take in the mom and other puppies for a few weeks, but he feels that it is highly unlikely that she is going to allow it.

I will call our vet first thing tomorrow morning. He doesn't always return calls right away, but hopefully he will call back by the end of the day tomorrow and I can get his take on all of this.

Thank you so much for your help.

How much does this puppy weigh? I think it would make a difference if it is a healthy weight, and I'm not even sure what that would be at that age. I got Maddie, my oldest yorkie, at 7 1/2 weeks and she did great. She ended up at the 7 pound mark and is 5 years old now. I can't imagine a baby yorkie, or a mother yorkie, having to live outside! That is so sad. They need rescuing for sure!

Almost forgot....Welcome to YT!

I'm sorry, I didn't answer that before. I don't know how much it weighs. My husband said it looked teeny to him.

OK, what is the best food for this situation? I guess I will be mixing the new food with Beneful. Our older dogs get Wysong (and the occasional chicken nugget or macaroni and cheese). I want to be ready. I already picked up some puppy nutri-cal and a baby pool, but there were so many ideas on the food thread that I don't know what to do. What would you feed in this situation?

I called our local pet store and they have a range of the higher quality foods.

I would feed goats milk and baby rice cereal with some canned food or gerber chicken, mixed in 3times a day and leave kibble out at all times. I like royal Canin#30 baby dog kibble

I would do this until it is 10 weeks old. then start to cut back on the amount of the soft food mixture, thereby encouraging it to eat more dry food, and also switch to the #33 for small breed puppies.

That is how I wean my puppies.

Thank you, Jeanie. If you give me the exact recipe, I will follow it. I will check to see about finding that Canin locally. BTW, I think they have been to a vet, since my husband said their tails had been docked.

It's ROYAL CANIN #30. It isn't hard to find and I "think" even Petsmart carries it.

Good luck to you...:)

I think it would be great if you could take the Mom and all the pups, even if it is just for a few weeks, this lady may need the extra rest, and the pups should be with their Momma for a little while longer. You and Hubby sound like you would be excellent "Foster Parents" ;)

While I am absolutely a "newbie" with yorkies, I have read a TON of information on YT over the past few months and this is just screaming "fishy" to me...
1. You were told originally the mom and pups were outside, but then when your husband visited again, he was told they were inside, but the mom goes in and out at will?? Sounds like a corrected lie.
2. A breeder giving shots at 6 weeks, when even I know that at that age they are still protected by mom's antibodies?
3. How does having cancer change where the mom/pups are kept, what food they are feeding, and getting their shots? Financial difficulties - possibly. But is she charging the same for the pups without her typical standard of care?
4. The fact that the tails are docked does NOT guarantee that a vet did it - the breeder could have done it herself.

No matter what, these babies all need to be taken care of properly, including the mom. I think you are doing the right thing to get him as early as possible, but I just hope it's for the reasons you're being told, and not due to a BS'ing breeder looking to rid herself of pups with minimal care. I wish you all the best with your new baby, and I'm sure he'll be better off when he's with you regardless of age. Please keep us posted.

Sorry, I might have written the first one wrong. When my husband visited a few weeks ago, the pups were inside but the mom was allowed to go inside or out. When I talked with her today, she said the pups were outside during the day now.

That really is a cause for concern. I understand the breeder is going through a difficult time in her life. If I were you, I would offer to foster them, so she gets a much needed break. Fighting a strong illness such as cancer must be such a draining experience. If she will not allow you to foster them, suggest a friend or really close family member, as these pups are no where near ready to go home.
But, if she really cared for them, she would not be putting them outside yet, even when breeders follow proper protocol, puppies get their last shot at 16 or 18 weeks old, and they still stay inside for another 2 weeks for full immunity to kick in, meaning puppies are not to go outside until 18-20 weeks of age for fear of being exposed to something they cannot handle.

I am re-qouting something one of our knowledgeable breeders posted. I think this is good information, and maybe you can share this with your breeder.
I might be a bit off with my what I said in my post before this one (I can't edit it now) but I know one thing for sure, 6 week old puppies should not be outside.