Is 4 pounds too small?
 

Hi, I have a 5 year old 13 pound Yorkie and I'm considering getting another Yorkie. The particular puppy I'm looking at from this breeder is charting out to be about 4-5 pounds full grown. She said its current measurements are 13 inches long and 7 inches tall at 18 wks. I'm not sure how much it weighs but I think I recall her saying almost 3 pounds. That might not be right.

The problem is is that I've been searching and searching and I can't find any reputable breeders near to where I live. This particular lady I found is 4 hours away from me. She offered to drive the whole four hours to me since I'm afraid to get on the highways and I don't like the idea of having a puppy shipped. The thing is, if she makes a 4 hour trip down here I'm going to feel obligated to pick a puppy. She has sent me many pics of the pup, but I can't tell how small the dog is now and will be full grown. I don't want anything too small and fragile, but I don't want anything too big that hurts to carry like my 13 pound guy. I love him dearly but he is a little too big. I'm also worried if 4 pounds is too small and might get trampled by my big guy.

So I guess my question is, is that even though the parents of the dog are 4 and 5 pounds, can the pup still grow larger? And if so, is there any (safe) way I can induce the dog the grow larger if I realize it's too small? Maybe if you have a 4-5 pound Yorkie could you tell me it's measurements (length and height)? Just any help at all would be appreciated!!!

Thanks. :) :aimeeyork

First, do not feel obligated at all to take a puppy from her. Be honest and upfront, letting her know you are very interested but will not purchase if you are not sure. I think anyone should respect that and not certainly not want you to buy a pup out of obligation.
Second, you may be able to get an idea of weight but no certain answer until the pup is grown. My Maddie is 11 lbs., she was a small pup until about the 9 mo mark and she hit a growth spurt. Her parents were 6 and 7 lbs. :)

We recently introduced a medium breed dog into our family. He will be 55-65 lbs fully grown. We are constantly supervising their play and interaction making sure to correct any rough play. I think you can definitely make this work but you have to be willing to ensure the older dog knows how to interact with the smaller one.

Oh, and WELCOME to YT :)

Welcome to YT!

You will get many opinions on this subject but let me tell you what just happened here.

I have 2 females that are about 13 and 15 pounds and a little male that is right around 5 pounds...the girls are 3 and my male is 2 1/2. About 2 weeks ago we came home and little Peanut was limping and we don't know what happened. He may have slipped on the hardwood floors but he may have been hurt while playing with my girls...they can and do play rough.

We always supervise their playtime when we are home but when we left the house we left them all out since they are so well trained and never really thought about him getting hurt. Since Peanut got hurt we put him in his kennel at night and when we leave just in case.

Turns out he had only twisted or sprained something and he is better now but it scares me to think of what could have happened.

If I only had Peanut I wouldn't worry but having him here with my girls makes me nervous now.

If I were looking to ad another to my home I would prefer one similar in size to the one I already had...but...that's just my opinion.

Thanks for the advice and the warm welcome! It helps to know that your pup turned out to be 11 pounds with her parents being that small! I know I should not be obligated to get the pup, but I feel a little uneasy about her driving 4 hours down here.

BTW, I attached a picture of the pup I'm most interested in, if anyone wants to give an opinion on her.

It is really hard for a breeder to give exact adult weights for a puppy that young, but according to the "standard" charts, if the puppy is close to 3 pounds at 18 weeks, it will likely be between 4 to 6 lbs full grown. BUT that being said, they can be even much larger than that if they get a growth spurt. I have 3 that are approx. 5 lbs and one over 8 lbs and one 16 pounds and have not had a problem with them hurting each other. also, even at 8 pounds, that is a lot of weight to carry for long. shoot, even my 5 pounders end up putting my arm to sleep if I am holding them too long. lol

the thing to remember is honestly, you do NOT need to feel obligated to take a puppy if you do not feel like it is the proper fit into your home. And if the breeder is reputable at all, she will NOT want to place it in your home if you have any doubts at all. A reputable breeder will want to be sure YOU are the right person for her puppy and will agree to accept the puppy back at any time.

OMG such a cute little face :) presto is around 3.9 lbs at 8 mos and i don't think he will grow much. he's the smallest one amongst his litter.

I don't think it's an issue necessarily about size- moreso dogs personality. Jackson loveslovesloves his best little Yorkie girlfriend who is 6lbs and he is 16lbs. They play fine together and can get pretty rough, but she handles it really well and loves every minute of it. However my friends 4lb male is more of a "wimp" and doesn't really get involved in the rough play (though he holds his own!) and doesn't really play that way with Jackson, it's just not his personality. Jackson played with a YT member's foster Chihuahua's who were pretty rough and he loved them! They played great. So I think it's more about finding a personality that fits with your current dog.

:thumbup::thumbup: said much better than me :)

She is so adorable.

Brister's Jackson is a wonderful example of a pup who can properly interact with dogs of smaller size. You can make it work if you are willing to work at it.

my2boyz, I understand what you are saying. My Cookie was pretty rowdy until he got older and now he has calmed down a lot. I would be able to supervise them constantly as I am home all day and do not work, and when I would leave the pup would be going into its crate. But, that is one of my main worries, about it being too fragile. If I could find more breeders in my area I would look for one a little bit larger.

Britster, thanks for the videos! That really helped me to kind of get an idea about the size differences. They are adorable!

Sunnie, thanks for the advice, it's great to hear that they've had no problems. My Cookie is really very well behaved, I just hope he doesn't get jealous!

Wabbit, yes, my Cookie is neutered and we would be getting the little girl spayed as well. Thanks for the advice!

I definitely do not want to make the dog overweight, i just wanted to know if, for example, feeding it a little more would help.

good!! I personally wouldn't go running to get her spayed until she's mature...esp. since Cookie is already neutered!!
She "could" be 4-5 lbs..she could be closer to 6...if Cookie has a good disposition...I wouldn't worry one bit about the little girl's size!

Good luck!

I didn't plan on getting her spayed for a while, but when would you suggest to do it?

I have a 15 lb Westie and a 4 lb Yorkie and they are able to play together just fine. Ringo has to 'hold back' more than he would say if he were playing with another Westie . . but he manages to do just that.

Yorkie's seem to be much more 'fine boned' than my sturdy and muscular Westie; so probably they could be a good match.

Like you, we were looking for a little bit larger yorkie; and she was the biggest in the litter; but she only got to 4 lbs. It still works.

I have 2 yorkies that are pretty different in size. Chase is 13-15lbs, and Calvin is 6lbs. When we brought Calvin home he was just under 3lbs. We supervised them and they are fine. Chase is gentle and seemed to know right from the beginning that he couldn't play too rough. Calvin is the one we have to watch, he likes to beat up his big brother!

We have a yorkie 6 1/2 lbs, a shorkie 13 lbs, and a little shih tzu who is only 4 1/2 months old and weighs 9 lbs. They play with our two bassets who weigh 55 and 57 lbs with no problems.

Going by the 13 inches/7 inches, that puppy is about an inch shorter both ways than my 8 and 3/4 lb 22 week old Yorkie. I have a hard time believing that she is 3 pounds. Mine was estimated by the breeder to be 6-7 pounds adult weight, but going by his 12 week old weight he will be about 10 pounds. He is now starting to get too big for me to easily carry. He has a great personality and I wouldn't trade him for a smaller one, but it seems to me that many breeders claim the dogs will be much smaller than they really will be in order to get more money. Of course reputable breeders will not do that, but as you said, it's very hard to find a reputable breeder. I would want to meet the parents first and see where the puppy was raised as well.

:thumbup::thumbup:
The 13 inches long x 7 inches tall. Is the phrase that caught my eye. How is this breeder measuring this pup? Is she measuring from the base of the neck to the base of the tail and from the shoulder to the ground. I just asked because 13 inches is a bit long even for an adult yorkie.

However, that being said, the pup is adorable. And as Sunnie said, no way can a breeder tell you what the exact weight will be. It's all in the pups genetic background.

I will say I have a 12.5 pound yorkie and smaller yorkies and they all play beautifully......I've never had to worry about them hurting each other.

As far as feeding the pup more, you'll only tend to make the pup fat......The pup will be what it will be.

I'm curious, is the 13 inches from nose to base of tail? or from shoulder to tail? Rizzo is 11 inches from shoulder to tail and 11 inches from shoulder to floor and is 5lbs. I'm just curious, mostly because that sounds like a very lengthy yorkie? Or is that just me? I am definitely no expert, lol. I'm sure if your larger yorkie is great with playing nice a smaller yorkie will be no problem :) good luck, don't feel pressured to take this one if you don't feel comfortable with the breeder, or the pup for that matter :)

do you have any pictures of your little ones together so i could get an idea of the size difference?

I think it is 13 inches from nose to tail. Thanks for telling the measurements of your dog that helps me. :)

Thats what I wondered because my Jewels is 6 lbs and 12 inchs long. Im sure its a typo

She is definitely measuring from nose to tail. So basically the full length of the dog is 13 inches. My Cookie is 11 inches at the base of neck to tail. So I know that the 13 inches has to be nose to tail for the little one!

Sure, any excuse to post pics ;)
The first 3 pics are within 2 weeks of bringing Calvin home, so he's just under or right at 3lbs, and Chase is 15lbs.
The 4th pic is more recent, Calvin was between 5-6lbs, and Chase about 15lbs.

Hi, and welcome to YT. I have 2 schnauzers. Tina is 10lbs. Lexi is 30lb. ugh!! way over weight. We have 2 yorkies. Kayla is 9lbs. Dudley is 4lbs. Dudley is 10"long from shoulder to tail and 8" high from shoulder to the floor. He is a cutie and we thought we would never get use to this little tiny guy, but we did and love him to pieces. He watches out for himself and also it helps to know that Lexi, our overweight schnauzer is use to being around little ones and she is pretty careful with him. He is soooo fast and holds his own with all those girls. lol!!! One plus to having one so little is it is a breeze to bathe him. If I had small children at home I don't think I would get one that small. We have no children at home and we are used to watching him like a 2yr. old. He will be 2 the 15th of this month. I hope you make the right choice for your family and good luck on finding the right baby for you.

I think it all depends on the dog....I had a Standard Poodle when I got Teddi and she was only as big as a hampster when I got her. They loved each other and Cassie knew Teddi was small and was cautious with her. This is a picture of Cassie & Teddi when I first got Ted.