Yorkies and toddlers
 

Hello everyone,

This is my first post. My family is strongly considering getting a yorkie. I took my family to a respectable puppy breeder in our area. My wife and kids fell in love with him. However, my youngest, which is 2 years old, tried several times to kick or beat him up. We really love this dog, but I'm just so worried that my toddler would do something to really hurt or injury him. Does anyone have any advice on how to introduce a Yorkie into a new home with toddlers? What are some tips for getting them to coexist peacefully?

Hello and Welcome to YT! Most reputable breeders would never consider selling a Yorkie to a family that has children under 12. Yorkies are very fragile. If your child were to kick this puppy it could severly injure him. Picking him up and dropping him could kill him. A Yorkie is not for small children. I would suggest a sturdy breed, maybe a lab. Please rethink this purchase, it could end up costing you a fortune in vet bills or the puppies life.

I am not one that thinks no house with a toddler is acceptable as my son was toddler when we got our first Yorkie however I think it is of utmost importance that the child be taught a serious respect for animals.

When we brought our first Yorkie home he was NEVER ever allowed out and about around the children without adult supervision. The children we never allowed in the kitchen without adult supervision. No exceptions and all family members must be on board.

When the children went in to see him they were seated at all times and asked to leave if they could not obey the rule. They were never allowed to pick the puppy up outside of the puppy crawling onto their laps. If the puppy came out to see them he was harnessed and leashed for his safety. These rules continued almost until he was full grown and the children were well trained on how to respect a small dog. Even to this day my son is now 7 (almost 8) and he has NEVER picked up one of my Yorkies, he knows it is unacceptable and just wouldn't do it.

My suggestion is that if you can follow a very strict routine in teaching your son to respect a small dog and have everyone in the house 100% on board with your rules then it can be done. If not then maybe a small dog is not for your family at this time. Possibly a sturdier breed but even with that no matter what the breed size (for the dog's safety and your son's) he must be taught to respect the animal.

My kids were born and raised around dogs so we never had an issue with young children and the dogs. Our dogs are good with the kids and the kids are good with the dogs. If you get a dog/puppy, you will need to be very careful until your child/children learn the proper way to treat a small dog. They can learn to live together with your help and guidance. If you are really concerned about your youngest one, then you may want to rethink your plans to get a puppy. The child must understand the puppy cannot be kicked, hit, dropped, or abused in any way.

Your 2 year old tried to kick and beat up the dog while at the breeders house? I am of the opinion you don't need to have a puppy this fragile in your home.
Please try and teach the child respect for animals.

I think you need to wait for your youngest to be about 5 before you adopt a small breed pup like yorkies. They are very fragile and acccidents happen even in the most best intentions of families

You nailed it lady, if he acted this way at the breeders house, i hate to think of how he would act at home :rolleyes:

I wonder if this child has even ever been around an animal before. So why start by adopting a tiny small breed pup. I think a better choice would be an adult golden retrever or some other bigger breed like that. You still need to teach your son to respect animals though

I appreciate everyone's responses. The two year old is actually a girl! :)

She just turned 2 and this was her first time being around a dog this close. She was a little excited. Unfortunately, her initial reaction wasn't necessarily the best. My wife and I had a talk with her about respecting animals during that time. She calmed down and simply watched the dog play with the other kids. She didn't attempt to continue doing anything bad to the yorkie. So, we feel it was just a one time thing and with continued education she wont do it again.

Because we have kids, the breeder agreed to allow us weekly time with the dog so we could teach them how to respect and handle the dog. Our plan was once we see that they are able to respect and be around the dog to an acceptable level, then we would consider bringing him home.

I'm open to any advice and responses. But I'm really looking to see on how we make this work. After only a short amount of time, my family has already fell in love with this particular yorkie. It would break everyone's heart if we were able to find a way for this to be successful in our home.

Your child has already tried to hurt the dog while being supervised. There is no way I would bring ANY dog in to the home until your child is older and has been taught how to behave around animals. Normally I would agree with Chachi and recommend a larger dog, but bigger dog=bigger bites when faced with a child who doesn't know how to behave around one. Don't set the dog up for failure.

Yea I didnt think about that but I agree

When we were young we had a little puppy that my brother didn't know how to play with correctly. In just a few short months the pup ended up hating my brother and would attack him constantly and was very agressive. My parents ended up getting rid of our family dog because of this....we should've gotten rid of my brother.....

So between the dogs best interest and that of your child, possibly wait until the toddler is older and then go with a different breed as mentioned above in numerous posts.

If you went to a "reputable breeder" and your child tried to hit and kick her puppies and she is still willing to consider selling you a dog she needs to stop breeding IMMEDIATELY!

As for your child behaving this way you need to consider parenting classes or counseling. I have raise 3 children and they would have never been allowed to raise a hand (or foot) to any living creature. :(

I seriously think that we are once again being played for fools! :thumbdown:thumbdown

I'm a little insulted that you would infer there is an issue with my parenting. My child was approriately disciplined and talked to regarding this. Once that was done, there were no further incidences.

I have 5 children. I had many different types of pets before having kids and while having kids. My children have been brought up with animals in the house and learned respect and gentleness with animals as soon as they were able to crawl.

It appears your toddler has no experience with animals. But, it is possible for him to learn! If you decide to get a dog, you will have to be VERY vigilant when pup and toddler are together. A 2 year old IS capable of understanding right and wrong and gentle and rough...if the parents take the time to correctly teach him. You will need to be consistent and have a consequence/reward system ready. When the toddler interacts with the dog in a good way, there's a reward. If he's rough then he gets a consequence...time out maybe...

Again, I think it can be done and done successfully...but you will have to be very careful and willing to put in the time and energy.

Good luck!

CREATIVE Writting Assignment ?
 

:thumbup: Me too. Not yanking me into their practice debate, or writing homework either. Why anyone would................ never mind, know the polite police are listening.

A 2 year old toddler is way to young to understand how to treat a small puppy or any animal . It is best to wait until the child can be taught how to handle a animal , 2 year olds want to play , be independant , and are sometimes aggressive. Adding a small puppy to your family who have already seen how their toddler responds to one is not going to work out. Yo may end up with huge vet bills after the pup is injured or could even get killed. Most reputable breeders would no sell to a family with very small children for this very reason. Your child is just not ready for a tiny pup . Until the child can learn , it is not a good idea. Anther thing about 2 year olds, they are unpredictable and impulsive , your toddler may even be thinking the pup is a toy , not a living creature. Since you have observed his behavior , you really think bringing home a tiny puppy is a good idea? Parents can make rules to follow , however a parent is not going to see everything 24/7 , even if you do, the child could drop the pup right in front of you without knowing he could hurt the puppy.

Hi & Welcome to Yorkietalk!

First of all - bringing "any puppy" (regardless of it's breed) into any home is a major adjustment for everyone - even if you've had dogs all your life. A puppy is a lot of work and can stress out even the best of us. They poop, they pee, they chew and they bite. To bring a puppy into your home with a 2 yr old will be a TON of work. Both need to be supervised constantly. Both are just babies.

Unfortunately, Yorkies come in all sizes. Some are really small with fine bone structure and some are larger and have a more sturdy frame. How big were the parents of the puppy you were looking at? How old is the puppy?

Because of their size many people have had life altering accidents with them. Dropping them, sitting on them, stepping on them - all can cause major damage to these dogs. (broken backs - neurological problems) You should search the internet to see what you can find out about this. I know that a few people who used to be members here had accidents - and they were adults.

It's just my opinion but... I'd wait until your child is older to bring "any puppy" into your home. In the meantime, try to teach your toddler to be "gentle" with animals. Unfortunately, not all children know how to be gentle right off the bat. It's not that they don't want to but they don't realize their strength etc.

Good Luck! Hope you and your family find the right pet for yourselves.

I had small children and Yorkies but my children were taught from the time they could sit up to not pull, kick bite etc on the pets. I would really think about waiting until your child is older before getting a young pet of any kind. Perhaps you can "practice" how to behave with stuffed animals? I wouldn't recommend bringing a puppy into a home with a two year old even without behavior issues because of the amount of time both babies will need for proper supervision and potty training.

Wait!!!! Now is a very important time to spend with your two year old child. Teaching him/her how to interact with the world including animals is your first priority. Think about all the time you will have to spend working with a puppy and managing a toddler. It is better to enlist the child's assistance in raising a puppy when he/she is mature enough to appreciate and enjoy the experience.

I would hold off on getting a Yorkie until your 2 year old is about 12. Frgile to say the least and it does not take much for one to break a leg and you get hit with a $3000 surgical bill, and then multiply that by two!

Look into getting a dog that will be able to take a bit without getting hurt, yet one that is gentle with the family and kids. Consider a Cane Corso! There are only 2 breeders that I would recommend for the Corso. Yes, I have one, and have had him for 12 years. We always let the little kids pet him and not pet the Yorkies as one of ours hated kids.

Don't get a puppy.
Invest in this for you toddler instead...Bop Bags: Inflatable Punching Bags for sale largest bop bag selection

LOL i didn't even know they still made these :D Bozo was popular so many years ago

My mom got one for me when I was little. It scared the crap out of me!

I think it's POSSIBLE for a Yorkie to live peacefully with a toddler. But it's not something I'd really WANT to do.

I have a sister significantly younger than me. She was not even a year old when I brought in 9 week old Jackson (keep in mind: he is a bigger Yorkie, was already 5lbs by this age). I still live with them and it works, they really love each other, but it's hard. If she were my kid, I am not sure I could have handled both. Good news is that she's not my kid, LOL, she's my sibling. So she's all my mom and stepdads work ;) She's in daycare Tues-Friday until 5pm and they often go to dinner, or do their own thing, etc... if I had my own child AND had to raise Jackson as well, I would say I would have been really really really stressed.

Emma, who is now almost 4 years old, is still learning every day. I wouldn't trust the two of them alone together. She tends to like to hug him, which he doesn't really appreciate. And very in-his-face, touchy-feely. I am always there to supervise and luckily Jackson is a very well rounded socialized tolerant dog, but I never allow him to be tormented, etc. It's a lot of work when it's the two of them together because she really loves the dog and wants to constantly play with him, but the same feelings aren't always shared by Jackson.

Anyways, long story, but it's not something I'd advise. I'd wait for a few more years for any dog, personally. It's different when you already have a dog and a baby is born. Doing it the other way around can be really hard.

Also, every kid is different. My little half-brother (dads son) was always really good with animals. I would never have an issue leaving Jackson with him, though he's now almost 8. But at the time I got Jackson, he was a little over 4, and even then was always really good, quiet, calm and respectful of the animals. He just wasn't so much of a rough-and-tumble type kid as my sister is.

So I think each situation is different. Accidents can happen no matter what. But in your case, it sounds advisable to wait until your child has matured a bit and maybe learns how to properly treat animals.

I would definitely wait on getting any dog until you can make sure your daughter can respect and treat the animal kindly.

Like Britster said, it is different when there is an animal in the house first, then a child is born. My sister has a Chow. Now, they are very temperamental dogs. I would NEVER advise anyone to get one with children. Anyways, he is great with the dog and the dog is great with him, but I think a lot of that has to do with the two being raised together. The dog was a pup, then about 6 months later, my nephew was born.

Now here is a situation of a kid that wasnt raised with dogs -- my friend has a 3 year old. And he came over to see Lucky. Well first thing he did was grab his tail then start pinching his fur. Well lets just say, I FREAKED! I yelled at the kid (even tho he isn't mine. I feel like my friend, his mom, should have said something, but she laughed. It gets me so so MAD!). So from now on he is not allowed to come over to my house until he learns respect for animals.

So maybe you can take your children to a shelter or the SPCA to volunteer once a week, so she can be familiarized with animals. She can learn how to respect and treat them and learn they are living beings too. If after that she does show improvement, maybe you can reevaluate getting this pup!

Good luck in whatever you choose!

The children and the yorkie would need constant supervision. Are you prepared to allow for this much time?

Are you also prepared to teach your children to never pick up the puppy, so it is not dropped onto the floor? More supervision.

Please be aware that there have been other instances where toddlers have caused the death of tiny yorkies by falling on them as well as running and stepping on them.

It's easy to fall in love with a tiny yorkie, but many have ended up in rescues after having bitten toddlers and small children in the face.

These are all things that you should consider. I am advocating for the yorkie, if that is not clear.

I remember when my nephew was 2 yrs old. It was very hard to get his attention when he was distracted by something, and he is one of the most intelligent kids I have ever met. I don't know if the OP's 2 yr old is his first kid or not, but I would give more attention to my kid rather than getting a puppy at this point who would take my attention away from my kid.

Also, reputable breeders, really reputable breeders (not just ones that call themselves such) would not even show their puppies if they knew you had a toddler. And to invite you back to teach the toddler how to handle puppies after seeing her try to kick her? Highly doubtful. I wouldn't even consider a family with a toddler to adopt any of my adult fosters. A household with a toddler is chaotic and the attention needs to be on the toddler.

That being said, I believe there are breeds out there that would be good with toddlers, but personally I would never have any growing puppy with a toddler, as I would want all my attention on the baby, not something to distract me from baby. A puppy needs constant attention and training. A grown and well trained dog would be more ideal IMO to be in a family with a toddler, not a puppy.

Well kids do learn from their parents, only what they are taught.......