Introduction
 

Hello. I have just joined this forum. :) We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our new little Yorkie, "Dino", from our breeder, a kind Amish man and his family. We have visited Dino several times since she was born to hug and snuggle and are simply waiting to get the "okay" that she is ready to be adopted. She is approaching 8 weeks, which I understand is the minimum age for adoption. He may opt to keep her a bit longer with her mom and other littermate, just one other- a brother.

We are excited to welcome Dino into our family and looking forward to advice from experienced yorkie owners. Please offer any suggestions you may have regarding housebreaking (crate training vs. other) or suggestions. We are anxious to learn and be the best family we can for this darling pup.

One question I have is did you bring a blanket or other 'lovie' to the breeder before you brought your yorkie home so that the blanket could be kept with the mother so that the puppy could smell her and feel more comfortable when brought to her new home? As I mentioned, we have visited our Yorkie at the breeder several times, to hug and snuggle and get her used to our handling and smell. Any other suggestions to make the transition smooth are appreciated!

Nice to "meet" you all and God bless -
Theresa :aimeeyork

Welcome to YT! I think some breeders give you something (blanket or a toy) to take with you. Maybe you can ask the breeder. If you read the stickies, it provides a lot of solid basic information on how to prepare for the furry addition. If you run into an issue that doesn't seem normal, you can just post the questions here and someone usually replies right away.

One thing I'd like to say is that you make sure you know or get some of the food she's been eating. IF you decide to switch food, you must do it gradually or she might suffer tummy ache or worse.

Congratulations and welcome to YT. It really is the best for them to stay with mom until they are 12 weeks old. You seem to have less episodes of hypoglycemia and also they learn lots of manners from mom.

Hi, welcometo YT! I've had Scarlet for almost a week now and they truly are a joy have!! :)

Welcome to YT :)
Congratulations on your new family member :)

Welcome and Congrats :)

Welcome!

Welcome to YT and congrats on your new baby :)

welcome to YT// congrats on your new baby// this is a great place

Thank you for the warm welcome!

Welcome to YT :-) I bet you are excited for your new fur baby xoxo. This place has a wealth of information that is so valuable, learning what you will need. It was like my bible for the first few weeks after I rescued my pup Gizmo, and everyone was so gracious and helpful.

I suppose I should just wait patiently. But it is hard! The children are excited too. We have all read up on Yorkie care, and watched many videos about how to take care of our new family member. But it makes sense that waiting for 12 weeks may be in her best interest. Thank you! :aimeeyork :thumbs up

Hello and welcome to YT. The 8 week rule is really for the larger dogs. It is best if Dino stayed until he was at least 12 weeks.

Hello welcome to YT! Sounds like you are already a good mom for a pup! Your definitely on the right track!

I have grown up and have always lived very near a large Amish Community. I have never met an Amish family that was anything other than kind and nice, and I have never met an Amish family, and I have met many.. that only bred one or two dogs, normally it is a means of "income" for them, amongst other things.

They rarely allow dogs or cats to live in their main house with them and infact don't "feed" their pets, rather they leave them to hunt for themselves. I've met many Amish families and not once have I seen them allow the animals in. Are you familiar with the Amish puppy mills? I would make sure that this is not a puppy mill. Again I have never met an Amish person who bred otherwise and would be really interested to know if your breeder is different. If he is running a breeding business, you might want to rethink your purchase.

I am really interested in hearing more about this breeder.

I wish you much luck!

Ok I'm not sure where you come from but I was rraised Amish. Not all Amish breeders are doing it as a means to make a living. My dad and I bred Labs just because we love the breed so much. And around here lots of Amish have dogs in the house(and whats wrong with not having any in the house? Lots of Amish have large families and the mothers simply do not have the time to care for a puppy in the house) and I dont know of ANY that leave their dogs to hunt for their own food. That would just seem ridiculous to me. (Not saying that it can't happen) and yes you should always be careful who you buy from!

Mrs. Thomas, I'd like to welcome you and Dino to YorkieTalk. I sincerely hope that you will become a regular contributor to our growing family of yorkie lovers. We would love to hear stories about Dino and see pics of him growing up.

To answer your question, it is a good thing to give the breeder a blanket or snuggly toy to the breeder so that your new baby will go home with the scent of his mom and brother.

It would also be a good thing if your breeder would keep your Dino until he is 12 weeks old (minimum). The time between six and 12 weeks is a very important time for social development. The pup learns from mom and siblings many things that we, as humans have a very difficult time teaching such as discipline, social hierarchy, and how to be a dog.

Good luck! Can't wait to see pics...

I live near Lancaster County PA, which is home to the LARGEST AMISH COMMUNITY in the country. I have been there 100's and 100's and 100's of times. I have been blamed for corrupting one or two back in the day:eek: (one of which is married to my sister in laws brother). In Lancaster County there are close to 400 registered breeders (puppy mills) and estimates are that in reality there are more than 900 unregistered...most of those being Amish....however, we know there are even more than what is statistically projected/estimated.

I would never condemn a whole for the sins of the few. I am an advocate for people as well as animals and I know for certain there are some Amish who would never stand for such treatment of animals; however, with that said I stand by what I said and know to be true in PA. It is not a secret that the Amish are greatly responsible for a large number of puppymills and largely "feel" differently about animals than some others.

As far as your comment about dogs outside, NO I don't believe in "outside" dogs, I believe that all animals that are in your family (not talking about livestock) should be treated like family, but that is just my opinion and my belief. My big dogs had a doggy door and spent more time outside than inside but when they were inside they were treated like family members. Heck we put a 28ft long by 18 ft wide addition on our house for the "outside" dogs, turned out we ended up spending more time in the "dog room" with them then in the main part of the house!


I genuinely want to know if their were Amish who were small hobby breeders who were breeding ethically and soundly like real reputable breeders because sadly, I've not met one yet.

What was your breeding program like when you were breeding Labs? Did you adhere to the practices of the breed club or AKC? I love learning about these things.

As far as the OP, I do want her to be aware of what she might be getting in to and wondering if she checked her breeders out thoroughly? I have a puppymill dog, I know what I don't wish upon anyone....

I intended absolutely no offense to you personally.

Here is a link to for informational purposes:
Amish Country's Dark Puppy Mill Secret - PawNation