weight obsession
 

Hi everyone,

I was in the Atlanta airport a couple of days ago on a stopover from Arizona to Maine. My Edie was with me (what a great little traveler she is). Anyway, there was a woman at the same gate with a TINY Yorkie--10 weeks old, and I would say less than a pound. Naturally, people were stopping to talk with her about the puppy (named Harley) who was quite cute.

Something bothered me though---all she talked about was the dogs weight and how she expected her to double in size by adulthood. There was no talk of the dog's personality, likes, dislikes, temperament, etc. ONLY WEIGHT. It bothered me because there is so much more to a Yorkie than size (or lack thereof). She was treating the dog like a fashion accessory, not like a living creature.

Heaven help us if our value was based only on our weight. There is so much more to all of us. If we are going to describe our Yorkies using a number, let's use another one--how about the number of squeaky toys destroyed in the last 6 months. "Hello, this is my Yorkie Edith. She has eviscerated 7 sock monkeys since July!" Now that's a number that tells me something about the dog.

I don't know if any of you have been disturbed by this weight obsession with Yorkies. You certainly don't hear German Shepherd owners talking so much about it. As long as a Yorkie is a healthy weight, who cares? Besides, I have too much to worry about with my own weight, but that's a whole 'nother story.

LOL !! What a great post - pretty funny and I agree - Some yorkie people really do put too much value on weight - Me...I just love mine just the way they are and while the subject comes up - I usually divert it to how truly FUN they are...to me - A yorkies personality is way more important than how small or big they are.

Excellent Post Alison :thumbup: and a good reminder for any of us to promote their great personalities.

I loved the part about how many toys they have destroyed in the last few months :D and we all know they are true terriers and they love the kill!

I have found that the people I have came across with the small yorkies to be a little snobish also. They act like their dog is better than yours. I am sure this isnt always the case but it has been with the ones I have ran into.

I agree and it seems like the smaller they are the more attention they get.

What a funny post...

When I am out with Sammi I always get...THATS A YORKIE...ISNT SHE A LITTLE LARGE TO BE A YORKIE (Sam is 13lbs)...And I tell them...What can I say, she is an Italian Yorkie, she likes her pasta and meatballs on Sundays :)

XoXoXo
Fran and Sammi

Just looking around and I read this.....This is great. Where did you come up with Italian Yorkie....priceless.
I can't name my 2 like that cause they eat all foods not just Italian. LOL

i know what you mean my chihuahua is 10 pounds thats not big at all hes really tiny all mussel and all i get is WOW hes huge its really annoying i even get i thought chi's only get to 3-4 pounds NO there all not the same size and color

I have had people find out I had a Yorkie and they just had to see her and when they saw that she wasn't tiny they where uninterested. It used to hurt my feelings the way people would react to her size but now I could care less. She is perfect just the way she is. My dad described Sophie best by saying she is nothing but a big bundle of HAIR and LOVE. I thought that was so sweet. :aimeeyork

I cannot remember how many calls I got during Dec from men looking for a Yorkie for their S.O. Invariably, they would say "Hi. I'm looking for a Yorkie puppy for my wife girlfriend. Do you have any that will be less than 3 1/2 pounds when they are grown?" I would say"Oh, you are looking for an adult then cause no breeder can guarantee you an adult that weight when they are selling a puppy!"

Fran...that is hilarious!! Great comeback!!Hah!

I have always had a problem with this.....so much so that I am always asking why the standard uses weight instead of height and length as the determinent for size since that is what most other breeds do like poodles for example....

I remember when I got my Chai, she is a gold and white yorkie, and I got so irritated.....I belonged to another forum at the time, not YT, and all anyone could ask about was whether she was AKC, is she really a yorkie, what did her parents look like, was I sure the breeder was being honest, etc.

I finally said "Does anyone want to know about her personality?" And I went on to talk about her temperament and how she was getting along with my other dogs, etc. They all shut up after that...lol.....go figure.....the negative is more interesting than the positive I guess...i don't know?

The question I get asked most when I am out with mine is "Are you a breeder?" because I usually have more than one with me and I talk about the others too when someone strikes up a conversation with me.

I think because of the whole teacup terminology thats what the average perdon considers great. I must say I have met many yorkie owners who stress and only talk about size and weight. I don't give a hay stack about that my girl could weigh like a mastiff and she would still be my girl. Our relationship is uncomparable. :thumbup:

I feel the SAME way :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

I think it's simple. People are obsessed with small Yorkies b/c they are uhhh small. It's funny that real dogs come in small packages. Who cares? When I see a huge dog I comment on it's size, I don't ask about it's personality. People notice unique physical traits and comment on them. Why take it personally? If you have a 2lb. dog, people are going to wonder about it. If you have a 13lb. Yorkie, people are going to wonder about it. If you have a unique colored Yorkie, people will wonder about it.

You are so right...I never thought of it that way, but of course...it makes perfect sense. If we see an enormous great dane we react the same way!!

Great Post! :thumbup:

I agree! Tucker was never verry small, but Bandit was. Whenever I walked him at least one person said, "is he going to get any bigger?" So, I just reply with, "I hope so, he's just a baby!" Though I agree with some other people too. I mean, think about it. If we're walking along and see someone with a huge great dane won't we ask about its size? Or say something about how big it is? I just can't stand it when they're babies and people ask if they're going to get bigger. Everything gets bigger than when its a baby!

Well, my point was that this woman in the Atlanta airport ONLY spoke about weight. It was, frankly, kind of odd that nothing else came up. She (the owner) was fixated on the size of the dog. Like I said, it seemed like a fashion accessory instead of a pet. Just my observation. All Yorkies seem pretty small to me. My Edie (who is probably larger than most of your pups) raises eyebrows because most people think she is so small even though she is a good-sized Yorkie. I don't dwell on it though. I simply point out that she is ALL DOG and that she can catch a frisbee in mid-air as well as any border collie! Edie is much more than her size....

AlisonJ --- I agree with you 100 percent. It's like it has almost become a contest to see who has the tiniest Yorkie anymore. I literally can't believe some of the weights of the tiny ones I read about on this site. When I read 1 1/2 - 2 - or 3 pounds - my stomach almost turns over. And, then to breed these little guys to get more tiny Yorkies ---we all know better than to do this - but it is still being done --even by a lot of us here who know better!

And so many people are looking for tiny tiny Yorkies - this keeps the demand for them up and running.

Tiny Yorkies generally cost more -- doesn't this tell us something also?

I remember the first Yorkie I ever saw in my life. I said, "Oh, what a darling little pup." The owner replied, "He's not a pup - he's seven years old." I couldn't believe it. I didn't know there were dogs that small.

When I purchased my pup, they said it would be between 5 and 10 pounds, and I thought that was great because its best friend was going to be a 21-pound Bichon. My pup is 4 months old and probably weighs about 5 pounds now. I think this is an acceptable weight, but he's going to get bigger --which is also okay. For sure, a big Yorkie is still a very small dog.

I deliberately wanted a small dog because I have a very bad back, and my little Yorkie is so much easier for me to carry and bathe and care for. If I carry or bathe my 21-pound dog, my back hurts a lot. I just can't do it.

Anyway - yes, it would be nice if we could get over this weight thing with Yorkies. They do have much more to offer than just their size.

A 5 to 7 pound is perfect. And, a larger one is wonderful too.

Carol Jean

yipeeee - I can show off Air Chanel again :D :D :D :thumbup:

Alison - here is MY little Dainty yorkie Chanel - she's the one in my avatar with the long hair - ...She just beat out those frisbee catchin border collies in the Dogster Contest - hehe - she got first place in the jumping catagory :)

(yes...I sound proud - I entered that picture as a joke actually :D :D )

I think smaller is wonderful too.

Chanel is getting a lot of air there! I would be making T-shirts and buttons with those photos. I have not been so lucky in catching Edie in mid-air but I will keep trying. It really is the funniest thing, isn't it, to see all that hair flying around? It took her a while to understand that she was supposed to catch the frisbee in mid-air, but when she did it the first time, I cheered and made a big fuss, and she got the idea very quickly.

I understand what you are saying and agree it is pathetic but she may just be smitten with her new pup and how cute and tiny it is. Not much cuter than a 2lb. Yorkie puppy but no guarantees what size it will end up. Hope her love for the pup grows with the dog.

LOL Good point ! I've heard stories about some people getting so upset their yorkie grows and just don't get it - it took me less than 1 hour to fall in love with mine and after that - who cares how big they get ?

Alison...I would LOVE to see your jumper ! Chanel can catch Frisbees too but only the soft ones ...Ive never tried the plastic ones cause I'm afraid to Boink her on the nose :D

Good point---we only use the soft frisbees too. I think the others are too hard. I could see it knocking out a tooth or something!

Big Boned Is Good!
 

BIG is good! Proud mama of a probably 16+ female Yorkie, Chelsea! We tell her she is "big boned and beautiful" so she wont have big girl issues. Although, she THINKS she is an.... ummmmm...teacup...she isnt, more like a Mr. Coffee size, or commercial size TEAPOT.

We have never had a Yorkie, always had poodles, but we have sincerely enjoyed her personality.

Well, almost enjoyed...today I found another Christmas tree angel ornament and MY stapler outdoors! She is so cute, big brown eyes, gray face, floppy ears, who could be angry at such a face?

Hugs,
Chelsea'sMom :aimeeyork

LOL How cute - she took the ornaments outside ? lol - did she bury them or hide them ? and Your STAPLER ? what was she trying to do with that ? ...oh wait - dumb question - they are just boostin little theives - if they know something isn't theirs - they want it even more :)

great story! i noticed that while on vacation with bunjee alotta people comment about his size. he's only 3.5 lbs right now. my fav was this woman who kept asking me if he was a teacup... and i explained how "teacup" is a marketing term used by breeders out for the money not necessarily to improve the breed...and she just goes on about how her friend spent ALOT of $$$$ on her teacup yorkie... blah blah....i was so wishing she would shut up so i can walk away without being rude...and then she gave me an out....she asked "are you going to breed him?" and i responded jokingly..."no, he's getting fixed soon... if i wanted to breed i would have had children. hahaha." she cracked a weak smile and we said our goodbyes. not a moment too soon!

My Yorkie is only five years old and I even remember when people would scream "OHH what a cute PUPPY" to Turbie who was two years old at that point. But not now.

The first thing people say to me when I meet another Yorkie is how much they weigh. I just change the subject quickly.

I really try not to be offended when people comment on how big she is, shes 10lbs, and then continue on by questioning if she is even a Yorkie. I just have to remind myself that they are the one who is uneducated about the breed.

I just hope this new fad goes away soon.