Is a Yorkie for me?

[Andjela]

Thank you all for your suggestions! Your yorkies sound so precious

I do want to clarify. I am not worried at all about my basset hound or bulldog. I guess you can consider them my "parents dogs" now, but of course they will be around each other especially in the beginning. Both dogs are approximately 40lbs and have been in puppy play groups with dogs of all sizes, from a 5lb maltese to a 95lb greyhound and that maltese comes over to our house frequently for playtime. Our bulldog actually treats the maltese as her baby and protects her and won't take her eyes of her. It's quite adorabull That being said I will crate train and I don't have a problem with, nor will I hesitate to separate the dogs if I feel that either of them are unsafe. They are and will be my babies after all. Otherwise, the yorkie (or whichever dog I bring home) will be the only dog in my new home.

I do have my heart set on a yorkie, especially after hearing of all of yours! If I socialize correctly, do you think I'll have a problem in the future with adding to our little family? I'm nowhere near that right now, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want kids.

Another thing! I've heard that yorkies are stubborn and one of the worst to potty train - how was this process for you? I feel like our bulldog was potty trained within a week and she learned everything so quickly. We just thought that she followed her big brother and learned fast. For those of you who have multiple dogs, did you notice this as well with your yorkies?

Thank you all so much!

[Ellie May]

All three Yorkies you met have a piece of the Yorkie personality. They can be very sweet. Some like kids, many do not (expose to gentle children in puppyhood). Some can be aggressive (like any breed) and some are not. Three very common Yorkie "problems" are excessive barking, potty accidents, and dislike of being kenneled.

So my answer is that while you could find a perfect angel
yorkie, there are other breeds that would increase the chance of that happening.

[matese]

My lil adopted boy was purchased by prev. owner for her little (at that time )8 y/o daughter. The mom & dad split up, it was decided by grand mother & great grand mother to buy the 8 y/o a puppy to love and care for, thus getting her mind off of her daddy no longer living in the house. This little 8 y/o adored lil Cody, carried him in her arms like a infant. This child trained him to sit, stay, lay down and other commands, even leash trained him. The little girl adored lil Cody as did the rest of the family. 2 years down the road the mom remarried, had a baby, ran into financial difficultly, could no longer afford medical care for lil Cody, So Cody was surrendered. The little girl was beyond heart broken (I speak to the child (now 11 y/o) once a month to ensure her Cody has a wonder life, excellent medical care, and will never forget her). Cody LOVES children, sad thing is, I have no young children in my family, or in my community. My next door neighbor however has a 16 y/o and a 5 y/o daughter, they do have a mix JR / Maltese dog bought when the youngest was 3 y/o. They never take the dog out, and we rarely see the children. Several months ago the 2 girls were at the side of the houses, mine & theirs, Cody saw them and put his lil paws on the fence crying for their attention, I asked the older one to bring the 5 y/o to the fence, told her Cody's prev. master was a Young child, loves and misses her and he loves children. Cody was sooo happy to have the 5 y/o pet him and he gave her lots of kisses. What I am getting at is, if a yorkie is raised with genital, responsible, non abusive children, has not been teased or tormented by children they will get along fine with them. I had 4 females, all now past, that didn't like any kids because in the past they were teased, and harnessed, and shot with super soaker water guns. These were sweet loving girls, but I could not trust them around any children, I didn't trust that they would not bite them even if the kids were genital kids. I did not mention all my yorkies were not tiny, their weights ranged from 10 lbs to 17 lbs. My Cody is 12 lbs.

[tracycaeran]

HI and welcome to YT. My yorkie is 5 months old. I have two boys. The youngest is 8 and a niece that is over all the time and she is 1 1/2. Kids are at my house ALL the time. I also have a shepherd mix (60 lbs) and a Savannah cat. My Yorkie is GREAT with all kids, all people and all dogs/animals. The only issue I do have is potty training him. He is stubborn. He rarely barks and does not bite. I got him at 12 weeks old and socialized him from day one. I will take him for walks on a path that always has people jogging, biking and walking dogs. I also take him to a dog park where there are all different breeds of dogs. HE is fine. I am a firm believer (especially with this breed) to get one when they are just a puppy and socialize him/her right away. Try to get the puppy used to kids and other dogs at all times. When feeding him/her put your hands in the food so they dont become food aggressive. I have people come over all the time and pick up and carry my little guy. I have had nothing but a wonderful experience with my lil fella. Oh and by the way, he loves his crate. He sleeps in there all night. From 9 to 8 in the morning. He will go all night w/o a potty break. Good luck and keep us posted on your decision. I hopy my reply/comments helped

[leslieann79]

On the potty training thing. My first dog was a breeze to train done in a week. My little dog is a yorkie/bichon mix so I don't know which breed to blame but he was a lot harder to housetrain. We finally have made a lot of headway by sticking to a super super strict crating schedule which we are letting up on now but it was nothing like training my other dog. Don't worry about the house training though. Yorkies are so cute you wont mind. Their messes are little too! (compared to my 28 lb dog). He's always slept through the night with no accidents. I think most of my problem with house training him was I had unrealistic expectations. My other dog we got at 8 weeks and she was potty trained very quickly. Most dogs they say dont have bladder control until about 5 months so we got lucky there. My little guy we got at 3 months and he is only 5 months now so he actually is doing very well for a young guy. I had to learn to not expect him to be like my other dog and realize he is appropriate for his age.

[Andjela]

Thanks everyone! All your comments are helpful!

And I will most definitely keep you posted. I'm part of a Facebook group for bulldog owners and lovers and it's so helpful and offers tons a support when in need. I would love that kind of support for my new puppy too! I have so many questions cause I've never had such a tiny dog who needed more advanced grooming.

As of now, a yorkie is my first choice but you never know. My plan is to just socialize very well and put in extra effort to make sure that my pup is comfortable in all environments and with all types of people.

We'll see what happens in the next few months

[gracielove]

The first thing I want you to be aware of is that there is some really irresponsible breeding of Yorkshire Terriers going on right now. They are a very popular breed because of their small size and cute looks. Please don't buy from a pet store. Those pups are bred in puppy mills and you have no idea what kind of problems you could end up with both in temperament and physical health.

Terriers are not like most of the other small breeds. A Shih Tzu or Maltese usually are much more laid back in temperament than a terrier. Yorkshire Terriers were originally bred to kill rats inside the walls of buildings. They tend to be very feisty but should be loyal and loving.

A puppy that is not handled and socialized from birth will have problems adjusting to humans and usually are not particularly friendly. A puppy that spends most of it's time in a cage in it's new home is not going to be socialized well either. Pups need a lot of time, love and training. Many people buy small breed dogs under the mistaken impression that a small dog does not require as much care as a large breed dog but that is just not true.

Make sure you really check out your breeder. Visit the home and make sure you are allowed to see where and how the pups are raised. Observe both parents. If they won't let you see both parents I would find another breeder. There are plenty of scams going on out there. Many puppy mills hire brokers that take the pups into their homes to sell them.

If you do decide on a Yorkie expect an energetic puppy that needs lots of physical contact. Read a good book on Yorkies. Yorkshire Terriers for Dummies is a well recommended book. Don't buy from the internet. 99% of the ads online are puppy mills in disguise. Look for your local AKC conformation or specialty club. They often have breeder referral people who can point you in the right direction.