Biggest in Litter
 

Hi everyone,

I found a great breeder, and her current litter only has 1 boy. He is much larger than his 3 sisters, and she is estimating him to be 7 lbs.

I know the breed standard is 4-7 lbs, but I find it hard to picture/ know just how much of a difference it is to have a 7 lb Yorker vs 5 lb yorkie. She will be having another litter down the road, and I am not sure if it'd be worth it to wait a few extra months to get a (probable) 5 lb boy.

Or is the difference really not that big a deal?

Any input on this would be great.

Thank you!

Hi and welcome to YT. For me I think that a 7 LB dog is small/big enough. Buster is about 8 lbs and he still seems tiny to me. I would be more worried about a smaller Yorkie just because the smaller they are the more you have to worry about accident and injuries. When Buster first came home he was only 2 1/2 lbs and I was so worried I would sit on, trip over him, or something would fall on him. I felt safer as he got bigger but still worry about things falling on him or bigger dogs etc. Whatever choice you make Yorkies are wonderful companions.

The advantage to smaller is they are easier to carry, can't really think of other advantages? Seven pounds is still very small, especially if you are not used to tiny dogs. My only concern is if she says 7 but he ends of 10 lbs. will you be disappointed?

I have had 2 Yorkies, first one was smaller with short legs, not a fan of walking prefered to be carried. Now I have a long legged one that weighs about the same 5lbs. and she loves to walk, hike, jump, climb etc.

Yes! I agree with this 100%. Anna's weight fluctuates between 7 and 8 pounds and Barney weighs around 5.5 to 6. I really can't tell a difference between them when I hold them. Except Barney is wirey and Anna is sturdy. Sorry Barney is sideways. I gave up trying to fix it.

5 pounds is still very small. Mine is 17.

Thank you everyone for the helpful responses.
So it seems to me like 7 lbs isn't that big, and yet has an added advantage of not having to worry AS much about bigger dogs, jumping off couches, clumsy people, etc.
So maybe I will go with him!
I will definitely post pictures and continue to be a member here when I get my yorkie (not for at least a few weeks).

Good luck with your future baby, can't wait to see pictures! When do you get him?

Thanks! If I go with this one, it'll be under 5 weeks!
My boyfriend and I are getting him together.
I'm a little nervous too! My first yorkie.

Since the eighties I had always had smaller yorkies 3.5-4.5. Until this past year when I lost two of my little girl yorkies. I then started searching for another one I was put in touch with a show breeder who had a male. I had told her about the two little girls I had lost and was told this little boy would be small probably 4pds. We'll he isn't he is almost 7pds. I still love him and to me he is beautiful but I really find handling him at times harder. I have fibromyalgia and some days it is difficult lifting. That was another reason for wanting a smaller yorkie. I do feel the difference in weight but my 7pd guy is just as precious as my little 3.5 12 yrs old boy. Size does not effect their personalities they all have BIG hearts. :)

There is a lot of great information in the YT library to look at before you bring your baby home and I have heard the book Yorkshire Terriers for Dummies is a great book.
YorkieTalk Yorkshire Terrier Library - YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community

Best wishes

I've had yorkies in the past at 10-12lb range and my girl is currently 4 months at 6lbs. Even though I was getting her to have a smaller yorkie, i won't mind if she's almost a teapot as long as she's at the right weight for her :p lol She was so tiny when I got her that I'm actually relieved that she's starting to get bigger. I feel they are more sturdier.

Breeders can not guarantee a certain size. They can follow growth charts and make an educated guess. If you like the puppy, big or little will not matter. Health and a good balanced temperament, should be the most important thing for a pet. If you intend to show the dog, I suggest you buy from a show breeder.

My Jewels is 8 lbs and she is so small smaller than my cats. She cant even jump up on the bed and sometimes even the couch. Believe me when I say 7 lbs is small. Its like a sack of sugar with legs

There really isn't that much of a difference between a 5 and 7 pounder. I have a female that is right at 5 pounds and a male that is 7. My female is more slender, but they are both able to do the same things.

I love myself a teapot. Honey is approaching teapot land at 7.5#. Wouldn't have her any other way

:thumbup::thumbup:

Both of my boys are the biggest of their litters. They were tracking to be around 7 pounds, but they grew to 9+ pounds. :D They are very small to me, but I understand a preference for a 5 pound dog.

:thumbup:
My last yorkie was 5lb. ZoE's breeder said she would be on the upper limit at 6-7lbs. Well, she just kept growing! Shes an ounce shy of 10lbs. Not fat, a very fit, lithe pup, but she is big. To me, shes heavy to carry around for long periods of time, and popping her in a purse to run in a store kills my shoulder and has me looking for a cart/trolley immediately.

I'm used to her size now. She's almost 4 years old. And while she is sturdy and fit, in all honesty, there are times I wish she was a bit smaller, like my last yorkie.

A breeders estimate on adult size, is there best educated guess based on experience and knowing their lines, but it is a guess. So be prepared should he exceed expectations.

So, apparently he's 2 lbs at 6 weeks. Doing the "double at 6 weeks and double again" rule I found, he'd be 8 lbs I guess. But both his parents are 4.5-5 lbs. A puppy can grow to be almost double his parents' weight?

And yes, I really do want a smaller dog- 10 lbs would be too much for me.

Obviously health and temperament are most important, but meeting the breeder and a few of her dogs, I have no concerns there.

Yes, a Yorkie can grow much larger than the parents. The gene pool that determines size can go many generations back. Sometimes a tiny pops up in a litter, sometimes a large one pops up in a litter. My boys (brothers from different litters) are bigger than their parents and bigger than their littermates.

The only way to guarantee size is to buy an adult. Otherwise, as KazzyK wrote, it is an educated guess as to what size the puppy will mature to.

I should add, 2 pounds at 6 weeks is likely going to be a larger Yorkie.

Winnie is just barely 2# at 17 weeks...she has fluctuated the last three weeks between 1# 14 Oz and 2# . This past Friday she was 1#15 Oz. I'm hoping for a little growth spurt soon....but right now the vet suspects she will be between 3 & 5 # as an adult. I'm hoping for 5! It's really hard to tell what size they may be when they are grown....

Dex is almost 5lb at 20 weeks. The puppy growth chart calculator 'predicts' he'll be just under 7lbs. This is the first time we've ever had such a small dog so that's plenty tiny enough for me and honestly, I'd be good with a bit bigger! He's so energetic and playful we sometimes almost forget how fragile he is.

My little Tibbe is only 9" tall at the withers and 9" from the base of his neck to his tail but when I got him at age 9 mos., he weighed 5 lbs., having lived all his life confined to a crate with little proper nutrition or muscle development. Now he's 7.3 lbs.. at age 7 years and all hard muscle from stem to stern. He still seems very tiny to me - so little - but to lift the little tank is getting harder to do!!! hehe. His vets always list his body habitus as "ideal" but to me, he's just a little extra sturdy.

I have had two 3 lb. Yorkies that were just too tiny for their own good though they were sure easy to lift and travel with! One was my very first Yorkie and the only pup left when I went to look at the litter and I had no idea he would stay so small & the other was the sickly runt of a litter of otherwise normal-sized Yorkie pups and I took her on as a sort of rescue as a regular owner may not have been able to give her the kind of special care, constant vetting and time she needed to have her best life.

Knowing what I know now, I really prefer a larger Yorkie as they are less likely to get easily injured(which I always worried about with my two tinies) and seem to have far less medical issues than the tinies deliberately bred for their petite size. With a bigger Yorkie, you don't absolutely panic if he hears a cat outside and suddenly jumps directly off the couch, bypassing the doggie stairs - though my heart still just stops every time Tibbe does that. He's still far too little to be jumping directly off couches as he's still only 9" x 9" and I imagine his little joints aren't that substantial, even with the muscle support he's got now!

Interesting - I really like the idea of not having to worry as much. Thanks so much for your response. I also found out the one I sometimes look after and LOVE is 7.2 lbs - and he always seemed very sturdy and still incredibly light to hold. Thanks everyone!