New Member in New York

[Neoma]

My husband and I have been dog sitting a neighbor's Yorkie off and on for the past six months or so and have fallen in love with her and the breed. We are both animal lovers, but neither of us had any prior experience with Yorkies.

Trupa is seven years old and currently 15 pounds, though she probably should weigh around 12. She's a big girl and we like that. DH always says that when we get one, he wants a "big Yorkie."

We have two cockatiels who are 20+ years old (one was hatched in our apartment), a youngish budgie who flew into a neighbor's window a couple of years ago and an 11-year-old European starling. We also have a six-year-old guinea pig. We don't want to get a dog right now, because of the birds, who come out to play on a tree in the living room a couple times a day. Trupa tries to catch them when they fly courtesy of her strong prey drive. We don't think she wants to hurt them per se, but we obviously can't take any chances. So keeping them safely away from her is a task. And I'm sure that it's stressful for the birds as well.

I'm here because I have gone Yorkie crazy. I love Trupa so much and am very much looking forward to the day when we can have a Yorkie of our own. I am also looking forward to learning from everyone here.

[yorkiemini]

Welcome to YT!
Yes the Yorkie thing can get to you - they are wonderful!
They do have a strong prey drive, as you mentioned - heredity always comes into play!

[Neoma]

Originally Posted by yorkiemini

Welcome to YT!
Yes the Yorkie thing can get to you - they are wonderful!
They do have a strong prey drive, as you mentioned - heredity always comes into play!

Thank you for the warm welcome, yorkiemini!

[Micah my love]

Welcome to YT ...Yorkies are very addictive i couldn't stop with one

[Captainzing]

Anything that moves big or small my lil boy goes after.

The little girl I had wasn't as aggressive as the little boy I have now.


Welcome to YT

[Neoma]

Thank you for the warm welcomes, everyone!

[matese]

Welcome to YT, my experience with birds and yorkies. I had a Bee Bee dwarf parrot and a cockatiel I also let them out when I came home from work, I had one wing clipped so they couldn't fly very far. Then I got my first yorkie, and that was the end of letting the birds out. My female use to sit under their cages and salivate over the birds lol. If they fluttered their wings she would go insane. When the birds passed away I never got another bird. My yorkie was then 3 years old. Now this very same girl when she was 5 years old would play peek a boo on my bed with my niece's ferret when my niece would come to visit , she was a very sweet and gentle baby, but I would never trust her around birds. Just my personal experience with yorkies and birds.

[Neoma]

Originally Posted by matese

Welcome to YT, my experience with birds and yorkies. I had a Bee Bee dwarf parrot and a cockatiel I also let them out when I came home from work, I had one wing clipped so they couldn't fly very far. Then I got my first yorkie, and that was the end of letting the birds out. My female use to sit under their cages and salivate over the birds lol. If they fluttered their wings she would go insane. When the birds passed away I never got another bird. My yorkie was then 3 years old. Now this very same girl when she was 5 years old would play peek a boo on my bed with my niece's ferret when my niece would come to visit , she was a very sweet and gentle baby, but I would never trust her around birds. Just my personal experience with yorkies and birds.

Thank you for sharing your experience, matese! It definitely is the wing movement that gets Trupa going. If the birds are just sitting on their tree, she doesn't may much attention to them. But heaven forbid one of them flies...all bets are off!

It's interesting that your girl can "play nicely" with a ferret!

Our plan is to not replace any of our birds or my guinea pig when they pass on. Our next pet will be a dog. And we're so crazy about Trupa, that I'd be willing to bet it's going to be a Yorkie.

[lovestiny]

when we are home, my lil lady is a total hunter and loves chasing birds and squirrels. If we are out anywhere and she is on a leash, I had to train her to not go after them. I say no birds and it means no chasing anything. She knows the command and obeys it well.

[Wylie's Mom]

Hi and welcome! And best of luck in your search. You may want to read the "New Yorkie Puppy Parent Guide" located at the top of this section..it may be helpful.

[matese]

Originally Posted by Neoma

Thank you for sharing your experience, matese! It definitely is the wing movement that gets Trupa going. If the birds are just sitting on their tree, she doesn't may much attention to them. But heaven forbid one of them flies...all bets are off!

It's interesting that your girl can "play nicely" with a ferret!

Our plan is to not replace any of our birds or my guinea pig when they pass on. Our next pet will be a dog. And we're so crazy about Trupa, that I'd be willing to bet it's going to be a Yorkie.

If you are crazy about Trupa lol, if you get your own yorkie, you will be head over heels in LOVE with him/her. They have a way of capturing our hearts with a blink of an eye lol. They will have YOU wrapped around their little paw with out you even realizing it lol. Until the time comes for you to get you own baby, stay with yorkie talk, there is an abundance of info. you will learn and you will become an expert lol in the world of yorkies. You will learn how to select a puppy from a qualified breeder, that breeds to better the breed, what signs/red flags to look out for BYB (back yard breeders) or brokers that usually sells puppy mill puppies, that you have to stay away from. In the meantime enjoy little Trupa.

[Neoma]

Originally Posted by lovestiny

when we are home, my lil lady is a total hunter and loves chasing birds and squirrels. If we are out anywhere and she is on a leash, I had to train her to not go after them. I say no birds and it means no chasing anything. She knows the command and obeys it well.

"No birds" sounds like a good command to teach Trupa. I'm impressed that your girl obeys it so well.

Trupa also hates skateboarders. Where we live, skateboarding is a major mode of transportation! She goes insane when she hears one coming, barks ferociously and lunges at them. I have to keep her on a tight leash when that happens. Once the skateboard stops, she's happy to kiss the skateboarder. (She loves all humans. She's "iffy" with other dogs.)

I've taught her to heel beautifully. When I first started walking her, she always pulled. But skateboarders...all bets are off!

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

Hi and welcome! And best of luck in your search. You may want to read the "New Yorkie Puppy Parent Guide" located at the top of this section..it may be helpful.

Thank you, Wylie's Mom!

Originally Posted by matese

If you are crazy about Trupa lol, if you get your own yorkie, you will be head over heels in LOVE with him/her. They have a way of capturing our hearts with a blink of an eye lol. They will have YOU wrapped around their little paw with out you even realizing it lol. Until the time comes for you to get you own baby, stay with yorkie talk, there is an abundance of info. you will learn and you will become an expert lol in the world of yorkies. You will learn how to select a puppy from a qualified breeder, that breeds to better the breed, what signs/red flags to look out for BYB (back yard breeders) or brokers that usually sells puppy mill puppies, that you have to stay away from. In the meantime enjoy little Trupa.

Thank you, matese. Ideally, when the time comes, I would like to adopt, but I will certainly read about how to find a qualified breeder. I've always wondered how to determine who was legit.

[gemy]

My big boy went crazy for skateboarders and cyclists. But with constant training we overcame his natural rresponses. It does take time I trained 3x a week with a trainer and eventually we graduated to a busy board walk with all of the above triggers. Lots of rewards place the dog in sit stay off the path and reward like crazy if he stays and ignores the skaters cyclists. He was also interested in horses! First critter he met that was bigger than him

[gemy]

I do love my Yorkie - I was introduced to the breed when I was training my big dogs my trainer bred Yorkies and they trained with us. There is a video on here called Labour Day Training where you can see the big n wee ones working out together.

I love my Yorkies big dog attitude his feisty disposition and his loving nature. He is no couch potatoe though He also dock jumps in summer. He does everything his big bro n sis does.

[Neoma]

Originally Posted by gemy

My big boy went crazy for skateboarders and cyclists. But with constant training we overcame his natural rresponses. It does take time I trained 3x a week with a trainer and eventually we graduated to a busy board walk with all of the above triggers. Lots of rewards place the dog in sit stay off the path and reward like crazy if he stays and ignores the skaters cyclists. He was also interested in horses! First critter he met that was bigger than him

Thank you for posting this, gemy. I think I will need to switch to food rewards for her "don't kill the skateboarder" training. She will do anything for a food reward.