Questions from a new Yorkie mom
 

First off I want to say Hello and that I'm glad to have found what appears to be a site that is full of friendly people. I recently got my first ever Yorkie puppy (first puppy of any kind). She's 10 weeks old now and weighs exactly 2 lbs. I listened very carefully to all the 'care' instructions I was given so of course any behaviour that doesn't adhere to them makes me a litttle nervous.
My first question is about the dry dog food. I've read the posts concerning this same subject and tried moistening the food but Lexi still won't eat the kibble. Occaisionally I'll see her grab one or two but nothing substantial. My next questions are about grooming. At what age can I start to bathe her? And brushing :rolleyes: ...all I can say is hah! I would never have imagined that a 2lb creature could be so difficult to hold still and brush. She hates it and I can't get her brushed. Any hints for this? I did get the hair trimmed from around 3 of her paws but that was difficult to say the least. I stuck with it though because she was constantly slipping on my wood floors. :confused:

Welcome to Yorkie Talk! We're glad you're here and we look forward to getting to know you and Lexi!

About food: remember that they really only need about a tablespoon or two for the WHOLE DAY! They are tiny and eat VERY little, usually. Try this, as it worked for me: Put a tablespoon of dry kibble (my Higgins like Natural Choice Ultra the best) in the dish and then sprinkle on a LITTLE parmesan cheese. I have NEVER seen a dog that is not bonkers for cheese. We did the cheese thing for several months and then gradually put less and less until now he eats it straight. Also, be sure not to give him treats around mealtime. The babies get so distracted playing that mid-morning and mid-afternoon, I gave (still do) Higgins a Lamb Jerky treat made by Solid Gold. It is total nutrition that gives them an energy boost....like a protein bar. I also notice that some days Higgins eats like a little pig and other days he just sort of picks.....just like we do!

About brushing: Higgins doesn't like it much. He used to HATE it, but Bettyeanne (I think it was Bettyeanne) suggested that while he was sitting on my lap to gently massage him and then gently brush him. I now keep his comb and brush right by my chair in the living room. IT'S WORKING! He is not minding nearly as much! Also, he LOVES to play tug with anything, and while we are tugging, I brush his little face, which he doesn't seem to mind.......

The thing is, these little pups are sooooo smart, you really have to get creative to stay one step ahead of them! ;)

Re brushing!! That sounds a good idea!! When Gypsy Rose was a pup I tried brushing her lol but was very lucky when and IF the brush actually made contact with her hair!! Choose a sleeply moment it you can spot one!! It does get better!! Make it fun and when yr yorkies had enough call it a day for a while! Re feeding I can't give better advice than advice already been given!! Luv form Ana and Gypsy Rose xx

Thanks all for the info. I'll try brushing her tonight. I've noticed that every night, at just about 8:30pm, it's lights out for Lexie. She will go sound asleep wherever she is or in whatever position you put her. That's my favorite time to hold her close. I know she still needs that physical contact because she's so young. For the dry food...it was suggested that I add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to it. Does that sound OK?

In my opinion, 1 tablespoon of oil is too much oil. Start with a half a teaspoon.......I would think that much oil would have a real laxative effect. :eek:

We've found that after brushing Yoda roughly he got used to it. We used to be gentle and soft, but he would always squirm away, etc. Yes, Yorkie puppies do SLEEP! A LOT! But enjoy it now, because when they are older, they will be full of energy and hard to keep up with! :)

Your new Puppy
 

You are gonna be in love if not already with your new Yorkie - we are on our 2nd with Cherish (just under 8 weeks) & have Chanel - just 2 years old - and I could have just stayed with the one - I love my baby Chanel that much!

But now that we have 2 - I am going back in time to the snuggly times with a new puppy and there is nothing better...except everyday there after. These dogs steal your heart -

You got great advise on everything - I do the massage thing also for brushing - Chanel always thought I was playing - if you start young - for short periods - they will get used to it. You'll learn when it's time to stop and then go back again later & Try again! Bath time was easy with mine - she loves the water but I put lots of toys in it at 1st - filled the tub about 1 inch - let her play then drained it to wash her...then gradually took the toys awaw - now when she sees a towel - she runs right to the bathroom!!

Good luck on your new baby !

That is so cute that she runs to the bathroom when she sees the towel! :D

When Higgins was little, we used to fill a plastic dishpan with about 2 inches of water and let him play in it....he loved it. Didn't seem to mind his baths as much then either. Now he likes to swim in the lake, but PLEASE MOM don't wash me!!!! Typical boy. ;)

oil
 

Congrats on your new puppy. I have never found the need to add oil to dry food. All it does it make the whiskers messy and upset the bowels. Quality dog food is a science and has all the fat added for a healthy coat and skin.
I start my pups out with a bath at 5 weeks and every week after that..when the new owner gets them, they are halfway there. I comb them daily and get them used to having their nails clipped and feet touched.

We use a tad bit of oil sometimes. It's supposed to be good for their coat. We also make a game after bathing. Yoda loves to play tug of war with his towel after he gets his bath! :)

Welcome, YorkiesRule!!
Sounds like you already have all the good advice!! My "secret" to Toto's grooming is consistency! :) I began the "brushing" fights when we first brought her home [I bathe her every week ... two shampoos & at least a minute or more soaking with conditioner on ... then a thorough rinse ... I use Coat Handlers] ... always use diluted conditioner to mist the coat while brushing to prevent breakage. After a few weeks she would lay on her back for me and began to really enjoy brushing! I do massage her and get her really relaxed and sleepy [usually during our morning snuggle] ... then brush her. Toto is a year old now and the other day I really felt like I had "graduated" ... I got her grooming stuff ready and when I sat down on the sofa with one of her little fleece beds on my lap and the brush in my hand ... instead of her looking like she was going to the gallows or making me go get her ... she happily jumped up on my lap and laid down!! She looked at me like "I'm ready ... lets brush!!!" :cool: It takes a lot of patience but I do love her long shiny coat and her little topknot!! We were terrified of her when we first brought her home ... she was 16 weeks and weighed 1 lb. 8 ozs. ... she is 4 lbs. now and we are still afraid of her sometimes!! ;)

New Yorkie in the house
 

As a proud new yorkie mom I am glad to find this forum. Thanks for being out here. We are very happy to have Casey as a new member of the family. I look forward to many happy yorkie days ahead. I hope you will indulge my questions from time to time. My first being ... about frosted mini-wheats. He loves em'. Are they ok? Oh and more important, the gal I bought him from taught him how to jump on the couch but not off. She said that it was a danger to him. Is that something I should be concerned about? I have seen other yorkies jump and bounce with the best of them. I have made a ramp for the sofa untill I know for certain. Casey is 2 years old so he has stopped growing and I dont think his joints should be a problem like big breeds. Or am I wrong?
I look forward to your input.. Thank you casey's mom :cool: aka:carol

Hi Carol and welcome to YorkieTalk! We try to share everything we know, either from research, learned from our vet or from experience. Our vet recommended Honeycomb cereal for Toto as treats [I'm not at all certain if that one is better because of content or if it was her personal preference] but since we never stray from her advice ... Toto gets Honeycomb! :) The only things that we add to her diet without consulting Dr. Lucy is treats that are dog specific or if we change any of her food we also discuss that with her. She is a great vet and we have her on speed dial at her office and at her home! :cool: The thing about jumping off things ... I believe that injury to the little joints gets worse as they age. We don't allow Toto to get off the sofa or the bed without something like a little ramp or cushions to give her a soft landing! In addition to some of the drawbacks of owning a Yorkie such as hypoglycemia, trachael collapse, etc., is their little joints! We also don't let children hold her. They may play with her on the floor all they want but we just don't let them pick her up! Our theory is "better safe than sorry"! ;) Hope that helps! Good luck!

There is no question that their little joints can be a problem. But it can be a problem preventing them from jumping off things!

Quite frankly, I have given up with Higgins. He just FLIES off sofas, beds, chairs with the greatest of ease. The good thing is that he eats healthy food and gets LOTS of exercise. We live in the country on a dead end dirt road and he RUNS from morning 'til night. And we play tug and fetch with him all day long until our arms fall off. Consequently, he is SOLID MUSCLE! And I am counting on those muscles and strong bones to protect those tender joints.

Oh.....WELCOME TO YORKIETALK!!!! We are just delighted that you are here!
If you can figure out how (I can't get it to work, but Don and Bettyeanne can), post a picture of Casey! How lovely that you have him and he has a nice new home with you! They are the best little dogs and you will be totally smitten with him in no time!

New Yorkie
 

Thanks so much for your help. I am sure that I will have more questions as time goes by. I had read about the low blood sugar issue but not about the joints. I am glad that I had made the ramp for the sofa now. This little guy is a treasure. He really likes crumbled hamburger and tiny bits of hot dogs. How about those things? I was thinking that the protien would be good. I limit the amounts of course. But I do feed him small bits several times a day.
I will also enjoy having a place to brag about him. I find myself telling everyone about him.
This is a big change for me. Our last dog was a big beautiful lab. We suddenly lost her to cancer at just 10 yrs old. I was devasted as you can imagine. My husband works nights and we were the best of friends. We lost her only 1 week after finding out she was ill. It was such a shock. And I miss her terribly. I can only imagine sadie in heaven watching with giggles as I play with this little bundle of fluff. He is wonderful.
We live in the country on 14 acres and 3 lakes. He really enjoys running and checking out things. I stay close to him but let him have his adventures. We also ride a harley so of course he will have a harley jacket soon. I don't believe that he will ever ride but he will be looking like a tough biker dog. That is one of the endearing things about these guys. They have such lion hearts. :D Now if I can only get him to quit stealing Winston's (the cat) sparkle balls. :p
Thanks again carol

Awwwww.....it's such fun seeing a Yorkie wrap his little paws around a new mommy's heart.......

It will be fun to have another good ol' country boy Yorkie here! Company for Higgins!

Gentle hugs go out to you for loving Sadie so well.

Yorkies are so DIFFERENT that you'll have fun getting to know Casey's energy! They're still very doggy in the country though! And oh boy do they like to dig! My yard looks like a moonscape in places.......

I have the most wonderful vision of a Yorkie in a helmut and leathers, with a scarf streaming out behind, as he rides in a sidecar! Yeah!

Yes, welcome! Joints can be a problem, but Yoda is unstoppable and loves to jump up and down sofas at will. It's really not that high, but I do suggest that they don't jump down onto hardwood floors or tile floors if possible. Carpet landings seem fine for Yoda.

Hi again Carol! ... I just know you will love having Casey in your life! So sorry about your lab. We lost a 13 year old toy Poodle about 7 years ago and she was so much a part of our lives ... we were all devistated and I swore ... never again to get so attached to an animal! I stuck to my guns and resisted for a looooong time. Then Patrick began looking at these babies online and I still stuck to my guns! It took several months ... we researched ... we looked at a bzillion Yorkies ... we made phone calls ... we read lots of books ... sooo ... armed with all this information and a great contact from a vet, we finally bought our baby Toto who was 1 year on July 18! It took about 5 minutes for us to be totally committed to this little piece of fluff!! :) She is spoiled rotten and we make no bones about it! I try to share everything I can think of that we have learned either through research or experience! :rolleyes: One thing I didn't see in your post was the size of your Casey ... how much does she weigh? The reason I ask ... our vet is constantly reminding us that because of Toto's tiny size [she is 4 lbs. now and seems large to us!] ... we should always be aware of predators [birds of prey] when she is outside! Yeah ... sure .... this baby very seldom gets her Prissy Paws on the ground and on those rare occasions she is never out of our sight!! :p We are so paranoid it isn't funny! We are often accused of being over-protective!! :eek: So I felt I should caution you of this if you haven't already heard! Enjoy that baby! :D

Casey
 

Hello again. I was really fortunate. I really didn't have to search. I really think that there was a higher power involved. I found casey in about one week. Or maybe he found me. The lady that we bought him from lives only about 30 minutes away. She had his pedigree and everything ready for us. A little inside joke in my family is that my grandmother is so quick to insist that her fathers' family was from England. LOL :rolleyes: Well we finally have a authentic sure fire paper that gives all the info about - Sir Chadwick Casey- and his roots in the old UK a "Lady Calia of Suffolk" and "George of Le Claire" I bet she will be impressed.
I had allready thought about the predator thing. We get lots of hawks around our place and I thought about how easy it would be for one to carry casey off. He weighs about 4 lbs. He is so tiny to me. I have been used to a hundred pound lab. I am afraid that I will break him. But of course I dont want to treat him that way I want to keep him emotionally stable. :p And since we ride a harley -(don't worry he wont, not ready for that)- he needs to be able to carry the biker attitude proudly. I dont think he will have any problem there. He is a pistol. A Little lionheart! I am beginning to feel sorry for the cat. Casey is getting all his toys and claiming them for himself. These kids! :D
Thanks again for the helpful info everyone. I really eappreciate it. :)

Wow, we have Yorkie royalty here! Sir Chadwick Casey! :)

Great name, and people here are very, very friendly and helpful! :)

I love it! Sir Chadwick Casey! And with royal lineage.

Well, Higgins is a big ol' 6 pound puppymill pup with no papers. Can he be Sir Casey's BUTLER???

Sir Casey may have Harley Attitude, but poor little Higgins has more of a Kawasaki Racing Dirtbike approach to life.... ;)

If Casey is only four pounds, I certainly would worry about him jumping off things....that's really little......But they are going to do what they are going to do, and sometimes we just have to pray for 'em!

I'm so glad you and Casey are here! :D

Snacks you feed your pup
 

Does he eat regular dry food/moist dog foods? I am still slowly weaning my pup off house food. The previous owner ( pet Shop) actually fed them chicken breast/rice. Of course I didnt know that until I gave up trying every kind of dog food!Anyway to make a long story short the Pet Shop owner told me to give him chick/breast and rice cause that's what she gave pups who didnt want dog food. Well I was pissed of course! As soon as I made him a little chicken breast and white rice ,its like he was totally alive! Well It is going to be almost 4 weeks that I have him and it's only this week that he actually is eating a few dry kibbles mixed in with chicken. If he's hungry enough he will eat some dog food mixed with chicken.But it is extremely hard to change their minds! I dont know about tiny pieces of hotdogs,what's tiny to us could probably fill his tummy up. The only burger meat I have given him is fresh lean ground 8% fat . And only about 1 1/2 tsp mixed with dry food.They really eat so little. Of course if we give them treats like cheese,ham,cottage cheese. They can eat all day lol
How old is your puppy and how much does he weigh? Mine is 4.5 months old and weighs exactly 2 lbs now.

Genie

Oh Genie, he's sooooo cute! I just keep saying that, but CUTE is the only word for our little guys!

My vet told me that basically, a pup is not going to starve if there is food available. We just have to toughen ourselves up and not give in to everything they want. However, he did say that having patience to switch them over is important to their tummies and all of our well being.

Actually, chicken and rice isn't a bad diet from what I've read. There are people who cook for their Yorkies rather than buying commercial foods and there is a lot of chicken on the menu. You might look up some of their recipes in the internet, make some up, and freeze it. Then just pop it in the microwave at supper time. When Higgins was a baby, we fed him Pinnacle canned food, an organic food. We fed him the chicken, which also contained carrots, peas.....good stuff! But the vet said that dry food is best for dogs, so we gradually switched him over. Took quite awhile as I recall.

Good to have you here, Genie! Is your pup's name Cookie?

Yup, we pretty much only feed Yoda chicken for meat, though his Grampy always SNEAKS him beef or some pork at times. Yoda loves the fried chicken we have here (the same famous fried chicken that Oprah likes) in Seattle, but we don't get that too often. I peel the meat off, and faster than you can read this sentence, the chicken is in his belly. :) He ain't too fond of veggies.

Perhaps the way we cook it, but lots of other meats seem too fatty to feed Yoda. Rice is fine as well, we also do feed him fruits at times, but in small quantity, as his poop becomes too soft. Also, Yoda LOVES watermelon!!!

Thanks for the welcome. Casey is so happy to be here! :p
Goodness I am sure that Higgins would be right at home with the rest of the harley bunch.
:cool:
As we bikers often say as long as you got your knees in the breeze

and your hair in the air... ride it like you stole it! LOL :D

As for pedigrees go I think that all these litle guys are champions. The way they win your hearts giving such love and happiness without question. And as we all know they carry noble airs regardless of background as well as being big lionhearts.

Everyone has been so friendly. I really appreciate it. The info has really helped. I hope you will be patient with this newbie as I will be sure to have loads of things to ask about in the future.

No problem, Casey's Mom! We all want Yorkies to be as happy, healthy, and fun as possible! :)

Congratulations on your new baby and I'm very sorry about losing your lab baby - it's so hard to lose our beautiful gentle best friends - and a lab is one of the best dogs !

You will find though - A YORKIE RULES !!! You will have such a great time with your new yorkie - I also have an 8 week old - she is just 2 lbs too ! Chanel is my 2 year old and I had to post her pic after reading about the Harleys !!!

Very sorry again for your loss...

Chanel looks like a badass biker chick! :)

Red98vett .... fasteddie pretty much summed up the picture of Chanel! :rolleyes: That's the cutest thing ... wish Toto would let me dress her!! Is there a trick to it or is it just patience & persistence?? ;)