Should we sell him? Please help us!

[kevin17]

My wife and I need some help and opinions on this. We recently bought a little male yorkie (when he was 12 weeks old), he is now 14 weeks. We spent a lot of time researching and found a great puppy. We also have been spending a lot of time with him. The reality of our busy lives has sunk in a little though. Our problem is that we live in an apartment, and each work from about 7:30am - 5:00pm. Neither of us can get home during lunch either as it is too far, therefore we end up having to leave our yorkie in his crate for 10 hours in the middle of the day. On top of this, if we have something we have to do after work we basically have to leave him in his crate all day and all night with the exception of a few hours. We are not sure that this is a good thing and are keeping what is good for him in mind. Raising a puppy on the 2nd floor of an apartment is also much more work than raising one in house and it takes even more of his and our usefull time away. This is very a very difficult decision for us. Being that he is still a puppy and 14 weeks old, do you think that we should look into selling him to someone who can spend more time with him before he gets older?

[ytsirk27]

Well for starters, It says a lot about you when you know that your pup isnt in the best situation. Being ina crate for all that time is going to be hard the pup. I would try to find a way to keep the pup but if theirs no alternatives than I would suggest finding a new home. (you could always send the pup to me!!) Good luck and it's nice to meet you!

[LuvMySissy]

First of all, welcome to YT. This is a tough one. I'm sure you wouldn't be asking this question if you didn't have the best interests of your little guy at heart. Also a heart breaking scenario cause I know I was head over heels in love with my little girl right away.

For me personally, this would be way too much time for this puppy to be alone and crated. But, I'm fortunate to be home much of the day with my work schedule and many people do not have this option. Is there any way you could hire a person to come in a few times a day to spend some time with your baby? Ther are pet services in my area that do just this kind of thing.

I wish you luck on whatever you decide.

[kevin17]

We have thought about that, but is it something we would have to do for the rest of our lives or just in his puppy phase? When talking it over we thought that it would not be realistic to expect someone to that for months on end without it costing us a fortune. Would it create problems in the future when we do someday have to leave him alone all day and he expects someone or do they grow out of that as they get older? ... this is a lot harder than we thought. Thanks for all your help.

[LuvMySissy]

I would think that as he grows older he won't need as much attention, as long as you give him lots when you get home.

The pet services that I am familiar with are generally used when people go on vacation and they play with your dog for about 1/2 hour and feed them, let them out to potty. They come in a couple more times to let them out to potty. Something like this to spend some time with the pup in the middle of the day would probably be a good idea for several months. As he grows older, maybe a dog walking service a few times a week?

Also, if he will be alone for long periods of time, is there a room he could be confined to rather than just a crate? This might give him a little more freedom so he could play with toys, etc.

[ytsirk27]

Being in a bigger space would be alot better I have to agree. You could put alot of toys and a comfy bed and etc in there and hed be ok. Leaving himalone for all that time without anybody checking on him i dont think is very good. I mean can you afford for somebody to come in 5-7 days a week and check on him, feed him, take him to go potty..etc... if not, is their anybody you can trust that will come over and check on him for you during the day? Good luck!

[kevin17]

There is someone who could come in and do that, but it would be only for a very short period of time because she will start work soon. I don't know if we can really give him free roam of a small room for that long of a time yet because he is not potty trained and will most likely go to the bathroom (we have a small (5'x5') bathroom we could use for this). We are not sure if that is good for potty training him. He is doing good so far in the small crate with a box in it, but is not really trained yet. We keep getting the feeling that whatever we do is wrong.

[simonandhallie]

Is there a doggie daycare in your area you could take him to, at least a few times a week? I know it works wonders for my 2.

I commend you for thinking of his welfare, that is a very good thing to do.

Welcome to YT and good luck to you

[Mitzis Mom]

My husband got Mitzi when he was living alone in a second floor apartment. He took the first 3 weeks off to be with her. Then he came home for lunch to play with her and walk her. When he came home from work he spent the rest of the time with her (no bars, no poker buddies since he was working on the invention of a new technology, Mitzi is a 'science - girl'.) We met when Mitzi was she 4 y.o. and I'm now with her all the time (I don't work.) Result: Mitzi (now 9 y.o.) is a happy Yorkie that loves to sleep and she is not really potty trained.

[Saleswman]

I really appreciate your post, trying to decide what to do with your puppy....


Apart from the obvious issues in potty training, the puppy will only get limited social interaction, so her/his good and bad habits will magnify. I think it is time early on, to consider placing the yorkie in a new home.....then when you life settles down a bit,...maybe working closer to home, or out of an apartment....later, get another puppy. But unfortunately now is not the right time, or fair to the puppy.

JMHO

There are MANY YT people here...that could/would like to buy your puppy.

Do you have pics? and where did you get the yorkie?? Breeder? Pedigree? Maybe the breeder has someone in mind...if you have that kind of relationship...

Best wishes!

[RLC12345678]

First of all, WELCOME! We;re glad you found us. There are so many friendly people here with a lot of knowledge about yorkies. Hopefully someone will be able to help you make a decision.

First of all, you are leaving your 14 week old puppy in his small crate for 10 hours a day? What does he do when he has to go to the bathroom? Does he old it for 10 hours? Do you have his food and water in there? Since you are gone for that long during the day I would STRONGLY suggest that you put him in the bathroom with a babygate and put a wee wee pad in there with his toys, a bed, food, and water. You can't expect that little guy to hold his pee that long. That is just not good for his health.

I hate that you are having to make this hard decision about keeping him or not. You obviously want what is best for your little guy. My question is...would you have a hard time giving him up?? If you and your wife are not too attached to him and you wouldn't have a really hard time giving him up, he might be happier with a family that can be with him most of the day. If you kept him, you would need to spend a lot of time with him and give him LOTS of attention during the hours that you are at home. In my opinion, if you have lots of things to tend to during those few hours that you are at home, and you are not able to give him the time and attention he really needs, then maybe re-homing him wouldn't be a bad idea.

But whatever you decide, he does not need to stay in that small crate for 10 hours at a time. They recommend keeping them in a crate for as many hours as they are months...so if he is 14 weeks old, then he is 3 months old...so he shouldn't be staying in that crate for more than 3 hours at a time.

Good luck with your decision. I'm sure if you decide to rehome him that you will find a good family who will take good care of him.

[tpaxton23]

I agree with saleswman, now may not be the best time for you to have a puppy. They take so much work and time the first year of their life and it's not fair to the puppy to be alone that much of the time. If you had another dog as a companion then it would be better for the puppy. At least he wouldn't feel so alone.

I think you should consider finding a new home for your little puppy while he is young and would adapt so easy to a different home.

[Ladylavender]

I know how you are feeling exactly! When yorkies (or possibly any dog) are puppies they are a lot of work. When we 1st got Millie I became very very very overwhelmed with all the work and attention required to acheive my 3 main goals: 1. effectively potty train Millie; 2. to pay enough attention to her to make sure she was well adjusted and would not end up neurotic; and 3. Have a well-mannered dog.

Almost into a month of having Millie, I too was questioning whether I had made the right decision in bringing Millie into our household and into our "free from ties" kind of lifestyle. Thank God I had the "voice of reason" from my husband and his support. It was quite a transition and I was not sure I was up to it. (almost like having a new baby for the 1st time).

Here was my situation. Both my husband I work. Millie was left at home everyday, mon-fri, from 6:45am - 4:45pm. We too left her in a crate. I had made a committment to Millie and myself that I would come straight home every day. No errands, no stopping to eat dinner, no Nothing! Just straight home. (This was hard but I did it). Even though I was tired from working all day, I would come home, and take her for a walk, make sure she was going potty outside during the evening time and play with her constantly to get her energy out so she would sleep at night, since she was cooped up in her crate all day. I also keep an eagle eye out on her the entire time, so as to make sure she was not getting into trouble and not loooking for a place to potty in the house. this routine was taking it's toll. But I kept it up.

The things I had going for me, that you don't have, is: I live in a one story house and access to the outside was only a few feet away. We have a fenced enclosure in our yard so going potty was safe and we could play with her out there. My husband is a teacher, so when Millie 1st came home, Jim was out for summer break and he was able to transition her in her crate up to the 9-10 hours, by starting her off in small time increments and worked her way up to 6-7 hours before we left her in the crate all day for the 1st time. (Which she did fine for the whole time we used the crate method while gone) However, we did come straight home, no detours and took her out potty immediately!

I can tell you that it does get easier as they grow older. I started noticing a difference around 6-7 months and a bigger difference at 1 year old. But remember I had my 3 goals and I would make sure that every waking hour that I was home, she was our focus. I would make sure on week-ends, when we were off from work, that Millie got full attention and we did not go out willy nilly like we used to. Everything was pre-planned and centered around Millie. I would take her to as many places I could and would make sure our plans included going places dogs were allowed. I also took her to obedience class.

Things around here are much less strict as Millie has grown. She is a little over a year old now and she is fully house broken and can go in and out a doggy door. She is less like a puppy and requires less play time now and less attention. She is well adjusted and spoiled rotten, but my husband and I love her to death! But no matter what, dogs are a still alot of work, and do interfere with life processes no matter how old the are.

So I guess what I am saying is, I so understand your being in a place where you feel that you just cannot take on this kind of committment in your life right now, because if my circumstances had been different in any way (because I had it somewhat easier than you do now) I may not have Millie now. But if you want to tough it out thru this most difficult period in your puppies life and you really can committ to your little one on the attention and time, then it will be so much easier later on. (Just giving you hope for the near future)

Bottom line: Do whats best for you and your puppy. Finding him a new owner now when he still is sweet and has not developed any bad habits is easier than when he is older and mal-adjusted from the lack of attention.

Good luck with your decision, whatever you choose.

[yorkieusa]

I commend you for considering early in the puppy's life what is best for him. However, having said that, you should have thought about the time you had to spend with a puppy first. Yorkies are people dogs, moreso than other dogs. They want to be with someone. Also, I'd say there is little hope that your puppy will ever become housebroken and later, when this occurs to you, I imagine you would look for another home for him then. Believe it or not, this happens way too often with yorkies. Please find the little feller a home where he won't have to be alone so much. Preferably someone who can stay home all day and spoil him rotten!

[jmetts]

I know this must be a hard decision for you. If you have the majority of your evenings free, then I agree with the previous post about doggy daycare. If your town doesn't have a place that is exclusively 'daycare', you may want to check some of the veterinary offices. I know mine does day care for about $8.00 a day & the dogs are given plenty of time to play with both humans & other dogs.

My fear would be that your dog may end up developing some less than pleasing personality traits & habits & then a year or two from now he becomes too difficult for you to keep & then it would be really difficult to find him a new home.

Although all dogs need love and attention (not saying your not when you are with him), I especially think yorkies neeeeeed lots of our time. I'm certainly not a dog expert, but in my opinion yorkies are one of the 'neediest' of dog breeds.

I wish you luck & give you credit for considering the best solution for the dog, rather then just thinking about yourself, cause I know these little furbabies cause instant love in our human hearts. Not an easy decision