So confused about a puppy

[XstarbriteX]

i am graduating college at the end of june and I want to purchase a yorkie. I have always loved the dog but since my dad had a heart transplant he has no immune system and cannot live with a pet. I will be living on my own and would really like a companion.

I got offered a job and i told them i couldn't start until august so that i could have a month alone with the puppy.

I feel i would be a very responsible owner because I have done ALOT of research.. as you can see i started early.. is a month long enough for the puppy to be ok as I work.?

what can i do to make this work?

[daisy mae06]

sounds good to me welcome to YT But it really depends on the pup too.

[kalina82]

Hi welcome to YT!

what part of NY are you from? there are some great breeders in the area with quality pups. When i got Morgan i stayed home for two weeks to aclimate her to the house and start her on a potty training regimen. worked out great when i went back to work.

[HarrisFamily]

Hi,

I got my first yorkie puppy while I was in college. I work full time now, and I didn't want to get a young puppy because of potty training. I just got a seven month old, her bladder is bigger and she can hold it longer. It's harder to potty train if you are gone and can't take them outside often. If you can put the puppy in a room with a tile floor and use lots of potty pads while you are gone, or a playpen, or something to keep it from running wild all over the house. One month probably isn't enough time to potty train a yorkie, mine have been pretty tough to train.

Whitney

[XstarbriteX]

im from yonkers.. southern new york...

[Oscar's Mummy]

A month is plenty of time to get a puppy adjusted to new surroundings and work rigorously on a potty training regimen. One suggestion might be to get a slightly older puppy (in the range of 4-7 mths, or even a little older if you're willing. Honestly, whatever age yorkie you get, they're ALWAYS like puppies.

Another suggestion would be to make sure that you DO leave her alone from time to time. It will be tempting to take her with you everywhere and stay home with her all the time - but she needs to adjust to you not being there 100% of the time for when you do return to work.

But this is all secondary - first - find a good breeder and the right puppy!!! Then post lots of pics on here!! If you've got the means to care for a yorkie puppy and an understanding of this breed, I say go for it!

Good luck in your search! And welcome to YT!

[Buddah<3r]

I would say that a month is MORE than enough time. When I got my little Buddah It was Friday morning. I stayed with him for the most part and went back to work on that Monday. I actually work quite a few hours but he seems to be doing fine. I think because I didnt baby him he has adjusted better. You just have to make the effort to be with your baby when you are not at work. I go out a lot less now....but my Buddah is the best date!

[kalina82]

Originally Posted by XstarbriteX

im from yonkers.. southern new york...

so your close to the city. If you search around here for ny/nj/pa breedrs i'm sure you will find some good ones.

[Dedicated_uno]

I wouldn't get a DOG if i was in your shoes. they need attention and training. leaving them along for hours and hours of days is no good. they gotta pee 3 and s**t 3 times a day or more. good thing my dog is alreaady trained to ask when to pee and poo. If he don't ask ill ask him and he walks to the door and i open it for him to go and takecare of bizness. but it takes time to training him. he knows other tricks. I don't think you will have the time for this.

Honestly if i had a puppy and you offer me money to buy it. i would say no because of your life style at the moment. I would suggest getting a cat.

It was easy for my family to have the puppy because there was always someone to takecare of him. Dogs are just dogs they are just like kids. gotta watch them.

[Mommy of Brandi]

I think a month is plenty of time to get the puppy used to it's new surroundings and feeling safe and secure.......I work.......my son is home during the day sometimes......and then I just play with her non stop (for the most part) when I get home......she's happy social....loves people and other animals.....and she so looks forward to mommy coming home at night.......

[chloe'smom]

I think that a month is enough time. I know lots of people who get puppies over the weekend and go back to work on Monday. That wasn't the case for me since I got Beauty during the summer and I was home with my 6 yr old. ButI think it can be done. Good luck in finding your perfect little furbaby!!!

[XstarbriteX]

thank you guys sooo much.. you have all made me feel really confident about getting a dog.. well most of you.. and i dont want a cat because my mother is allergic to them and i would be living with her. I can't wait to get my puppy and post pictures.. i think me n my new puppy will be fine

[Sweetums]

Puppies are like having babies. Honestly, I had two babies and having a puppy is the closest thing to having my babies. They have tiny bladders, and honestly when we got ours home she had to pee about every 30 minutes. She also howled and cried when we left her alone. She picks up everything on the floor and eats it no matter what. So you have to completely baby proof your place. One night she went poo but didn't get everything out and then she wiped it all over the carpet. I panicked and tried to help her get it out, but was scared to death that she might have eaten something too big to poo out, so called the ER hospital. By the time we had her ready to leave tho, she finally got it out. She has poo sticking to the hairs around her butt quite often, so we're up sometimes late washing and blow drying her rear end, since she likes to go around 10:00 at night. She also managed to find a pill under my bed I had dropped who-knows-when and licked the outside off, so we spent another evening anxiously watching her after talking to the animal poison line.

This is just a small example of the things that constantly are happening since we got our puppy. You have to watch them all the time. She chews on everything, even chewed on the plastic seam around the outside of the carrier she sleeps in, so we had to get some of that yucky tasting stuff to put on chairs, table legs, edges of rugs, pretty much everything that is down low to the floor.

Think about this before you get a puppy. My husband is retired and stays home with the puppy, but he says he's got a full-time job with her. She has to eat often enough not to get hypoglycemic and small dogs are prone to that, especially Yorkies. They use a lot of energy which is derived from the food they eat, but their livers don't store enough, and they are so small they don't eat much.

Oh, yeah, that's another thing. Our puppy is extremely picky when it comes to food (very common) and we've had to switch foods again and again to get her to eat anything at all. If they don't eat for 8 hours, they are at high risk for getting hypoglycemic.

Oh, and one more thing. Our puppy has had a reaction every time she gets her shots. So we've had to have her pre-treated for her shots, another $50 tacked onto the cost of the shots which come to about $30-$40 each time. If they get an allergic reaction, since they are small, they can get dehydrated, which again means a trip to the vet. All very costly.

[Buddah<3r]

One suggestion...

If you cant be with the puppy every few hours crate training will not work. You seem to have a similar situation to mine, I work during the day sometimes more then 8 hours and cannot always come home in the day. I got a play pin for my little buddah. Keep it small at first just enough room for a bed area food and the wee-pad. you can start making it bigger after a few weeks or when he starts to get better about always going on the pad. This also helps while the puppy is not fully vaccinated because you cannot take him outside.

I have only had Buddah for 3 1/2 weeks and he uses his pad 100% of the time when in his playpin.

When he is out in the house with us I have pads in the room so he always knows where to go....being so small he has a hard time seeing over the furniture to find his play pen. I would say 85% of the time he makes it on the pad when he is not in his pen. pretty impressive for only 3 weeks.

[kalina82]

when i got morgan in april i stayed home for 2 weeks to get started on her training. I crate trained her and house trained her to go outside to potty. After the two weeks i went back to work and left her in her ex-pen. She was just fine in there. No pee pad, and no messes. I went home at lunch every day so she got to go out every 4-41/2 hours still. She never ever messed in her cage. Now that she's 9 months old i don't go home at lunch anymore. mostly because i can't with my new job. There is no way i can get home to take her out. So she stays in her play pen for 8 hours while i'm at work. I come home to find her sleeping in most cases and take her out for her to potty then she gets free range of the house for the rest of the night until bed time.

If you train her right for the first month you will have a good start and might not have any problems.