Yorkies and Young Children
 

Hello! I wanted to know how many of you have yorkies and young children, or have a yorkie then had children. How do you handle them together? What types of rules do you have? How old are your children?

Murfee is 3 now and has grown up with little kids. My daughter and granddaughters lived with us since Murfee came home. Gracie was 3 and Kallee was 6 and my other granddaughter was 2. They were told to be careful and weren't allowed to pick him up but could hold him if they were sitting down. They all get along great! In fact, when we travel they call and talk to him on the phone and he goes nuts. He always wants to run up and play with all the little kids we encounter on the road. We never have had any trouble with the kids or him.

You are going to get a lot of different answers here. While I don't have young children, I do have two young grandchildren. Ages four and seven. They visit often. they are not allowed in my yorkie room unless I am there and even then they have to sit in the floor or on the couch andd be still. Little ones, no matter how many will say their chldren are raised to be gentle with animals, are going to have accidents. They are going to stumbe and fall or drop the dog. If unsupervised, they are going to play chase with the yorkie and possibly fall down. One poster on here about a year or so ago told of how her two year old fell on her yorkie and killed it. That is also one of the first questions I ask my prospective buyers. But a lot of people on here do have yorkies and small children and their opinion is quite different from mine.

Oh how awful!! How big was the dog? As you may have guessed, I do have a small child. That is why I am going to be buying a bigger puppy to get a bigger dog. To help out in that respect. I also plan on having strict rules with my daugther with her around the dog.

My children are grown, but I have two small grandchildren who visit often. They're really good about following the rules, they're not allowed to pick Jake up unless an adult is there to supervise. I tell them to be careful when they're walking around so they don't step on him. We mostly let them hold him when they're sitting down. But, Jake absolutely loves the grandchildren and is so happy when they come over! They're very good with him, but we ALWAYS supervise.

I think the reason people say kids and yorkies aren't a good idea together is on account of the kids not being taught how to handle the little dog. When I brought Howie home he was so little he couldn't jump on and off the couch by himself for weeks! So, my point is that it's better to get a bigger yorkie and as long as you teach your daughter how to be appropriate with your yorkie, you should be fine. Yorkies are such little love bugs!!

this is not the reason at all. it is for just what I said, no matter how well they are taught, little children have accidents and it's no one's fault and doesn't mean the child hasn't been taught well. i do agree that a larger yorkie is much better.

I agree that a larger yorkie is better if he/she is going to be around small children. Supervision is the key.

When I had my dtr 21 years ago i had a 7 lb male and she never bothered him and when he passed on she was 6 and I got Gracie a 6 lb female. My dtr was very laid back and knew how to be around small dogs. I know accidents can happen, but I am a very quick mover and it could happen to adults as well. I really think it depends on the child/children.JMO

There is a great article in the AKC Gazette (a monthly periodical that most aren't aware of). It's titled taking care of your toys.....Here's a bit of what was written under- Childs Play. Small children are another concern. Many breeders will not place toy breeds in homes with children under 12. Leah Getty of Alberta, Canada grew up with toy dogs and has a toy Xolos, papillons, Chinese Crested Chihuahuas, and tw daughters aged 7 & 10. She admits that it has been a great experience for her children, but also incredibly stressful for her.
"Honestly, I would not recommend toy breeds for young children. It requires constant, exhausting supervision"
Her older daughter received a Chihuahua when she was just 5 1/2 "I realized it was a mistake immediately and considered placing the puppy with my mother until Victoria was older. By then, she was so attached to the puppy it would have broken her heart to take him away."
The alternative was rigorous supervision and strictly enforced rules.
"The dogs and children learned mutual respect, but it's unrealistic to expect kids to take on that level of responsibility. Crates are essential. The dogs need a place to go for safety and protection. I prefer designs with complicated latches that the kids cannot figure out. They are only allowed to walk the dogs without adult supervision and never at off-lead dog parks. I don't encourage the kids to pick the dogs up at all; it's only allowed when they are siting on the floor. They are never permitied to let their friends pic up the dogs.

On the other side of the coin in this article.

Childen are not the only ones guilty of carelessness, a breeder in Connecticut has bred and shown MinPins for 35 years.
My dogs normally live to 18. I want them to live long, happy lives. When someone comes to see my puppies I really drill them on safety precautions. For one thing, it's dangerous to carry a MinPin puppy with its legs against your body. They can brace themselves against you and spring right into midair. I wish I could send new owners home with a big bag of common sense instead of a bag of food. Repairing a blown kneecap or broken leg costs a minimum of $1,500. She says the number-one reason cited, in her experience, for leg fractures in toys is that the tiny dog was being carried and jumped out of the owner's arms...

I just think with a big yorkie pup or a smaller one the parent needs to be consistant. The kids no matter the age will understand sooner or later. My kids did not mishandle our little male yorkie and he was 1 lb. I had a guest (adult) he carried the female yorkie that we had and he dropped her on the tile floor! He had no idea how to hold her and she had a painfull fall. The guy was like 6'4" tall! She was not seriously hurt and was fine after a few minutes but my heart almost popped out of my chest when I saw this happen!

The main thing I taught my kids was to ALWAYS be sitting on the ground when holding the puppy.The puppy was always in a seperate room with a gate . Until the pup got bigger,now full grown at 3 lbs.


Genie
Cookie
Lola
Angel

I have a 2 year old son and a 11 month old daughter (that right 2.....14 months apart). My daughter dont really pay any mind to the dogs (my yorkie and my sheltie). But my son loves to play with my sheltie. He is NOT ALLOWED to hold Bruizer he only pets him when I have ahold of bruizer (on my lap, like allways). He doesnt even try. He knows tht Bruizer in MY dog. But whenever Bruizer is in the same room with my son I allways have an eye on the two just to be sure that my son doesn't try to stretch the rules. So as long as you teach your daughter not to play with or try to hold your pup and stick to the rules i think you should be fine.

Thanks so much for all of your help! My daugther will be a week shy of 2 when the puppy is able to come home (at 12 weeks). I appreciate all the comments on both sides! Thanks so much!

Sugar's Mom I could not agree with you more. No matter how much you teach a child to be gentle they are children and will act like so as many chance as they get. I have two yorkies and a five year old daughter and although she could not be more gentle and a total animal lover like me I have to be on constant watch because accidents can happen and with these little ones one can be fatal. I mean these little one are fragile enough that one as an adult has to be super careful all the time (stepping on them, falling or jumping off furniture or while carried) and that danger just doubles or triples when little ones are around. Just my :twocents: