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:

Both of my Yorkies are 5 years and my daughter was 2 when we got them she was alway great with them. Daisy did get upset once cause Bre wanted to hug her and huged to long but she only niped her to let her know enough is enough.(Very Light Nip) Bre stoped and I let her know why The doggy did it. Now they all get along GREAT!

I agree 100% but Adults can stumble and fall and step on These little guys too. I see way more accidents about what happened with adults doing these things on here than with Children.

All great advice in these posts.

Pros and Cons of small dogs with children. Bottom line is you will have to ultimately make the decision, and have the responsibility of teaching and supervising the children with the puppy. You alone will take on the responsibility if anything negative should happen, not that it will. So, it's your choice.

I have to say with Yorkies and small children you have to have set rules that EVERYONE in the house is aware of. I have 3 children (3, 5, & 8) and a 21 wk old Yorkie. I also babysit 2 2yr olds. None of the kids are allowed to run in the house and no one is allowed to pick up the puppy. I am always right next to them if they want to play with her and to ensure I hear them trying to sneak in with her I have a baby gate on each end of my livingroom. The only one that really wants anything to do with my pup is my 3 yr old and she always asks before she goes in b/c she knows the rules. The gates are also to help keep the pup confined b/c she is still potty training. It works for everyone infact my kids have done so well with Sophie I am getting another pup in a couple weeks.

Thanks again for the advice.... I too agree that adults can have accidents also. Aside from that, should anyone every leave their small child with any dog alone? I personally don't think so. Thanks so much for your help everyone!! :)

I have a 2 year old and an almost 5 month old Yorkie. Collin mostly ignores her, but I will not ever leave them unsupervised. If I have to leave the room for anything at all, even to pee, Sasha goes into the kitchen and it's baby gated so she can't jump out and Collin can't get in. They are not allowed to run around through the house together, and the only time he is allowed to touch her/hold her is when she is sleepy and he is sitting down and it's only under close supervision. I am well aware accidents can happen and Collin knows what "no" and "be nice" mean and has firmly been instructed how to treat Sasha and knows the consequences to him if he gets rowdy around her. So far they have interacted fine and I can't imagine my life without her, so for me it's well worth the extra effort it takes to be sure they are both safe.

On the flip side, I would never get a bigger dog and leave them alone, either. Just as children are children, dogs are dogs and you honestly never know when one might jump or bite and I won't risk that around my child, either.

I think with proper training and discipline on both human and canine sides you will be fine.

Also, I have what some would refer to as a porkie yorkie heehee, she is 4 lbs at not quite 5 months and still growing, and while that wasn't intentional on my part (i was aware her breeders dogs tend to be 7-9lbs full grown, but i wasn't thinking about it in relation to having a small child) I am so glad I have a sturdier, bigger yorkie around Collin. It makes me feel slightly safer. I would highly recommend that with yorkies and kids, bigger is better.

I have a almost 5 month old yorkie and a almost 3 year old daughter and one on the way. i dont see anything wrong with having children and smaller dogs. Anna was only 1.8 lbs last time we were at the vet arround a month ago. i need to get her weighed again but im sure she hasnt gained that much. Jaiden (my daughter) has rules to follow like not picking the dog up unless we tell her its ok etc. she also spends time with my sisters chihuaha buffy who is bigger then anna and learned how to behave arround buffy before i even got my anna. I know its sounds mean to say i let my daughter practice behaving with small dogs with my sisters but she did and it worked she learned to follow the rules with buffy who could take a little more rule breakking then anna since she is like 5 times annas size she needs a diet.

I have a 6 year old daughter, and 7 year old son. We got Tiger and Rhapsody a year ago. But both my kids have been raised around animals. All of our other dogs were getting on in years (and were larger breeds), when the kids were really, really little, so they learned early to be gentle and careful with doggies that could take a little rough and tumble, but the dogs were mature enough to know when to take shelter, lol.

When Bandit and Max (our golden retriever and Yorkie-Poo) passed on is when I decided on finally getting the breed I wanted, Yorkies. The kids were prepared before we got the dogs, I know a few people that had Yorkies, so we went visiting. Rules were laid out, and when the pups first came home strictly enforced. Also, explaining that the pups were like Humpty Dumpty really got through. Even now that the pups are grown my kids still treat them as though they could delicate and easily breakable. The only problems I run into are Rachel's little girlfriends who of course love the tinny little girly girl dogs. But I just watch carefully, and let them know the rules of the house kindly. The girls who come over regular know now, and I've really not had any problems. . . . 'Knock on wood.' Another thing I stressed was 'free will', the dogs should be allowed their free will and not be forced into staying anywhere they don't want to be. Again, I related it to how they would feel if. . .

Good luck! :)

I think bigger yorkies are better with small children. I have one that iis 10 lbs and one that is 6lbs. The 10lb yorkie plays with my 6 yr old daughter the 6 lb one does not. You have to be very careful still when they are puppies

I have an eight year old boy and a 6 year old girl. They have grown with dogs all their lives, and I have absolutely no problem with them and Cali. I got her in December of last year, and both my children were told how careful they need to be and everything has been fine.

My little girl is 5. When we first got Pixie, my daughter tripped and fell and broke Pixie's little arm in 4 places. She ended up having reconstructive surgery to reconstruct her elbow. It was a horrible experience, but one we learned a valuable lesson from.
We now know how fragile our little Pixie is, and the rule ever since has been "Don't touch my dog without my permission"... essentially. If my daughter is sitting on the floor and Pixie is jumping on her, she's allowed to pet her, but not ever pick her up. She also knows what she did to Pixie and watched everything that Pixie went through. She is very, very cautious around Pixie and won't hardly let her friends touch her because she's scared that they'll break her.
We recently got another yorkie who is over 7 lbs - a big change from our little 4 lb Pixie. We are much more comfortable with my daughter playing with Bogey than we ever were with Pixie. She still does not pick him up, but we at least let her play with him and pet him. Now that she's turning 6 and has been doing so well with our dogs and recently lost her cat to extenuating circumstances, we told her she could get a pet of her choice. She's requesting a yorkie, but we are purposely looking for a larger one like Bogey, if not bigger.

i have 5 kiddies. 8, 6, 4, 2, and 10 months i got my first yorkie in Dec.... i basically kept them separated but we are all slowly learning to coexist. mainly i've kept the furbabies away from the small children. my 2 year old would always try to pick up Troy (the smallest of the 2). Troy would just run from her. Walker would always try to be in my 2 year olds face but she would run from him. my 10 month could care less about either furbaby. but they just love him to death. i think its because hes on their level but he really doesn't want to have anything to do with them. so since learning this i am ready to have the furbabies out and about more. but that won't be to much as we are still potty training. i think it just all depends on the kids and the furbaby. but you have to teach the kids how to interact with the furbabies and what they are allowed to do and not do.

i have little ones ages 3 and 4 (15months apart) and also a 10 yearold. i was very concerned about bringing a little dog into our home. did i mention i have all boys too! well we did have an accident the 2nd week she came home. my jacob(4) went to pick her up and she jumped at the same time and fell and broke 2 of her fingers on her front left paw. he was devistated. she was 2 and 1/2 pounds then. now she is pushing 4lbs and my problem is her thinking she is one of them. she doesnt understand she is a little dog! so yes accidents do happen but we have gone on to be a very happy family. my boys are more protective of her then i would have thought. she is now 7 months old.

When I was a little kid, we had a maltese and a yorkie. They were such a big part of my life, I can't imagine having grown up without them. That being said, not all kids are the same. Some kids are rough or wild or even just clumsy and can hurt the yorkie on accident. You just have to be very careful. My yorkie actually loooves children so much. He's a bigger yorkie at 11lbs, but our nephews and niece know that they are not allowed to pick him up. He loves when they play fetch with him and run around with him :) Just yesterday, we stayed with a friend of ours and she has an 8 month old baby. He loved her, and wanted to be with her the whole time. She was petting him and being gentle, and he was happy as can be. When she went to sleep, he layed at the edge of the bed as if he were watching her. Everything was about the baby with him yesterday :)
But yorkies should never be with a child unsupervised, not because the yorkie will hurt the child, but because the child can injure the yorkie.