Has experience made you a more protective Yorkie owner or a less protective one?

YES . . a recent close call make me more protective. :(

Do you find yourself learning new risks and taking precautions to prevent them?

YES, very much so. My babies mean the world to me, they may think that they are fearless but when a big dog chases one of them home snapping at their behind. I think that was a huge wake up call for both Ruby and Me.

I have found out recently that I need to be more aware of other dogs in our neighborhood. We had four new dogs added to our neighborhood and all are unchained and unsupervised... (found that out the hard way). So now I keep an eye on my pups at all times. They don't get to spend as much time running free in our large yard as they use to simply because I can not trust what the other dogs will do. Once came two doors down unsupervised and chase my Ruby who wondered off when my DH was watching her or should I say suppose to be watching her. So yea . . the unpredictability of my dogs and especially others peoples dogs have become a real eye opener for me.

I am the same=very protective. I worry more about things I never thought of before and less about things I can't control.

I am by far much more protective with Kacee than I was with Muffin.

I have always been very protective, but with the more knowledge I have, the more protective I am. Despite that, I still let Katie go for long walks and to run and play and do the things she loves to do. I try to minimize the risks, but I realize I can't protect Katie from everything, so it's more a balance. If I sense a dog might not be friendly when I walk her, I pick her up for a moment.

With my larger dogs I was more worried they'd hassle someone else and their dog. With Jenna, I would die if anything happened to her and, while she thinks she's a big dog, facts are facts. She would not survive any encounter with the dogs that roam here. Not even the smaller ones that live next door, simply because they are so aggressive they chase ME down the street if I walk by their driveway, which I do not. Our length of walk time has been easily cut by two thirds of what it was thanks to other peoples dogs. :(
Jenna was supposed to have "problems" with other dogs when we adopted her, according to the rescue owner. Actually she is completely sedate around larger breeds, but she does get a bit mouthy with the dogs her size and up to about the height of a Samoyed. When she first came to live with us I had to pick her up while a neighbor walked a dog (loose) past us and Jenna got so frothy that she peed on me. :doh: Jenna was on lead, btw.

She's mellowed so much from when she arrived. But I have not. I wouldn't even allow our other dog to be on the floor with her until this year, and even then I watch Ebon's body language because I know how she rolls when she gets snappy. Personally I'd rather they don't get within 6 feet of one another but I know that's not sensible. They actually do very well together if I don't make a fuss, but I remain ready to rescue Jenna if I even suspect any of our other pets is going to lash out at her, cats and rabbits included.

My fear comes from having been bitten myself at a young age, and also from reading other people's accounts of what can happen to a small dog. I don't doubt Jenna is made of strong stuff, but our connection is such that if anything were to happen to one of us, it would devastate the other. Simple as. So her safety is always utmost in my mind.

I'm painfully protective over Crystal I know...

What a sporty little girl!!! Love it!

After losing my precious little guy Stuart at 5 months old, Ive become very very cautious. 2 years ago there was a coyote in our yard and by some miracle, my boys were unharmed, that made me a little over the top protective. I really would rather be safe than sorry! My boys are always leashed because they will take off to 'meet' other dogs, chase something, etc... plus I want to be able to grab them up in a second if I have to.

When I pick up my Dex, he's a very light 6.5 lbs, small fragile bird bones I say, I can't imagine how little it would take for him to get hurt. My Fletch is 12.5lbs but he is way more solid and sturdy, I'm not as protective of him because he can handle more than Dex.

The longer I stay on YT and research and and read about dogs and life on this earth, the more protective I become.

I voted about the same because I didn't see an option "D" I am so protective of my Yorker that thereby is absolutely no way that I could become any more protective.

I I'm more protective . The world is not the same place it used to be,you can no longer trust the environment around you or people for that matter. Back in the day I knew everyone in my neighborhood and there dogs too. I'm more aware that to some yorkie = money and they got no problem taking your beloved pet to get it. So sad.

Around other dogs, more protective. A friendly doberman nipped Gucci's butt while they were saying hello to each other, I scooped Gucci up, doberman lunged, doberman yelped and ran at my reaction.

I usually scoop Gucci up when any dog approaches now while we're walking the nearby trails. Really, he weighs about 2 1/2% of what I do and in proverbial dog years, he's much older. I did tell him today as he was crossing a shallow stream and walking down the trail, "Gucci, you're looking like a real dog today!" ;)

More protective of Toni
 

I am in the habit of bringing her everywhere with me. I have a very bad case of PTSD and she helps keep me somewhat calm. She is used to going shopping, to dr. appointments have even gotten her into an occasional restaurant. One day I had her in her carrier which was rather heavy so I had it in a shopping cart. We were in one of the chain pet stores and two different men started following us, one was a manager of the store. Kept telling me she was going to turn heads and how beautiful she was etc. every time I moved he was watching us asking questions about her and me . Then another man came up and began the same interrogation telling me where I should walk her etc. I left that store in a hurry.
Stopped using that heavy carrier, am temporarily using a Fundle, which I don't recommend , Tanya , at Bloomingtails is searching out a sling type carrier that will meet both of our needs because she won't be out of my grasp again. That ordeal really frightened me.

I'm a lot more protective now than I used to be just because I know mine likes to challenge big dogs thinking he is big. During our walks, I scan miles and miles away. Once during our walk, I spotted a loose Doberman and scoop my little guy up asap and crossed the road calmly and quietly leaving my husband behind lol:D. He was like hey what are you doing, where are you going and I was like there is a Doberman right beside you!

The larger breed dogs that I've had in my life time I was never really protective of them at all. Teddy is my first small breed puppy and I am completely a nut case when it comes to him, even if it's someone in the household scolding him for something. Teddy is my baby and I really don't know what I'd do without him. He's helped me with my depression as my doctor says he's my perfect medicine for me. The more I learn about their breed and other things to look out for I become more and more protective of him.