Have you become more protective or less?
 

Has experience made you a more protective Yorkie owner or a less protective one? Do you find yourself learning new risks and taking precautions to prevent them? Or are you easing back after seeing that these little dogs are pretty durable?

I ask because I'm unquestionable a more protective Yorkie owner than I used to be. I realized that today when a loose dog was walking about 200 yards away when we were in the far corner of the park walking unleashed. I didn't even wait to see the dog's intentions, I gathered up mine and leashed them and was fully prepared to pick them up.

In earlier times, I might have ignored the other dog, and even let it approach.

The examples go on and on. The more I've learned how delicate they are, the more steps I've taken to protect them. Fortunately, I don't think I've gone overboard yet. :rolleyes:

I am so much more protective with my Yorkie and Morkies than I ever was with my mini Schnauzers. They mean the world to me and I adjust my life and behavior around keeping them safe.

I have always been alert and defensive with the possible presence of other dogs, but more so when my lil pups are with me. I'm also more dedicated to protecting them against toads and other poisonous plants and things.

You didn't vote!

Definitely more protective
 

To begin with, when I first adopted him, my little guy definitely needed more socialization, so when we walked in my quiet neighborhood (always on a leash) & other dogs approached (which was a rare occurrence) I would let him socialize with them. But, now that we have had two very scary incidents with other dogs, I pick him up whenever I see another dog approaching. I also used to let him stay on my back deck whenever I would be working out in my back yard but we live only a few miles from a national forest & since I have seen a hawk :eek: on my back fence a couple of times & found out on Yorkietalk about hawks attacking small animals, I no longer do that. My baby is very precious to me :) & I will never do anything that I feel might put him in any kind of danger.

I have always been very protective and watchful over my pups, more so now as other pet owners have become very careless with theirs. I now have to carry some means of protection just to walk my pup, or pick him up if I see a unleashed dog and no owner. I now live in a heavily wooded area, have black bears, coyotes, bob cats just to name a few, frogs / toads none of which are Poisonous, but can choke a dog to death if swallowed. My pups were / are never left unattended when in the back yard. I have become more aware and more protective over the last several years.

I'm seeing the same kind of sentiment that I share. Our dogs are just so important to us, and the longer we own them the more important they become. Sad that we have to be so paranoid, but I love seeing the special bond we have with our dogs. ;)

The more I learn and the more sad stories I read, the more protective I have become.

I was born 'overboard' protective, so not much change here. :D

After several scary encounters with loose dogs, I would say that I am more on edge. Our local paper had an article this week about a Chihuahua who was out for a walk in his neighborhood, on leash, and was killed instantly by a loose dog.

I drive the boys to an office park to walk daily. My sense of security there has been undermined recently by a couple of loose dogs. One was a very large Boxer mix running off leash with his owner riding a bike behind him. The other was a huge dog whom we have encountered twice running from a restaurant patio. :(

I actually have probably gone more protective in certain ways. I think as far as the YT boards go, I'm probably one of the more laid back owners. But, I think I was TOO lenient when I first got him in certain ways, or maybe just naive. Through the years, I've seen the majorly stupid side of dog owners more and more, and have become more cautious about others. I used to let him meet nearly every dog on-leash that he wanted to, go to the big side dog park all the time, etc... There's been a few instances that made me nervous and I can't believe I used to let him in the big dog side of the park with almost no worry. Live and learn. I do let him around big dogs that I KNOW. I actually don't even do the dog park much anymore because Jackson doesn't seem too keen on playing with a bunch of dogs he doesn't know anymore. Even though he loved it as a youngster. But I'm definitely laid back in other regards, some things that some a lot of YT'ers may not like, but I'm confident in my dog ownership skills and always keep Jackson's best interests in mind. Ha, so yeah I guess I'm somewhere in between. Not sure where to vote. I'm probably less protective in some things and more protective in others.

I have been way overprotective since day one. I will always be that way. I can't help it. These babies are so small and it only takes a second for a tragedy to happen

Way more protective now! I was always protective of mine but since I have learned so much more about the breed I know I am way way way more protective now.

I am a lot more protective. A couple of nights ago we were walking around the lake, Buster was walking, Maggie was in the stroller, there was a young couple fishing with their big boxer type dog staked to the ground. When the dog saw Buster he broke out of his stake and was on us before I could move. I'm glad Maggie was in the stroller...I was trying to block the big dog but Buster was not being still, the young man finally made it over to get his dog. But by this time I was screaming like a girl, scaring Buster and Maggie, attracting attention. I usually pick them up when we approach a big dog or a loose dog but I thought we would be able to safely walk past this one.

I am not super protective of them. Heck I took my smallest on to Dog Camp last year for Labor Day weekend. It was mostly Golden retrievers- Close to 100 total dogs I think. She loved it. She told the golden pups off- All bigger than her and kept right on playing!! She even participated in Kids vs. Dog Baseball

I LOVE to see Yorkies who can play like big dogs! That camp looks like so much fun.

I am so much more protective Molly than I am with my other dog Aja.. Molly mean the world to me. I would be devastated if anything happen to her.

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.