Here's Junior
 

.....or at least that's what I'm calling him for now. This little man is from my Darla and Nemo. Junior had a sister that, sadly, passed after 2 days so he's being raised a singleton.

Junior is now 4 1/2 weeks old and is doing very well. He's starting to 'motor-vate' around and is beginning to eat a little on his own. I weighed him today and he's 17 ounces. He and I are becoming best buds already.....he loves to play and gives the sweetest puppy kisses. I don't want to spoil him 'too' much, but this little one is just irresistible.

Here's a few pics taken today.....

Oh my gosh, he is just darling. What a sweet face he has and a beautiful coat.

What a face!! You must want to smother him with kisses!!!!

Thanks, ladies. I'm a little biased but Junior is very special to me. It's hard to resist spoiling him to death with him being the only one. I have hopes that he might be the first one I put in the ring so I'm trying to not over-indulge him. I am very happy with him so far, as much as I can tell at this early age. Now my challenge is to not spoil him too much like I did with his Mother, but for now it's a joy just bonding with him.

Junior is a adorable. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and saying prayers that this little boy fulfills your dreams. I want to see both you and Junior in the ring...The Bluebonnet Specialty - would be a great place to start....Puppy Sweeps....

Yep! Do watch that spoiling...

What an adorable little face, he gets a purple ribbon from me! Maybe you should name him Miracle?

Hey Jim....time to trim the ears.....

I love the head....the face is to die for...and he looks like he's gonna be up on leg.

Well, it's way early but Mary, thank you for prodding me to commit to showing. I only hope Junior develops as well as what I'm seeing now. He's very alert and answers to his name already (so Junior it may be). I'm closely watching his temperament and I like his physical attributes at this point. I may impose on you for a few tips as we go along, if you don't mind.

Aw, Nancy, that's so sweet of you to say :). Actually, I was wondering if Darla would ever have babies, so he is a small miracle. I had her bred twice before using an outside stud but neither mating took. My Nemo was my fall back guy, and I'm hoping that it was a happy combination of genes.

I've already done a slight trim on them. It's a little rough but his ears are very small and there's not much to hold on to. It is time for a re-do, though.

What I like about him so far......good close ear set, his ears are small and are a nice 'v'....short loin and I love the gold tones.

Even though he's not yet carrying himself as well as he will, the tail set seems good from feeling along the spine, and he does have good leg. I'll have to wait a bit to see other features, but I'm constantly looking him over. I just hope that he fills out enough as his sire is small but he's got a good weight so far and I'm hoping the structure carries over from Darla's line.

Well I'm adopting him as my honorary nephew.....I think this little guy is going to be a winner.....of course you can count on me to help.....

Will look forward to updates.....

How's he's lay back/head carriage at this stage?

He's up on his feet but is still a little wobbly so I'm not focusing on his posture just yet. I figured that would have to wait until he's planting himself a little more firmly. He's not a 'slouchy' dog and does hold his head well, but he's still got that puppy wobble. Hope I'm explaining that correctly.

Adorable!!!

:)

beautiful puppy
 

Hope he ful fills your dreams.
mugwee1

What a beautiful boy. Congratulations and enjoy!

Junior is really a good looking boy! I wish you and him the best in the ring. :)

Bonny

He looks like a winner to me! He is beautiful and I love his name Junior.

He is adorable and I hope he fulfills your dreams of him being in the ring! We definitely need you to keep us updated on how he is doing.

Thanks, all. I was gonna hold up on posting pics of him for a little longer (don't want to jinx him), but these were so cute. The last few days he's been quite the little man.....he comes running when I go in the room and is trying to crawl up my pants leg. He's starting to dart about in little bursts of energy before plopping down for a quick rest. Darla has started to play with him and still spends most of the time with him. I call her my little 'Monkey' and was wondering how she would do as a Mom but she has been just wonderful and seems so proud of him.

Will post updated pics as Junior grows.

Looking forward to more pics!
 

Oh my...Jim....he is a head turner already! I'll be excited to hear updates on this little guy....so precious:)

Jim he looks adorable. I'm sure LiL Junior will soak up all the love you can give him, and will come back asking for just a bit more.:D

Will you have your friend the pro handler go over him at eight weeks old?

Gail at 8 weeks of age, one will only be evaluating temperament/personality....then go back at 12 weeks of age and begin the evaluation in earnest....and as a breeder that evaluation goes up and down for months.

Yes it was what I thought for Yorkies, but I've been reading Tricks of the Trade, by Pat Hastings Revised edition. She has a preamble to the first statement on evaluating puppies; which covers the research process they went through, to glean the best practices that she elaborates on in her book vs a vs evaluating puppies. Here is Step 1 quoted exactly from her book: 1. For structure evaluate puppies only at eight weeks, give or take three days either way. This is crucial. Before eight weeks, soft tissue is not sufficiently developed to hold the bone structure in place, which means you are able to "mold" a puppy into the picture you want to see.

As all bones grow at different rates, it is important to realize that the proportion of bone growth is as similar to the adult structure at eight weeks as it is ever going to be during the growth of the puppy. Therefore, what you see and, more importantly, what you feel at eight weeks is what the puppy will grow into as an adult dog.

This applies to all breeds across the board. The only exceptions we have found are premature puppies and puppies that have not had a good start. We've never had consistent results evaluating these two exceptions.

End quote.

I've had quite a lively discussion with my friends on this subject. We are going to try out the eight wk timeframe on Yorkies, and repeat at twelve weeks. Of course as you say the evaluation goes on as time goes by for the Yorkies. With our Blackies, they go through some ugly stages, somewhere around 7-9 mths many look like they are up on stilts. Head growth is very variable, you can have a pup at around the 7 - 9 mth looking like either all head or no head. Oh and musculature is a real crap shoot as a pup, we have chest first developers, or rear end developers. Furnishings can be frustratingly slow to grow (and this is a major fault if they don't grow), many lines don't fulfill their furnishing potential until 3yrs old. Musculature, develops slowly as well, somewhere from 20 to 24 mths old, all of a sudden with no change in exercise, those boys pack on the muscles.

I also have the video Dog Steps an excellent one on presentation of different structural problems in dogs. I'm having a senior moment here, and the author's name escapes me, but one of her statements has stuck with me to this day; what you see as a puppy, baring accident,illness, or injury is what you will see as an adult. I believe one example in her video, was an afghan pup, you saw the pup at 8wks, at 4months, and as an adult, and oh boy, the problems evident at 8 wks were more so at 4months, and as an adult quite severe.

There is so much to know. So much to learn, and learning is always going on.

Yorkies are a breed unto themselves......I've monitored pups and watched them....ones that look great at 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 16 weeks and fall apart at 6 months...come back and fall apart......

I begin evaluating for personality and temperament at 8 weeks, don't go back until 12 weeks.

Mary in a perfect Yorkie world, would structure, coat, temperament be "fixed" by one year old? What are your thoughts on this?

I'm truly trying to understand, how a tiny 7lb dog, can be so variable? Is it growth plates? Is there any research out there on this?

In my head I get "color" and coat texture, as being a long term ie 2-3 year process to fulfill their potential, but structure?

It's very encouraging to see all the nice comments about Junior. Thank you all. :)

This will be an adventure for both me and Junior as I have no experience in showing. I am a complete novice but I hope that the time is right. With a local resource now available to me that has both handling and grooming experience, that's one big thing that should now be made easier for me. And there's so much experience here at YT to draw on....plus I'm so encouraged by the success of the new exhibitors here. It makes things seem less daunting. I do plan on taking Junior as far as I can, if not for the ribbons, at least for the experience.

The info you posted is interesting, Gail. I likely won't take Junior out to be evaluated at 8 weeks. He'll not be vaccinated at that time and to have him evaluated I would need to take him to the groomer's shop. I will pay special attention to his proportions and angulation at that time and compare it later to see if it corresponds to his adult build.

I am wondering just how his being a singleton will affect his personality, though. I don't see it as hindrance so far. He seems very confident and is king of his little universe at this time. There's no bully littermate to dampen his confidence and he's free to blossom at his own pace. At some point he'll have to become socialized with other dogs, but for now his being the only pup seems to be a positive.

Here's a couple of pics of him playing with Darla today and one of him climbing up on me.

Jim,
Junior is lovely. His momma appears to have been born to be a momma.

I know you'll do well with this boy. You have more knowledge than most beginners and even more than some experienced exhibitors. You've put your heart and soul into this breed. I know you'll do everything in your power to do it the right way.

Darla is such a playful little thing. She'll be 3 next month but still has a lot of puppy in her. She's very content to spend most of her time with Junior and has only recently begun to spend any amount of time away from him.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mary. I'm one of those types that, no matter how much I 'know', I'm always apprehensive until I've actually done it. I do feel much better prepared than in the past so it's time to jump in (plus I'm running out of excuses LOL).