NWR. I've been MIA...

AJF021410

for a few days because FH and I have decided to get a puppy! We pick up our little Yorkie boy next weekend. Does anyone have any Puppy/Yorkie tips or advise? TIA!

klminor17

I have been wanting a Morkie- a Yorkie and Maltese mix!

Lwinter829

I have a pit bull mix and I know its not the same kind of doge but i would suggest enrolling in a puppy kindergarden class. It was awesome for us. They teach you basic comands and it socializes your puppy! 

AJF021410

Thanks for the tip lwinter:)

easullins

I definitely agree with obedience class.  Socializing them from the start is key. 

I also have heard it is more difficult to potty train small dogs, and I definitely had more trouble with my miniature pinscher than my boxer mix.  One of the best things I taught my dogs was to ring a bell when they need to go outside.  I bought a christmas jingle bell necklace and hung that on the doorknob.  Each time I took them out, I would ring the bell, and eventually they caught on that they needed to ring the bell to go out.

Have fun!  Puppies are so sweet!

verucasaltytoo

I didn't notice you were gone, sneaky! Good luck with the puppy, Yorkies are da bomb.

dvohnout

My number 1 dog tip is to kennel train them

wallacje

I agree with PP.

Socialize and house training!! Big oh of course obedience and knowing their name.

I like easullins taught my eskimo to ring a bell when he has to go potty, best thing ever.

kateynjoe

I have a Yorkie and the tips given above are good ones. I highly suggest crate/kennel training, and be strong for the first couple of months about "not" giving in because they are so cute.
Bridget (my Yorky) would be caged through the day and at night. I let her out only to go outside (I periodically put her food and water in the cage with her so she was never deprived). If she went to the bathroom I gave her a treat and let her play inside for about 45 minutes to an hour afterwards (really let myself, I was dying to play with her all the time). You will be able to gage when to start being more leinent, they are very smart and can catch on fast....but can also be out of control with having accidents in the house if you don't force yourself to be super serious about potty training. (I kept a small box of treats in my mailbox so I didn't have to take one outside everytime and it made it easy for her to be instantly rewarded)

My girl now loves her cage and it's just kept open all of the time (she's 7 so I no longer have to cage her while were not home). She goes in there and curls up in her blankets sometimes. She definately didn't view being in it as a bad thing when she was young.
I highly suggest getting a book or two on yorkies. I think that helped me so much on taking care of mine.

Congratulations on getting a Yorkie!!! They're the best! 


 This is my Bridget

kateynjoe

At 12 weeks old Yorkies are about HALF the size they will be as an adult! Make sure your puppy is 12 weeks old when you get them... Most breeders do not let them go until this time. Depending on the size you would like to have this is very important.

AJF021410

Katey- the breeder is letting the pups go at 8 weeks. Yours is soooo cute!!! I read that puppies can't be crated fir more than 2 hours at a time....how often did you let yours out? Did it take a long time to housebreak? The breeder says their already doing well with the potty pads!

kateynjoe

She was let out about every hour to two hours during the day when she was being trained, but she slept in her crate and sometimes had accidents overnight until she realized she could whine and wake me up to go out. I worked with her like this for about 2 to 3 months before allowing her to be out of the cage for long periods.
She realized after about a month or so that even if she didn't have to go as long as she squated and acted like she was going I couldn't really tell the difference and would reward her anyways.
She definately had accidents still, but she is so good now. There are times that she's home alone for entire days while we are both working and only has accidents if she has an upset stomach....and that doesn't happen very ofter (usually only after someone sneaks and gives her people food without me knowing).
She is strictly outside trained, I never used potty pads. Now I wish I would have just for times that we are gone for long periods, the pads would be convenient. FYI....My boy was way harder to train because he was not fixed.
Thank you....She's my Baby ♥ Can't wait to see picks of your little one!