Getting a new puppy...and need advice!

[glaucomflecken]

Hi everyone!

FI and I have decided we want to add a yorkie puppy to our home. My first dog in 20+years! yikes.

This may be a dumb question, but what should I bring with me when we get the puppy from the breeder?

What can I expect the breeder to provide me with?

Any advice for us on housebreaking or other puppy tips in general?

thanks!

 

[yellowfan]

Hi there,

What breed are you looking at? Do you have a kennel? You will need a kennel and basic supplies, blankets, dog bed, cushion for kennel, high quality food, food & water bowls, and get a book about the basics. Love your puppy and you can''t go wrong! Of course, treat it as your child too!


Best luck,

Lori

 

[Rosie]

In the past we have had a maltese and a Lhaso Apso and right now we are the proud new owners of a rottweiler puppy that was brought home by my husband on new years eve day. Yes take a kennel with you as you probably wont be given one. Our pup sat on the seat of the van and slept but not all will be like that. We got our pup at 6 weeks an aside from what the public have gotten in their heads because of the bad rotties that have bad owners, ours has been a wonderful companion to 4 kids that love him to death. One good hint for housetrainning is its best to crate (kennel) train in the beginning. Keep yorkie in kennel when you cant pay attention to him and every time you take him out of the kennel, put him outside and use one word like we do which is "go pee", but make sure you put him outside after everytime he is taken from kennel as he will associate with coming out of the kennel and going pee right away. Our pup goes pee on demand now and is only 3 months old. Just from the consistent "go pee" he now goes when we tell him too. Most dogs will also be dominent over their food, of course a yorkies bite wont be too bad but we from day one and all the kids have played with his food when we give it to him so he gets to know we arent taking it from him but giving it to him. It''s obvious we have a long time of trainning and being consistent with ours due to the size of breed he will be, however the basics for every dog apply regardless of breed or size. Just be patient with him and he will be wonderful and sometimes little dogs are harder to train then bigger ones so just be patient. Not all dogs use beds so to start I would just get a blanket and put it on the floor or bed pillow with blanket on top and if he likes it you may not have to buy a dog bed. Hope this is of some help to you and good luck!!

 

[fire&ice]

Have some fun, relax & know that even though you will tear your hair out with their puppy antics - you will more than miss their puppy breath when they grow!

Definitely get a crate. Join a Yorkie dog board now. Buy a book - a nice well rounded one is the "Dummies series". They have a raising a puppy one. I also like Shelby Marlow''s book "New Art of Dog Training". Take whatever advice and tailor is to *your* pup. Each breed and each dog within the breed have different personality traits. Like people, some "handling" techniques are better than others for *your* pup.

BTW, Yorkie pups are TINY. If you are beating about, make sure the pup is not under foot. You can crate it; or, I prefer baby gates/playpen that the pup can see you. I found that the real baby gates at Babies are Us were less expensive.

I prefer a method that rewards the good behaviours and ignores the bad. In other words, if the pup is nipping you (it''s natural and has to be learned out - in a young pup this is not an agressive act persay) put something else in their mouth. If they cuddle w/o nipping, praise the heck out of them. Doesn''t work for all dogs. Should work for a Yorkie though.

Also, you may want to read Mara''s "new addition thread". Some good information there as well as cutie pie pics.

And, find a vet before hand. When you get the pup home they will need shots sooner rather than later.

Also, puppies need to eat several small meals a day - find a good food - ask what the breeder recommends. Whenever they drink or eat, it get processed nearly immediately. So, potty breaks directly after a meal is a good thing.

Again, have fun. That puppy breath is like nothing else!

 

[Mara]

how fun! we got our westie in june of 2004 and she's almost 11 months now...the puppy stage was VERY trying for us because we were pretty unprepared! but we got through it and our dog is the light of our lives, she's very well behaved, she was pretty easy to train once she got old enough to really learn some of the behaviors. we had some potty training problems but it's because we were using the indoor litter box, BAD idea! i'm sure it works for some but not for us. she was too confused to understand where to go, as soon as we started taking her out to go, she hasn't had one 'accident' in the house since then (other than when she was very sick and couldn't hold anything in)...it was a lifesaver to decide to train her to go out. when we started, we took her out once every hour and tried to keep her calm in between so she wouldn't accidentally go while playing etc. eventually she realized going out meant to go to the bathroom, and she obviously loves to be outside so it was pretty easy, easier than i expected! eventually we upped it to 1.5 hours then 2 hours and now she can hold it and play around with us and all that for up to 3-4 hours and has held it up to 7 hours though around 4-5 is her norm since i come home for lunch.

in terms of training, we used alot of the positive reinforcement training with her, rewarding the good and ignoring the bad, though there were times we would let her know the bad was not acceptable and to this day she responds to a sharp No. One of the hardest things was to learn to get her attention, aka saying her name doesn't always do it. So my two ways are snapping my fingers together and/or making a kissy sound. This is pretty important if there are other dogs around and distractions that may take the pup's attention away from you. It took us a while to learn this together.

anyhow, my best advice is to be patient, there were times I wanted to throttle little miss princess in her puppy stage, but she's such a good dog now and so eager to please and be loved, the dogs really just want to be in your good graces though with our pup she learned that as she grew out of her puppy stage. before when she was a pup, she wasn't seeking approval or affection from us, she was pretty independent. but now, she's a love sponge who just wants to be around us and noticed! be prepared for their rambunctious personalities, and stubborn terrier temperment!

oh and definitely start getting the dog socialized as soon as the vet says it is okay...this was a saving grace with us as she loves dogs and people whereas we run into dogs all the time in the park and on the street that are not as good with dogs and/or people because they were not introduced to all sorts of people and dogs and noises etc when they were puppies. this includes socializing the dog to loud noises, aka car backfiring or a fire engine and also kids, people on crutches or on bikes. it will help desensitive them to these types of things in the future so they aren't shocked and/or alarmed when they see them...they will be more 'normal' as they have seen them before.

oh i could go on and on! so much to learn...you will do most of it together most likely. I highly agree with getting on a Yorkie board, priceless information from people who live with these dogs day in and day out, but remember that only you will know YOUR dog the best and know what is right for him/her...advice from others can only take you so far, alot of the learning is done in the house between you and the family and the dog!

lastly, in terms of food, ask the breeder but also do some research on your own. our breeder was feeding our pups Eukanuba which is high in corn and fillers, so our dog gets a more protein and balanced dry kibble now, corn and fillers can lead to overweight animals if the dog is not exercised enough and with the smaller dogs, esp a yorkie, they may not be out running as much as a lab would and working it off. so just be sure what you are feeding them is going to be great for puppy and growth of bones and muscles, but also not going to lead to them getting chunky later when the puppy growth stops and the metabolism slows down a bit!

Best of luck and please please post tons of pictures!!!!

 

[Kaleigh]

A Yorkie puppy how fun!! I think Mara and the others gave you some really great advice. The only thing I can add is to make sure you crate it. This crating should be like a comfortable home for your new puppy. Place a nice towel down in it to make it comfortable. It should never be a place to put the dog in to punish it for mistakes. If you take the puppy outside to go pee pee, prays him or her when she/he does so. I have two Bichons and believe me they are hard to train. But my female is sooo eager to please all I have to do is take her outside and say go pee pee or whatever and she does it automatically. The nice thing about crating your puppy is that it will feel safe in his/her home while you are gone. They generally don''t like to make a mess in their crate, so when you get home you just take them outside and they will do their business. Food is very important, make sure the breeder gives you what you need until you take the puppy to the vet. All in all be patient, they are very smart dogs and aim to please those Yorkies!! Please post pictures when you can and most of all ENJOY!!!!

 

[glaucomflecken]

Hi everyone! Oh I am so excited and can''t wait! We''ll probably wait a few weeks because we agreed to dogsit our friends'' jack russell terrier for a few days this month because they are expecting their first child this month and we figured a new puppy with that wild dog (their dog is adorable but so hyper) might be too much not just for the puppy but for me and J too for those few days!!! So definitely when we get our pup I will try and post pics!

thanks for the advice!
Sarah

 

[Erin]

One thing I''ve been told will make the puppy''s transition easier is to take a scrap of cloth from the mother''s blanket she''s been lying on. That way the smell of the old home is inside her new home - the crate/kennel I hope. I agree crate/kennel training is the only way to go!

Also, make sure you have toys of different textures, cloth, nylon bones, rubber - although the baby biting is cute, you don''t want to encourage it as acceptable long term behavior. Teething is normal and you should replace your sock or lamp cord with one of the ''toys'' every time - just might save your dining room table legs in the end.

Buy some of the hard food the pup is eating now and some of the food you intend to feed it. Dogs of all ages have sensitive stomachs and you should switch foods 25% - 75% then 50% - 50% etc until there digestive system can adapt to the change.

If you are going to crate train and be gone at work during the day, I suggest one of those water dispensers like hamsters have - this ensures fresh water is available in case a water dish is knocked over.

Finally, I would recommend setting the rules up front. Although a little harmless puppy is cute and non-destructive at first, be consistent with such rules as no jumping up on people to greet them, stay off the furniture, and no sleeping in my bed if those are things you so choose in the future.

Puppies are a joy - have fun.

p.s. I think puppy breath smells good - enjoy that while it lasts, too