Adopting a 5 yr old yorkie, anything I need to know?

[tallulahsmom]

Hello everyone,
I just joined this site because my husband and our two children decided to adopt a five year old female yorkie, named Tallulah. She is very sweet and I think she will be the perfect addition to our family. I am wondering if there is anything I should know or do with our new Yorkie? We pick her up Saturday morning. I am so excited!

[bjh]

Welcome to Yorkie Talk. Congratulations on your new addition to your family. Are you getting her from an individual or a rescue group? The main thing is to find out as much as you can about her personality, what food she eats, what shots she has had, how is she potty trained, where is she used to sleeping at night, etc. Depending on how she was raised, she may be a bit scared and quiet until she has time to adjust. We will be looking forward to seeing pictures. Best of luck with your new fur baby.

[marcerella02]

WELCOME! and how great of you and your family to rescue her! I don't know much about rescuing but i'm sure many others on here can give you some great ideas! Can't wait to see pictures!

[Janie Doyle]

My Husband and I adopted an 8 yo female Yorkie. She came to us in a small cage and had been abused in the past and long story short it took me almost 2 mos of every day talking to her on her level to even get her to come out of her cage on her own.

Now 4 yrs later she is active happy and gets along well with my other 5 Yorkies.

My only advice is to let your new baby take HER time to adjust to your family.
Don't let the kids over whelm her in the begining. Give her her space, tell her how lucky you are that she is in your family.

If you need any help please email me or anyone in this group. Good luck and can't wait to see pictures and here more about your new baby.

[yorkie_mama22]

Congrats and goodluck! Depending on her situation in previous homes she will need time to adjust, some take longer then others and all you need to do is have patience and give her as much love as possible and space!

[Trixter]

Congratulations! to you AND your furbaby. We adopted our Toby and it took him a week or so to feel comfy. We don't have any children living at home, so it is a little different. It's been 2 months now, and I still can't believe he's ours! lay low with her in the beginning and remember EVERYTHING is new to her. It will be great getting to know each other. Good Luck!

[Raven]

Congrads!!!
Just give her the time she needs to get use to new people and places. It will be great!!!

[tallulahsmom]

We actually did not rescue her. She was adopted as a puppy into a wonderful family and they are moving and are unable to keep her. We found her on criagslist. We have met with the family and they are very nice people and took great care of her. She is actually registered and has all her papers. She is in good health and seems like a great dog. She did nipp at our five year old son though, but we were told that she had a rough night the day before with the owners nephew (apparently he plays too rough with her so she was on edge around children). I assume she was just scared and didn't know us well so she had her guard up. But after a few mintues of playing she was giving us all kisses! I can't wait to post pictures of her. Saturday feels like it's so far away! Thanks to everyone for the advice. I had not thought to give her a lot of space. I heard from someone that we should give her a lot of attention until she gets comfortable but it makes sense to assume she may be shy and a little uncomfortable with us. The previous owner said that they had re-homed her a while back and the family ended up giving her back because she was so sad she stopped eating and playing. After she returned to them she was her old self. The family returned her because they felt they could not give her the attnetion she needed and they felt that was why she was so depressed. Now I am nervous that she will do the same thing with us. But we have plenty of time to spend with her. I have never re-homed a dog before so I guess I am just nervous. I'll post pic's as soon as I can. Thanks!

[MeAndMyOlivia]

How exciting! You've already got lots of great advice...and I know you are counting down the minutes! Congratulations!

[tallulahsmom]

Originally Posted by Trixter

Congratulations! to you AND your furbaby. We adopted our Toby and it took him a week or so to feel comfy. We don't have any children living at home, so it is a little different. It's been 2 months now, and I still can't believe he's ours! lay low with her in the beginning and remember EVERYTHING is new to her. It will be great getting to know each other. Good Luck!

How did Toby act the first week? I am trying to get an idea of how she may be when she first comes. I really don't know what to expect. I grew up with a Bichon and I have seen him nervous, but Bichons are quite different from Yorkies.

[Diego]

One of my little rescued one went to 6 previous homes before mine .
With time , love and patience , I am sure that your little one will do great .

[TeresaM]

Hi! Welcome! You've gotten a lot of great advice here. If you have an area for her, a bed or crate, make sure the kids know this is off limits to them, that when she is there she is not to be disturbed. This will give her a "safe" place to be when she needs to rest or get away to regroup. I'll just restate, give her time, let her initiate most of the interaction at first. It's ok for ya'll to do some of the initiation, but let her see that she can say no, or stop if she's had enough. At first have your children sit quietly on the floor with a few treats and let her come to them. The hardest thing I had to teach my nephews was that the HUGS they wanted to give really scared Sadie & Annie. Once they got past that the dogs were more comfortable and everyone got along great.

You'll find your best time with her will be early in the morning or later at night while the kids are in bed. Basically do the same thing, just sit quietly with a few treats and let her come to you. Talk in a normal voice, no sudden movements and she'll come around.

And I'm a firm believer in actually telling them things. How much ya'll love her, how YOU are the lucky ones to have her in your family. How beautiful and smart she is. Just go on and on about what ya'll are doing that day, or what happened while you were out. I know it seems silly, but I really see a difference when I 'converse' with them.

Post pictures when you can, I'm excited to see her.

[bjh]

Have your children been around small dogs before? Hopefully they have. Like the others have said you will just have to take it slow. How big is your new yorkie? Children have to be taught that they cannot pick up the dog. When you are standing and holding a little dog you have to always hold them firmly because you never know when they may suddenly decide to leap out of your hands. I know of several that have been killed or severely injured by this. Also make sure your children know not to put there face right in the face of the dog, especially until she is familiar with them. Yorkies that have not been raised around children can get very stressed with children running around.

It is normal that your little girl will loose her appetite in the beginning. Once you get her if you have problems getting her to eat please let us know and maybe we can give you some good tips on what to feed her. I hope your new girl adjusts well.

[Janie Doyle]

Since she has had a history of not eating when going to a new home I would suggest getting some Nutristat at you local pet store before Saturday to help prevent low blood sugar. Also feed her what she has been eating by the pevious owner and putting a small amount of virgin oil on the dog food might entise her to eat and is good for her coat as well.

[tallulahsmom]

Originally Posted by bjh

Have your children been around small dogs before? Hopefully they have. Like the others have said you will just have to take it slow. How big is your new yorkie? Children have to be taught that they cannot pick up the dog. When you are standing and holding a little dog you have to always hold them firmly because you never know when they may suddenly decide to leap out of your hands. I know of several that have been killed or severely injured by this. Also make sure your children know not to put there face right in the face of the dog, especially until she is familiar with them. Yorkies that have not been raised around children can get very stressed with children running around.

It is normal that your little girl will loose her appetite in the beginning. Once you get her if you have problems getting her to eat please let us know and maybe we can give you some good tips on what to feed her. I hope your new girl adjusts well.

My children have grown up around dogs but not small dogs, except puppies. My brother and sister in-law breed boxers and she also did daycare for us for a year so the boys have helped out feeding the puppies and caring for them. They used to be very uncomfortable around dogs but now they are just fine. I am a little concerned that they have not been around a small dog before. But if I didn't think they would be okay then I would not be getting her. I am not just saying this, but my boys are very well behaved. Their biggest problems are learning how to share with one another. But they really are very gentle and calm, not your typical boys. Tallulah did grow up around children so she is used to them for the most part. But, like someone mentioned she doesn't like when you get in her face. We will have to talk to the boys about that. Nonetheless, they are still children so we will have to be careful and watch them really closely. I would hate for anything bad to happen so we will be keeping a close eye on them. I like the idea about Tallulah having her own space though. I really had not thought of that. These are all really good suggestions. This has been extremely helpful for me. Thank you so much! I will post pictures as soon as I am able. Hopefully tomorrow after we pick her up.