I'm New to this site and need ADVICE...

[Rocco'sMom]

hello everyone. this will be one long story as I am a first time dog/yorkie owner. I recently purchased a 3 month male Yorkie.
I really thought i was ready to have a dog since I've always wanted one since I was a kid (i'm 26), and I have my own condo, have a job, was/am pretty sure I was ready. anyway the first night i got him he did well, slept all thru the night until 5am, which i thought was pretty good.

anyway the second day I had to crate him because I had to leave to work in the morning, went home for lunch to play with him and feed him and make sure he did his business (trying to crate train). But when I came home I burst into tears because he was frantic when i got home from work . I felt so bad putting my yorkie in a crate. my parents (also have 2 sisters and a neice that live with them) (my little sister watches after him) then offered to take him until i figure what i'm going to do with my kitchen ( i have an open space) i'm thinking that i'm going to get an xpen of some sort. anyway, today my mom called me to tell me they they placed Rocco in his crate while they went to church (they were gone for about 1 1/2 hour) and when they came back he figured out a way to get out of his crate and made a mess with toilet paper in their bedroom.

My mom started to question if I was truely ready for a dog. She kept saying "its alot of work and he's smart enough to try to do what he wants and I know that you would not want a mess of any sort at your place" "you need to figure what you're going to do." in a way I feel like she's right, but I at least want to try. He's a good boy, very smart too. but sometimes I feel like "what was I thinking? who am I kidding? I dont think I"m ready for this?
ANyway, I just feel kind of lost right now.

I apologize for this long post. I just needed to vent and hopefully get some words of wisdom (or maybe critism) from all of you Yorkie owners, especially the ones that work 9-5. Thanks and God bless.

[baileysmom31]

Hi, first let me say welcome to YT. You will get a lot of great advise here! And congrats on becoming a new Yorkie mom! As for you question, I would get an X-pen and put him in there. Don't worry too much about his reaction when you come home. Yorkies are great drama kings/queens when you have been away. Tia still reacts as if she could jump through her skin when she sees me with all the yelping, crying and so forth. And don't let mom guilt you that you aren't ready for a dog. It sounds to me that you are very responsible with your furbaby. Just relax and enjoy. He will be the brightest light in your life!

[Anna Banana]

I know how it feels to be critisized on mommyhood...by my mom! I'm a little younger than you, but I still feel sometimes that the questions I get from my mom about my ability to take care of my baby are undeserved. I feel that as long as you can afford a puppy in terms of emotion, time, money, etc., than you deserve to have a puppy. I'm sure you can care for your baby, its just a learning experience. I would set up an expen, thats what I'm planning on doing when my baby comes home. I can tell that you care about your puppy, and so my advice is just that whenever you are away from work, dedicate yourself to your baby. Yorkies do need a lot of attention, but I'm sure you're capable.

[Anna Banana]

Oh yeah...Welcome to YT!

[Monday]

Hi and welcome to YT ... I have a 5 month old Yorkie ... we got her when she was 12 weeks old. She is a little terror compared to my older baby ... the first thing I did to make sure she wouldn't destroy too much stuff, was to get her a "playpen" --

yup, a kid's playpen from Target or Walmart ($40-$50), got a bed and put in there a piddle pad (tray and all) ... kept her in there much of the time I was not there supervising her movements (pun intended) ... would take her out and take her straight to the other piddle pad to train her.

now I can leave her out to sleep in the bed on the floor and she knows to go to the piddle pad my other pup uses ... I have minimized her world ...

good luck!

she yelped a lot at first but then got tired and went to her bed to rest ... I made sure I had one of those drip ball drinkers so she had water in there. Tried a bowl, but ended up watering the mattress! So got one of those water feeders and figured out how to hook it to the net meshing ... good to go!!!
No destruction when I am not around .....

[Rocco'sMom]

Thanks everyone for your advice and suggestions.
I guess I'm just no nervous about the whole thing. that was the first time my mom has said anything about Rocco, dont get me wrong, my fanmily LOVES him, especially my dad (they have this weird special bond ). He's bummed that i'm taking him back when I get the playpen. But Rocco will be going with his grandparents on Fridays and Sats. Thanks again everyone.
I'm just so nervous.

If anyone else has had their Yorkie escape from their crate please tell your story

[Pipersmommy]

Welcome & hello to YT. I don't work, if I leave just to do yard work they all 3 greet me like I have been gone all day. They definately are drama kings & queens. I like that saying baileysmom. As for the toilet paper, even when their older they love it. I now keep mine on the counter. Get an xpen or a baby play pen. It works great for little ones. I was nervous to when we 1st got our little furbaby. After 3 I feel sometimes I'm a pro at it finally. Thanks to YT.

[Lola'sMommy]

Hi Rocco's Mom!
I know EXACTLY how you feel! I just brought my three month old Yorkie home, and it's been a nightmare! She cries all night, and I'm so tired. She also pees ALL OVER my apartment, no matter how many times I take her to the pee-pee pad. When I put her in her in playpen, and leave, I can hear her crying down three flights of stairs, so I can only imagine what my neighbors must be thinking of me.
I keep telling myself that I made the right decision, but did I?!

[LilLexieLu]

I did exactly what Monday described with my Lexie. I was working full time and couldn't see crating this puppy for 9 hours a day, that's WAY too long. The play pen was such a great idea. I knew she was safe, she had all her favorite stuff and her crate was in there for her to sleep in. It was the perfect size for her. We called it her condo. She's 6 months old now and about a month and a half ago we moved in with my b/f. She now has the entire house and is pad trained. I highly recommend a play pen.

[JCarlson2004]

HI and welcome to YT! So nice to have you and Rocco here!

I know how you feel ... sometimes things can feel overwhelming. I have 3 dogs and I use to feel that way in the beginning. But trust me when I say this, the positive totally outweighs the negative! Once you get into a comfortable routine, all this worrying will be long forgotten! Things always get better, especially as your baby gets older.

[pat022351]

Puppies of any breed are a handful and take a lot of patience. If they can get "out", they will - if they can chew it up, they will!! An exercise pen is a great idea - gives them a lot more room than a crate. You can put food, water, pee pads, toys and a bed in there. I personally like the metal pens better than the soft-sided ones. When I first got Sadie, we had a soft-sided pen and she got her head caught in a tiny opening in it - fortunately I was home and heard her screaming!!!

Good Luck with your new puppy. Everything will fall into place after a while, and you'll be another joyous Yorkie owner!! They're worth every minute of it.

[celstu1]

I am a single yorkie mom to 2 boys. I got them when they were 9 weeks old. They are now a healthy, happy year and half. It WAS hard at first, and still sometimes is. I feel guilty leaving them home while Im at work. They both have seperation anxiety and knawed on the walls, cabinets, baseboards, shoes, clothing, rugs, etc...
I realized that things were my fault, right off the bat, I did not blame the dog. I blamed myself. If they chewed my favorite shoes, I blamed myself for leaving them out. This helped me have the patience it takes to get through the puppy stage! (well and chardonnay, lots of it! haha)

I had 2 boy pups at the same time!! What a job! They still are.

During the day I gate them into a 3x3 area of my kitchen. They have newspaper/puppy pads on the floor in one spot, all their toys in their crate in another spot and a nice comfy bed with a blanket in another spot. They also have food & water left for them all day. I suspect they sleep most of the day! I used to let them look out the window, but I got complaint letters from the condo assoc that they barked ALL DAY long so I had to stop that.

Best thing you can do is prepare yourself that this is a job at first. In order to have a great pet, you need to MAKE a great pet. Put your things away so the puppy won't chew them ... I mean EVERYTHING ANYTHING! If it crosses your mind that your dog might chew it and its reachable, put it somewhere else bc more than likely your dog WILL chew it!

Im having problems housebreaking my boys STILL. I got rid of the carpets downstairs but my whole upstairs is carpeted, Im suspecting that someday those will have to go or will need endless amount of carpet cleaning done on them!

The hardest part is giving them enough attention. I wanted yorkies so much but I did not realize how much attention they needed! They are very needy and affectionate little dogs who want nothing more than to be with you 24/7! Its hard, when you leave them all day to go to work, to have a social life too. Oftentimes I find myself turning down friends or family for something because I need to stay home and spend time with my boys.

To me the joy they give me is worth the pain of being a single 'mommy'. But that is not always the case for everyone! I love them to pieces, when one learns a new trick, or falls asleep on my lap or at night when they curl up in bed with me, or peek in when Im taking a shower and I see that little black nose and big brown eyes, they give me endless amounts of joy!

But yup... does put a damper on some other aspects of your life... its like being a single mom to skin kid, except you don't NEED daycare! thats about the only difference! haha But if you have patience and blame yourself, not the dog, for his wrongdoings... I think you will find that your puppy will give you lots of joy too (especially when hes trained and well behaved)!!

[natalienicole]

I personally love it when i come home and my yorkie is so excited to see me. she follows me arround jumping on me and excitedly whining. i think its cute. its good to know your missed when your not at home.

[Rocco'sMom]

Thank Everyone,

I feel alot better , I guess I just didnt know what to expect since it's my first time having a puppy. I didnt know (even though I did some research) that Yorkie's are such drama Queens!! well in Rocco's case, drama KING.....I think we are made for each other then, because I can be a drama queen/cry baby .
Rocco amazes me at how smart he is (he doesnt have many accidents outside his crate )

All of you have been great and it's nice to find a support group like this.
If anyone wants to have a play date in chicago let me know, my pup loves people and other doggies

[Gypsy & Me]

Originally Posted by Rocco'sMom

Thank Everyone,

I feel alot better , I guess I just didnt know what to expect since it's my first time having a puppy. I didnt know (even though I did some research) that Yorkie's are such drama Queens!! well in Rocco's case, drama KING.....I think we are made for each other then, because I can be a drama queen/cry baby .
Rocco amazes me at how smart he is (he doesnt have many accidents outside his crate )

All of you have been great and it's nice to find a support group like this.
If anyone wants to have a play date in chicago let me know, my pup loves people and other doggies

Yes they are Drama Queens/Kings. My Gypsy goes nuts when I get home, she jumps, leaps, whinings, runs, licks as if she's not seen me in days and it's the same if I've taken her for a walk, anyone would think she'd not come with me!!!!!!!!

Just wait till you tell him off and he ignores you for ages!!!! lol