This breed has zero tolerance for anyone other than themselves.
If you have a Yorkshire Terrier at home, then the only other pets that you can usually keep without difficulty is another dog from this breed. Yorkies are a no-nonsense breed. They might be super cute and adore being the princess of the family or Mom’s little baby, but that pomp and polish disappears immediately if there are other animals in your home. They have little tolerance for other animals outside of their breed, including other dogs of any size. Yorkies are not afraid to take on Great Danes, a St. Bernard, or other very large breeds – and they usually win if the other dog doesn’t treat them like a squeaky toy first.
Yorkies don’t like rough handling.
If you have young children at home, then your Yorkshire Terrier will want them to play with gentle touches instead of rough-housing. Other pets that like to tackle and bite are not a good fit for Yorkies either. The best games to play with this breed involve chase and fetch. Anything that is rough could be problematic because it will increase the risk of an injury occurring while encouraging the feistiness to come out.
Biting and scratching can be problems if you teach your Yorkshire Terrier that rough play is acceptable in your family. This breed doesn’t have discretion between adults or children, so take care with your training approach.
Yorkshire Terriers have the “big dog†syndrome.
Yorkies almost always believe that they are bigger and fiercer than what they really are in real life. That leads to a territorial attitude that can be problematic, especially if you have larger animals. The Yorkshire Terrier will almost always challenge to be the pack leader at some point, oblivious to its size advantage. That includes people sometimes as well. If you want to avoid conflict in your home and you’re not the biggest fan of a dog that loves to bark, then a different breed is probably a better choice.
It takes longer to housetrain a Yorkshire Terrier
Even though the myth of a Yorkie being untrainable is false, this breed does struggle with its potty training. It will take more than a few attempts to have a successful result. If you have enough patience, consistency, and positive praise when your pup does go outside, you’ll eventually get to where you want to be. There will still be accidents that happen over time with their smaller size, but there are ways to manage that issue inside. You can train your Yorkshire Terrier to use a grass mat, litter box, or some other product that won’t leave your floor a mess.
Yorkies don’t make for a good guard dog.
The Yorkshire Terrier is a territorial breed. If there is someone or something unfamiliar in their area, then they will let you know about it immediately. As with many other toy breeds, Yorkies like to find the highest spot possible in your home to survey their surroundings. If you have a couch that sits by a window, then that will usually become their favorite spot. Then they will bark up a storm whenever they see a stranger or hear a strange noise.
It is unintimidating to have a small, 7-pound dog come charging at you as a burglar. Adding a red bow or a cute bowtie does little to fight off a robbery attempt.
You will need to spend time grooming your Yorkie every day.
If you keep the coat short with your Yorkshire Terrier, then you can reduce the amount of grooming that you’ll need to do with this breed. When you allow it to grow out naturally, then the fur is closer to human hair than it is for other dogs. That means you will need to brush it daily if it isn’t trimmed so that your Yorkie doesn’t develop painful knots.
A special brush is usually necessary to complete this job as well because of the fine nature of their coat. It will take 10-15 minutes most days to do it correctly. If you have some nightly lap time, then that is the perfect opportunity to take care of this chore.
Yorkies like to sleep under pillows and blankets.
One of the most common sources of injury for a Yorkshire Terrier is when someone sits or steps on the dog when they don’t realize it is nearby. Yorkies love to find a warm place to sleep. That means you will need to start checking your pillows and blankets before using them. It doesn’t take much to cause harm since this breed is so fine-boned. They don’t like fast movements either, so quickly removing a blanket can be a traumatic event to the dog. If there are any concerns with this disadvantage, then you will want to go with a larger adult or a bigger breed to avoid unnecessary medical bills.
There are several health issues that affect the breed.
You will want to have your prospective Yorkie undergo a liver test before you finalize your purchase. About one-third of liver shunt cases in canines occur with this breed. It requires specialist care to resolve the issue, a tricky surgery, and there is no guarantee for success. The Yorkshire Terrier is like other toy breeds and can develop dental disease without frequent brushings. Some can have a defective windpipe that makes their barking sound more like a goose honking. Loose knee joints can cause pain, with almost 25% of the dogs affected by a luxating patella.
Many older Yorkies tend to eventually go blind because of cataracts.
https://greengarageblog.org/16-pros-and-cons-of-owning-a-yorkshire-terrier
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