The Tiny Yorkie
or Maltese
The Tiny or Yorkie or Maltese
I get many inquiries on puppies from around the Country. Alot of those inquiries are requesting the TINY YORKIES UNDER 2 1/2 POUNDS. While I will agree these babies are absolutely adorable, I like to educate my clients of the risks that go along with any tiny baby under 3 pounds. This is something you need to take very seriously before adding your next little life companion. Please make sure you are ready for the commitment it takes on daily life with your Yorkie for it's lifetime.
These babies by nature are much more prone to hypoglycemia, high risk for anesthesia, more fragile bone structures , slower developing immune systems by nature, etc. While healthy, these factors make them much more prone to to a lower tolerance to so many things, that you as the buyer may not even be aware of......
Your Vet choice is soooooo very important that they truly understand these tiny babies. There is very much controversy surrounding vaccines now, especially with the small dogs. The bottom line is when given a vaccine it does by nature drop the immune system and on the really tiny Yorkies you can actually risk your dogs over all health by bottoming out the immune system on any very tiny dog. This can result in them being prone to disease. A Yorkie is not a full maturity until 2 years of age and a tiny Yorkie a bit longer. Therefore their little immume systems are not fully developed already, so we need to be careful with over vaccination. So please never give more than 1 vaccine per Vet visit, please research the risks behind each vaccine wisely before giving to your puppy or adult Yorkie. An experienced Vet with the tiny babies will never give more than one vaccine per visit. I do not give my Yorkies the rabies until nearer adulthood, and there is very much controversy surrounding the kennel cough vaccine. Please do your homework before allowing any procedure you are not comfortable with being done to your Yorkie.
When having a dental, spay, neuter, please, please make sure it is being done by a Vet that is very comfortable working with putting the very small breeds under anesthesia and the recovery process. I highly recommend pre-anesthesia blood work be run. This can determine how the little liver will process the anesthesia.
I feel I must be very candid, you do not know at the emails from new clients I open and read who have recently lost their "Tiny Yorkie". Some have been as simple as a food change and upset the stomach so bad, the Yorkie could not recover. These tinies have no where to go with any weight loss etc, that even a 3-4 pound dog could tolerate. Some due to anesthesia, this saddens me greatly. If I can help save one tiny, I feel I should share any knowledge that I may have.