How to Care for a Yorkshire Terrier Puppy

Prepare your house for your new Yorkshire Terrier family member by designating a sleeping area. Use a crate (or kennel or cage) for your puppy to sleep within and to put him into when you need to leave to run errands. Designate the doors and hallways that need to be blocked by baby gates. Be sure to have an ample supply of chew toys for your puppy, as well, for when she begins teething.

When you pick up your new Yorkshire Terrier puppy, take her to your veterinarian as soon as you can so she can have a checkup and be put on a schedule of shots. A recommended schedule of puppy shots will be determined by your veterinarian, but here is an example of a standard puppy shots schedule: Six to seven weeks, the first round of combination shots or DHPPCv is administered; at nine weeks, the second round of DHPPCv is administered; 12 weeks is the third combination of shots, and your puppy may also be given a Lyme vaccination; at 16 weeks, the final combination of shots are given, and your puppy will be required by law to have her rabies vaccination; at 20 weeks, your puppy will receive her Parvovirus shot.

Potty training is the hardest part of caring for your puppy. There are a few techniques you could use to help her learn where to go potty. Using the crate method requires you to monitor your puppy closely when you put her there to sleep or for running errands. The puppy will consider the crate as her den and will decide she wants to keep it clean. The newspaper or litter box technique works if you watch your puppy closely and take her to that same spot each time she tries to potty. The outdoor technique is used if you desire to teach your puppy right away that outside is the potty area. You can combine all the techniques as well. As long as you are patient and do not scold your puppy harshly (which may scare your new puppy), she will start to understand where to go potty.

Biting is a given for a puppy. As long as you and your children understand, then you will be able to get through the puppy biting stages. Put puppy's chew toys in easily accessible areas of the house. You need to make sure you are telling the puppy the name of its toy as much as you can. This will help when the puppy starts biting in play, you can tell her to go get her "toy," "baby" or "rawhide." Use short names for your puppy to understand. Never use slapping, kicking or pinching at your puppy's lower jaw to make her stop biting. Doing so can teach you puppy to be aggressive and may also cause her pain and problems in the future. If puppy does not stop playful biting, then be prepared to get up and leave. She will understand in time that biting makes the fun go away.

Yorkshire Terriers need constant grooming. Make sure you are trimming your puppy's hair growth on his ears. At the age of six months his ears will be firmly set. If the hair has grown out, then the ears will not set up firmly. Keeping the hair around his rear end trimmed will help eliminate the build-up of feces. Make sure to use a clean, warm, wet wash cloth to remove the gunk around his eyes, as this could promote unwanted bacterial growth and may rot the hair around his eyes. Make sure to feed your Yorkshire Terrier Puppy quality healthy puppy dog food. Good-quality food is high in price, but will help avoid costly veterinarian bills due to allergy problems in the future.