Mijoy Yorkies and Mijoy Biewers

WILL I COPE?????

Hi Joyce

I did phone you once before when I had a problem with one of my Yorkies. I have another problem, well sort of.  I have two Yorkies of my own. Two girls, spayed. I know the lady at the Restaurant at the Mall who also has Yorkies.  Five.  She has bred them over the last few years. She is now divorcing, and needs to home her dogs.  She would prefer they all get a home together. One male, four girls. The one girl is pregnant, the others had pups recently,  she did have pups from those litters until a week ago,  but took them to a pet shop. I was concerned about that.

 Johan, my husband and I are mad for our Yorkies, and there is nothing we will not do for them, they are our children.  We have known this lady for quite a number of years, and feel in a way, obliged to help her out of her situation.  Do you think I will handle another five Yorkies?  I have already discussed with my vet,  that the four will be in for sterilization – if I should take them, because I had to ask him about the costs involved.  My vet is a wonderful guy, and has suggested, that if I do take them on, he will do all the necessary needed now, jabs, deworming, teeth, sterilization, and I need only pay him when I receive the proceeds of the litter of pups that are due from the pregnant girl. Once that girl has had her pups she in turn will be sterilized and have all the necessary done by the vet.  Do you think this a good idea?  Ideally I want to take on these dogs, and then my more realistic side makes me think twice, will I cope? Will my dogs have problems with the new one’s? Will I have fights?  What is your opinion? Johan is in a way very keen to take them, and like myself, thinks about it realistically and says he wishes we had never known about these Yorkies plight.

Joyce PLEASE your help or assistance would be appreciated.

Thanks for all your help and a very nice informative website.  My brother has his own website for his business, and he has seen yours, and commented on the effort it takes to keep a website like yours running. Keep up the good work.

Best wishes

Melanie.

Hi Melanie

I would love to be able to tell you, yes you will cope. It will be a walk in the park.  I unfortunately cannot.  Taking on additional dogs will not be easy. You may have jealousy etc. I am not sure how you handle or cope with your existing dogs. Some people will cope quite well, others won’t. Five additional dogs is quite a handful.  Depending on how these dogs have been brought up.  Were they house dogs? Kenneled dogs? Do they know each other (meaning have they interacted with each other)  and have they lived together or have they been caged ? I can relate my own experiences to you in taking on dogs like this. It does not always work out to well. Please bare in mind that I have been involved with rescue for 30 years plus.

I would ask the owner if you could go around and meet the dogs, say no more. If the dogs are running around her home, all getting on famously, all happy and content, all looking healthy. GOOD.  The reason I say, say no more.  Sometimes people in their haste to get rid of their dogs, are not completely honest, and they are inclined to say things they think you would want to hear, rather than what is the truth… PLEASE I am not saying all people are like this.

My own experience that was both costly and unpleasant, the owner /breeder, was not honest with me, told me the dogs concerned were house dogs, house trained, all got on well, all lived together.  I am advising you to find out all the ins and outs, you do not want to be faced with this situation.  We were not told the truth, the dogs ended up costing us a small fortune in vet’s bills. The majority of them were rehomed and sterilized.

Unfortunately for me, these dogs were quite a distance away from me, so I could not go and see the exact situation.  Her CAMERA was not working either….??????   This person is someone I trusted and had done business with before. I had no reason to doubt her word. You need to go and see what is what.  I will not go into detail, this is a situation I am long over. but very unlikely  to ever forget.

What you may see that would be a problem:

If the dogs are kenneled or caged – dogs that have grown up in this environment in general are not socialized dogs, and would find it difficult but not impossible, to integrate into a family household pet.

Dogs that are not used to being house dogs, but caged dogs, in most cases are not toilet trained.

In most cases caged dogs will not get on well together, all of a sudden becoming one unit, you would have to put in a great deal of time, to get this sorted, but again with time and effort you would win at the end of the day.

Kenneled dogs, in general when allowed to be free, all of a sudden have major insecurities.

Don’t make a big issue of your impending visit, you want to see those dogs in their usual day to day lifestyle.

IF THESE DOGS ARE household dogs, used to being indoors and running freely with each other. Obviously in good health,  you will more than likely be fine. The only problem you may encounter as said before is jealousy. You would have to watch all the dogs interact.  If you take them and the female has her pups, keep a very close eye on her. Some females become major protective over their young, and this could end up in a war zone. Keep that female on her own, in a pen would be a good idea, when she is near to whelping and when she has her pups. You will be able to see by her behavior, if you can trust her to come out for walks and run around, and not attack the other dogs.

The male will more than likely mark his territory by lifting his leg all over the place. This can be overcome from day one, by making use of a belly band. Only remove it when he goes outside to the toilet and once he is back inside put it on again. Hopefully once he is neutered and the girls are as well. He will stop lifting his leg. NOT all entire males lift their legs all over the show, but it is better to be aware of the possibility of it happening.

If you work to the above plan, you will get a pretty good idea, of all the ins and outs, and if there are ifs or buts, think twice.  It is one thing to save these dogs and offer them a good home, another thing to live with your decision.

Also remember to take into account, your home and property. Are you allowed to keep so many dogs, where you live? Your neighbours, may be used to the odd barking of two Yorkies, the odd barking of seven may be a little too much.

One or two Yorkies is one thing, seven is a pack, make sure either you or your husband is the pack leader. You need to be assertive, no physical discipline. I will send you the article I wrote sometime back about being the pack leader.  If at any stage you feel you are slipping and you have all these dogs, call in a professional.  One is advertised on the Frontpage of our site. 

REMEMBER when leaving your home, to separate these dogs, do not leave all 7 together, you may return to seriously injured yorkies or dead yorkies. YORKIES are fighters, just remember that, you with 7 have a pack and if they target a yorkie, one against 6 is not going to be able to defend itself. Two yorkies together is fine, the 7th you can put with two NICE children, but please do not take the chance of them all behaving when left alone.

If handled correctly from day one, you may very well have a situation that works brilliantly. If you make the decision that these dogs are not suited to you, suggest to the owner, to have them all sterilized before they leave her.  I know it is costly. If she does not want to spend that sort of money, she would be able to then advertise them – and the new owner prior to taking them home, must pay the sterilization fee to her(the current owner) vet.  Advise her NOT to allow these dogs to leave her without being sterilised, they can be collected from the vet immediately on sterilization  having been done.

 I wish you everything of the very best, and If I can be of any further assistance to you do not hesitate in contacting me.