New dog owner, help me learn!

Novice_investor101

My friends yorkie is 14 years old now. She did get him from a breeder as a puppy but no contact details now. I’ll have a look at the Facebook groups, thank you. 

SensibleSarah

I'd encourage you to keep trying the rescue route. I'm a single person, living alone and have never had an issue adopting rescue dogs or cats, even when I worked out of the house full-time (I took measures to mitigate this at the time - dogwalker etc). I also work from home now permanently and currently have 2 big rescue dogs and 3 rescue cats. It's a lot to juggle for one person but absolutely worth it and they give me so much in return.

Small local rescues tend to be a bit more flexible with rehoming requirements but there is a HUGE issue at the moment with lockdown dogs being given up that is UK-wide, along with an influx of dogs being signed over to rescue due to the cost of living crisis. Lots of the lockdown dogs especially do need a more experienced owner because they often haven't been given the right stucture, boundaries and training and can be a real handful (I adopted one such dog a year ago who has been hugely challenging for me and I've owned rescue dogs for 30+ years) but not all of them are like this by any means. It's just a matter of being patient and waiting for the right dog. 

If you do go down the breeder route, please don't go for a breeder that advertises puppies online. No breeder that has a litter of pups without a waiting list of homes already is in it for the right reasons. You will probably have to wait a while (and good breeders tend to be even stricter on rehoming requirements than many rescues - they want their pups to go to the most suitable homes) but responsible breeders will always give lifetime backup (so if you can no longer keep the dog, they will take it back at any stage) and have done all of the breed-specific health checks before breeding - make sure you know what these are for whatever breed you go for so you can ask about them when speaking to the breeder e.g. for Yorkies, various eye conditions should be tested for in both parents, along with spinal conditions. For dashshunds, it's DNA tests for presence of various conditions and screening for hips, elbows, luxating patellar and IVDD (spinal issues that 1 in 4 suffer from) as dogs with issues in any of these areas should not be bred from at all. There is never a 100% guarantee that pups won't get some of these anyway, but the breeder having done all the right tests shows that they are breeding responsibly at least, not just for the financial reward. 

sheramber

Here are the number of Yorkshire terriers registered with the UK Kennel Club from the past 10 years.

• 2012 – 2505
• 2013 – 2077
• 2014 – 1690
• 2015 – 1307
• 2016 – 1062
• 2017 – 876
• 2018 – 840
• 2019 – 644
• 2020 – 609
• 2021 – 631

Brie

Do you really want to get a puppy?  And do you really want a purebred one?  

Yes puppies are cute but take a lot of work.  If you are exceptionally houseproud you may be in for a shock what bringing any dog (or cat!) into a house will be like.  Things chewed, shredded, puddles......  Yes this can still happen with an older dog (or cat!) but they will at least be house trained.  

Small breed.  Good idea.  Easier to pick up after when you're out walking. Easier to pick up if you need to cross a busy road!  Easier to take on to buses or trains and get into the car to go to the vet.

Purebred?  Why?  More expensive, potentially more genetic issues.  I don't know what in particular can be wrong with a Yorkie (too bug eyed?) or a dachshund (bad back??) but other breeds do have known issues that are often mitigated when they have been cross bred.  My mom was determined to have a dalmatian and got one from a reliable breeder only to discover it was deaf - a common thing.  The breeder offered to take it back and give mom a puppy from the next litter.  But that would have meant the dog we had accepted into our family would have been destroyed as having no sale value.  (long ago and far away but I've no doubt things like this still go on)

So - net result on my comments - go back to the rescue places and look at the mixed breed young dogs rather than the cute purebred puppies. 

Best of luck with your search for your perfect companion.  I'm mostly a cat person myself but do enjoy all the dogs that are paraded around our neighbourhood.

lisyloo

I’d encourage you to persevere with the rescue route.
it does take some commitment but it’s a worthy cause there are SO many more dogs being handed in than taken at the moment and the rescues are full to bursting.

we have recently been down that route,
we were knocked back for every dog we applied for but had other dogs suggested.
a rescue that knocks back a bad match is MUCH better than one that lets you have any dog.
Our first adoption failed and it was heartbreaking for everyone involved including the dog.
second time round we’ve been fussy about the dog AND the rescue.
the more effort put into the match the better to avoid the distress of failure.
there will be a rescue dog out there for you, but it takes some work to find the right dog and the right rescue who you feel will support you.
Im happy to recommend one if I’m allowed.

ask questions about the dog to make sure it’s activity level and sociable level fits in with your lifestyle 
ask question of the rescue
meet the dog
ask more questions
make sure you understand what to do with a rescue, they need to “decompress” and get to know you first before going out. We overwhelmed our first dog as we weren’t aware of what we needed to do. 

Any rescue that doesn’t give you lots of info or vet you Is not a good rescue.

Novice_investor101

Thank you for all the advice. I’ve put my details forward with a couple of local rescues & asked them to contact me if any small breed dogs come in. 

TripleH

My wife rescued 2 kittens when she lived on her own but that was 2005.

We struggled to adopt rescue kittens because we lived in a flat even though we had a very content older cat.

We ended up with pure breeds, I love them to bits but they lack the personality of a non-pure breed.

Now we live in a house we have been able to adopt a rescue cat.

A friend of ours considered getting a dog in lockdown. They delayed it because they were not in a good place and felt they needed to be stable before bringing an animal into their life. Remember a dog needs walking every day and young energetic dog breeds can develop issues if they don't get exercise so you need to ensure you can be there for the dog when it needs exercise even if you feel awful.

We had a Yorkie, it was a lovely friendly dog to us, but had a bigger ego than a Great Dane and small dogs can be quite aggressive. I'm not trying to scare you, just make you aware so you goblin with eyes wide open.