Tips for Teacup Yorkies owners

Photo by:  r/aww on Imgur

Tips for Teacup Yorkies owners - By Laura Koch, Petit Jean Puppies

It will be tempting to hold the puppy all the time.  But do not over stimulate the puppy at first.  It will stress the pup and also won't give it the full rest it requires.  It needs its own leisure time in its "area" to eat, drink, and play.  They need to have small soft toys so they can learn to occupy themselves when you are not available.  Do not change your puppies housing arrangement for a couple weeks --don't take it somewhere to spend the night,  or don't leave with a sitter yet, this will only cause more stress during this difficult transition period.  

You will need to monitor your puppy every 2-3 hours during the day to make sure he or she has eaten.  If they have not, then force feed (mentioned below) or give double dose of  nutrical or nutristat.  The regular intake of high quality food is the important thing you can do to keep your puppy alive.  Just a couple hours of not eating and then running and playing can very easily lead to a hypoglycemic episode.  The symptoms of this are lethargy, vertigo, and comatose and white gums.  Gum color should be a pink to light pink color.  If gray or white, they are not getting enough food to sustain their existence.

EMERGENCY ROUTINE for HYPOGLACEMIC EPISODE:

You do not have time to get to the vet.  You must get Karo Syrup, Honey or Sugar Water in the puppy immediately.  Give 1/4 cc/tsp every 15 minutes till they regain consciousness.  Keep giving to and take to the vet.  Continue with Nutrical or Nutristat to bring pup back to normal.  Provide warmth as well, their body temp will drop too.  

When the pup can start eating on it's own, you can relax now, it will get stronger quickly.  It has to do with the small size of their liver and kidneys; they just don't have much reserve. Give Nutrical more often after this has happened! 

Feeding:

Your puppy has been on 2 TBSP (or more if desired) diced baked chicken breast 3 times per day and eukanuba food and water available at all times.  Chicken and rice water mixture is also good.  I chop into pea size chunks and warm it if they aren't interested. Science Diet A/D can food is good as a force feeder if you see them not wanting to eat.  It  is a prescription only food, but is not that expensive when a can will last you a week!  So  will one chicken breast!  You can ask the vet for a syringe to pull the canned food up with.  

This is the only can food I have found that you can draw up in a syringe and squirt into the mouth a tiny bit at a time.  Otherwise you have to poke it down with your finger.  This is only when they are refusing to eat otherwise.  This is not fun, but if your pup decides it doesn't want to eat, you can save its life by doing this.  I have saved many puppies during weaning with this food!

You can cut the chicken back to twice per day in 2 weeks and then once per day when you see them eating more of the dry eukanuba food.  Provide Bottled Water for teacups.  They do not need fluoride; it is toxic to their system.   

GIVE NUTRICAL 3 TIMES PER DAY, LARGE PEA SIZE AMOUNT.  

I use my finger and place on the roof of their mouth and drag my finger across their teeth.  This is the least messy way.  It is sticky and sweet. 

GIVE: UP ON AWAKENING;   MID AFTERNOON;  BEFORE BEDTIME   

You can use a few more times the first few days. I use to say you can't over do it, until a lady told me she went thru a tube in 2 days.  You can over do it and make their stools loose.  Do not give other people junk food!  They will refuse to eat their good food and will hold  out until the next french fry or cheetos!  They don't eat much, so what they do eat needs to be high quality food.  Salt is really bad for teacups and can dehydrate them.  Do not add salt to your chicken and rice mixture.

EXERCISE:

You will need to confine your puppy in a limited size area such as a playpen or small  bath room.  Yorkies are very active and will run and play until they pass out.  They are like toddlers on holidays; they would rather run and play with their buddies than eat.  So try to limit the active play periods to about 15-20 minutes per time and spread them out thru the day.  They do need exercise, but not all at once.  They will get hypoglycemia if they over do it. 

HOLDING/Etc:

Please understand and make sure your family/children understand that Yorkies are the most wiggle worm active dog out there and holding them is a challenge even for an experienced adult.  It would be wise it to only allow children to play with the puppy sitting on the floor, even thru adult hood.   They are very fragile.  I had one buyer call that dropped hers and the next morning it died.  So you can see why I am telling you all
of this!  

I also have had one buyer’s puppies' toenail get stuck in the hardwood floor and  it turned and tried to run and broke its leg.  So you can see how fragile they are.  They CANNOT jump off the couch or bed or chair.  They will break a bone.  A good idea would be a halter type collar and a leash tied on to the holder somehow.  This still could cause injury if dropped but maybe not as severe as dropping to the floor.  I have a habit of the TWO HANDED RULE with children.  Both hands must be on the pup at all times.  Hold the hair if that's all you can grab.

Wear sock feet around the puppy until it learns to stay out from under your feet.  That is where she will be and the smallest kick can send her off to injury.  Sock feet also can feel a baby near by where shoes do not. 

SURGERY:

 If your pup needs any kind of surgery, please weight until the pup is over 2-3 lbs.  Like spaying or neutering or dental work or hernia repair, etc.  They are so small; the anesthesia is so very dangerous in the teacups. 

SHOTS:

DO NOT LET YOUR VET GIVE A SHOT IN THE FIRST 10 DAYS YOU HAVE HER.  Shots weaken their immune systems and make them more susceptible to illness and disease.  MY VET RECOMMENDS ONLY A 1/2 DOSE OF THE PUPPYSHOTS FOR TEACUP PUPPIES.  Shot reactions can be fatal to these tiny puppies.  Let your pup get settled in with you and its new surroundings before you add the additional stress of another shot.  Just make sure the pup isn't in public places until its last puppy shot as it is still open to disease until 3 weeks after its last shot.

BATHING GROOMING

Only bathe when needed.  I do once a week.   I use diluted baby shampoo.  Rinse really well to avoid itching.  Towel dry and then blow-dry, be careful with the heat.  Provide extra heat after bath and do not take out in drafts for several hours.  You can trim your puppies feet hair and potty trail and under eye area yourself.  Your puppy does not need to be exposed at the groomer till its last shot has been given.  They can catch kennel cough and they can stress out from being at the groomer all day long in a drafty cage.  A teacup would not make it thru a full day of that.  Do it yourself for a few months!   

Medications:

Flea and tick medications are very strong.  I would recommend using Diataematious Earth, which is a powder of ground up seashells that causes the fleas to die because they can't jump anymore because of the abrasive tiny powders.  If you do use front line, do not give the entire amount, 0-22 lbs is a huge range, and if your pup only weighs 2 lbs you can see where you would be overdosing them.  You can get a tb syringe and pull up the amount needed, just do the math!   I add to this sheet whenever things arise that people have questions or concerns.  

Thanks for taking the time to educate yourself, your puppy thanks you and so do I!

Laura Koch, Petit Jean Puppies