need your opinions: yorkie or westie?

Cute. Cute Cute! [sm=clapping%20hands%20smiley.gif] Do they gang up on your golden?

wow thanks for the tips! we have a yard at the back and i was mentally rehearsing on how to do the potty schedule. hahaha! okay will post pix once i get the pup. thanks again! []

YEAY!  Westie pups are so cute!  Just remember patience and fun!  

I have a Yorkie and I think it depends on the size of the Yorkie. Mine is a big Yorkie, he's 13.5 lbs but If I had small children, I wouldn't have a small Yorkie because of what other's on here have said. Another FYI, we just completed Manners Classes with ours and the trainer said he was doing pretty good but he'd "always be a pistol ".  And so far he is. The trainer also said she was asked to speak at a Yorkie Breeders convention a while back and was scheduled to speak for a half an hour, she ended up being there for close to 3 hours due to all the questions on the behaviors of the breed.[]
We wouldn't trade Rudy in for anything but he is a handful. [sm=happy.gif]

Our Golden holds her own - they all have a good time together![]

hi! we picked up the westie yesterday and have chosen to name her frankie. she's 4 months old and whew! boy! she is a handful! i understand that she's probably insecure and anxious to be around unfamiliar people & surroundings so she is quite attached to me.

i hardly got any sleep last night. i initially wanted her to sleep in our bedroom but she chews on anything! including electrical wiring. so for the sake of her safety, i put her in our walk-in closet (enough ventillation). surely in the middle of the night, just as i feared she started whining and peed all over the place!!!

i had to calm her down and clean up her mess. after a while she did calm down and i left her there to sleep for the night. my only concern now is how to train her to be housebroken. my friend advised that i buy a small fence (like a playpen) to surround her and keep her in a place where she'd feel is her "territory". once she gets comfortable, she'll do her business there.

we live in a large house and i initially wanted to potty train her in the garden but now i'm not sure. any tips would help. i'll also be looking at the training section of this forum.

Yikes! Sounds like she is keeping you busy already. My mother LOVES westies. She had one way back in the 60's when she was young and its all she talks about. But hers was a one-person dog and horribly aggressive to anyone who came near my mom. I would recommend socializing Frankie as much as possible. I have heard from several people that this is a common problem with westies. Don't know if it is or not.
As far as the puppy trouble goes...it's been many, many years since I had a puppy. I remember going through something similar with him. This was way before the internet and we just muddled our way through it. At that time the popular thing to do was lock the dog in the kitchen all night with newspapers on the floor. He would cry and pee at night, but quickly got over it and was easily housebroken. This was also before crating was very popular. This was actually when most people just left their dogs outside. Ha. So we just left him to wander about the house. It's amazing we didn't have more trouble with him.
I would say confine your baby near your bed (crate maybe?) at night and walk her frequently. You'll muddle your way through it even though it seems very hard now. Good luck!

Ah, the joys of puppy rearing!  Why aren't you using a crate?  It would make your life a lot easier and be a good thing for your dog's future, too.  My girls do agility and obedience and it is very important that they are happy in a crate. 

When Trudy was a puppy, we decided to crate train her.  We would carry her crate from the 3 seasons room to our bed room every night and back again in the morning.  When I didn't want her to be in the crate and I was busy and couldn't keep an eagle eye on her, I would tie a line from her collar to my belt loop.  I took her out about every two hours on a long line to the same place in the yard.  This way, she had very few "accidents" in the house. If was pretty much a positive experience for her and she was pretty much house broken by the time she was 6 months old. 

Really, though, I can't say it enough.  Crate training is the way to go.  Your pup is going to have to be groomed occasionally, and getting her use to the crate will make it a lot less traumatic.   Also, if she has to spend any time at the doctors or if she is being boarded, she won't be traumatized by a crate. 

Also, at 4 months, it would be an excellent idea to find a puppy class for her as soon as possible.  The more experience she gets with other people, other places and other dogs, at this age, the better.  Start teaching her "come" and "sit" and ....really anything, so you start roadways in her brain so that she knows how to learn.  They are like little sponges at this age.  Adolescence (6 months to 18 months) will be alot easier to cope with if you have started to teach her some basic commands and she knows the rules of your household. 

Remember, it takes time and patience.  Be tolerant and keep it happy.

I have a Cairn Terrier, and they're even closer to the Westie than the Yorkie is, so I would know that they're good pets!

[linkhttp://dogbreedinfo.com/westhighland.htm]Here is some info on Westies.[/link]

[linkhttp://dogbreedinfo.com/yorkshireterrier.htm]Here is some info on the Yorkshire Terrier.[/link]

TO: diane303

What is the difference between crate and the playpen? i currently don't have a crate... i'm thinking this is the box/cage right? i feel bad about having to put her there. would it be less effective if i put her in a pen?

actually that's what i did last night. but she is such an escape artist! she whined a little when i left her. i waited for her to quiet down. but 2 hours later i could still hear her whimpering. so i went to her and fed her some treats and tried to soothe her.

she calmed down so i left her for the night (needless to say i am like a zombie at work). but when i woke up in the morning, she has shredded all the papers in the pen and has escaped and left a "surprise" for me on the floor (poop!).

i think the idea of letting her out into the yard every hour or so is a good idea. there's someone else in the house who's there all the time so i think this may be a good way for her to get used to eliminating outdoors. my concern now is during the night when we're sleeping...

this is my first time after a long time to be taking of a puppy. i really didn't expect it to be like this. it's hard work i know and requires a lot of patience, it feels like i'm taking care of a baby! []

Dogs, generally, will not potty in a crate unless they were forced to stay in a crate all the time, i.e., a pet shop or puppy mill situation.  They are naturally clean and prefer to potty away from where they eat and sleep.  This is the whole point of crate training. It really has to be small enough to be just a little den for her.  She should be able to stand up, lay down and turn around and no room for anything else.  You can buy a larger crate that will accommodate her when she is older and barracade it off with a box. 

An X-pen is too big (can poop in one corner and sleep in the other) and too easy to escape from.  It's not easy to move, if you want your pup to sleep in your room.

Even when we trusted Trudy to sleep out of the crate at night (about 8 months), she would go into her crate with the door open and sleep there.  Now she sleeps in her bed next to the door and Grace sleeps in HER bed next to the window in our bedroom. 

Instead of paper, you can put towels that can be easily washed (remember that she will probably not go to the potty in the crate).  You can put kongs and chewy toys. No water, though.  As she gets trustworthy, she can be trusted out of the crate at night.  Yes she was wimpering because she is being confined.  Start by putting her in her crate for short periods of time, while you are there, and make it really positive by treating her praising her.  Then leave for a couple of minutes and treat and praise her when you return.  Increase time until she equates the crate will good things.   Also, if you take it in your room at night, she will be able to see you and realize that her crate is her special place. []

Honestly, get a crate, it works so much better, and remember it will serve her well when she gets older. Remember that when she has to be groomed or boarded, she will have to be in a crate.  []

There are a lot of good books on puppy rearing.  The puppie training section of this forum is a good source of information, too.  []

thank you so much. i asked around yesterday and crate training seems to be the way to go... will purchase one this weekend. thank you for all your help!!! i appreciate it a lot.

I'm sure you will do fine.  Keep us updated, OK?  ....and lots of pix, too.  Westies are such cute pups.