Wendi's Woof

Welcoming a baby into a home with a Yorkie is exciting, but it is also a big change for the dog. Even a very social Yorkie may need time to adjust to new sounds, routines, and a household that suddenly feels noisier, busier, and far less predictable.

Start with practical safeguards: keep the dog’s routines steady, give both dog and baby protected spaces, and never leave them alone together. Being in the same room while distracted is not active supervision; use secure physical separation whenever your attention is elsewhere.

A Yorkie is tiny, but they are not a toy, and they are not a dog who should be greeted like a stuffed animal. The safest dog-child interactions are calm, predictable, and guided by adults. If children learn a few simple rules early, the dog is far less likely to feel trapped, overwhelmed, or cornered.

The goal is not to make the dog “like kids.” The goal is to help children understand that dogs need consent, space, and a chance to opt out.

You sit down with a cup of tea. Your dog starts looking for the next activity. A familiar mat can give you a place to practise quiet time together, but relaxing is more than holding a perfect “down.” Start when the room, and your dog, are already fairly settled.

Some dog tricks need a whole obstacle course. This one starts with an empty hand. “Touch” means a gentle nose tap against your palm: a small shared game you can practise in the kitchen before the kettle boils.

A wet afternoon does not have to mean another hour of throwing a ball down the hallway. Turn a little of your dog's usual food into a search, and let their nose choose the pace. Wendi would like to point out that finding dinner is a very serious occupation.

The first five minutes between two dogs don't decide whether they'll be friends, but they do set the tone. A calm, planned introduction gives both dogs the best chance of settling in. A rushed one, with both dogs on a cramped doorstep and a hopeful owner saying "they'll work it out," is how a lot of lasting grudges begin.

This guide walks through the whole process: preparing your home, the first meeting, the first weeks, and the signs that mean you should ask for professional help.

Your neighbour mentions that your dog howled for an hour after you left. You come home to scratched doors, a chewed cushion, or a puddle by the exit. It's tempting to read this as spite, but dogs don't plan revenge. What you're seeing is almost always distress.

Separation anxiety is one of the most common behaviour problems in dogs, and it is treatable. This guide explains how to recognise it, what to avoid, and how to build up your dog's confidence gradually.

Yorkies can be lovely family pets, but the answer is rarely as simple as “yes” or “no.” In the right home, a Yorkie can be affectionate, playful, and deeply bonded to the people around them. In the wrong setup, their small size, sensitive nature, and need for calm can make life feel stressful for both the dog and the child.

The key is not whether Yorkies are “good with kids” in general, but whether the individual dog, the child, and the adults in the home are set up for success. Gentle handling, adult supervision, and a place for the dog to retreat are essential.

Early experiences can influence how a puppy responds to the world. Socialisation means introducing people, animals, sounds, and places gradually and positively. It can support confidence, but temperament and later experiences matter too; a fearful dog is not evidence of an owner's failure.

This guide explains the timing, gives you a checklist, and covers how to do it safely while vaccinations are still in progress.

Occasional paw licking after a walk may be grooming. Repeated licking, especially of one paw, can point to irritation, injury, pain, or stress. Check gently and seek veterinary advice if it persists or the paw looks sore.

The difference is time, redness, and whether she can stop. Occasional is grooming. Nightly, raw, and focused is a case.

Yorkshire Terriers often live into their teens, though lifespan varies between individuals. Genetics, illness, access to care, and everyday habits all play a part. A shorter life does not by itself mean an owner did something wrong.

Small dogs as a group outlive large ones. Yorkies are not immortal. They are a long project with a short fuse and a long list of tiny-body problems. The number on a breed page is an average, not a promise.

Yes. Dogs sleep in cycles, including a REM stage that looks a lot like ours: the eyes move, the body goes slack, and the brain is busy. The tiny woof, the running legs, and the face that is chasing something in a room you cannot see are the usual evidence.

You do not need to know the plot. You do need to know when the twitching is sleep and when it is not.

Most pet poisonings happen at home, and most involve ordinary things: a bar of chocolate left on a table, a packet of sugar-free gum in a handbag, a bunch of lilies on the sideboard. The good news is that nearly all of them are preventable once you know what to look for.

This guide covers the most common household toxins for dogs and cats, the signs of poisoning, and exactly what to do if you suspect your pet has eaten something harmful.

A hug is a human sentence. Arms close, chests meet, the world gets briefly smaller on purpose. Dogs did not invent that sentence. They invented sitting nearby, leaning, following you into rooms that do not require a second mammal, and putting a chin on your knee as if the knee had been vacant all morning.

Some dogs learn that your hug is safe and even pleasant. Many more tolerate it because they like you, which is not the same as enjoying the squeeze. The honest answer is: she understands that you are doing a people thing. Whether she files it under affection depends on the rest of her body.

A paw on your knee is easy to read as love. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it is a receipt for the last time you paid attention when she tapped you. Dogs are not being cynical. They are being accurate. Behaviours that work come back.

The paw itself is not a personality. The rest of the dog is: the eyes, the tail, whether she can take the paw back, and what usually happens next.

Yes, most dogs can eat a little plain peanut butter. The word that matters is plain. The jar that helps a pill go down and the jar that sends you to an emergency clinic can sit on the same shelf and look like cousins.

Peanut butter is popular because it smells like a project. Dogs will work at a stuffed toy for a long time if the payoff is that smell. That is useful. It is also how a toxic sweetener gets eaten in one sitting if you did not read the back.

Most dogs would rather skip the nail trim, and plenty of owners feel the same way. The fear of hitting the quick is real. But nails that grow too long are uncomfortable and can lead to splayed toes, slipping and painful joints, so regular trims are a basic part of care.

This guide shows you how to do it calmly and safely, and how to help a dog who dislikes having their paws touched.

The evening was quiet. Then the dog became a comet. Sofa, hall, sofa, a skid on the rug, and a look of pure private success. Owners call them zoomies. Behaviour people call them frenetic random activity periods, which is accurate and much less fun to say at the park.

Most zoomies are a dog spending energy she did not use earlier. A few are a dog who cannot stop, and those are the ones worth taking seriously.

The bird is on the feeder. The cat is on the windowsill, jaw working, making a sound that is not a meow and not a purr. It is a rapid clicking sound accompanied by excitement, and she will do it again the moment a pigeon has the nerve to land.

Chattering is hunting with the ending removed. The glass, or the decision that she lives indoors, took the pounce away and left the mouth.

A Beagle looks like the dog on a greeting card: long ears, sad-happy eyes, a size that fits in a car. Under the card is a hound bred to follow a scent for miles and to tell the hunter, loudly, when the scent is worth following. People meet the face. The nose, the bay, and the open gate arrive later.

They are affectionate, sturdy, and funny. They are a poor choice if the plan was a dog who comes back when called and keeps his thoughts to himself.

The door was almost shut. Then a nose arrived, then a whole dog, then a sigh, as if the two of you had an appointment. You did not. She did. Bathroom company is one of the most reliable habits in a dog house, and it is rarely about the bathroom.

She is following the person. The smallest room in the house is just where you finally stopped moving.