Getting Yorkie puppy. One or two?

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Hi everyone… I lost my 17-year-old yorkie over a year ago and was thinking I might not get another dog as I’ve had one all my life. Well it’s been pretty easy and I’ve been able to travel but I’m finding that I need a dog in my life. I’m retiring this year so I’ll have a lot of time to be home, particularly now with the coronavirus.
There’s a breeder in my city that just listed a litter for sale. There are four females and one male. The male is the runt of the litter. I was thinking it might be fun to have two dogs at the same time. I’ve never had two dogs. I was thinking of getting the male and the female. I’m concerned I might be overloaded with that and I was hoping you guys could tell me your experience with having two puppies the same age from the same litter at the same time.

My question is, will they bond together and not so much to me? Will it be harder to train them because they’ll be distracted with each other? And also do runts eventually get as big as the others in the litter?
Thank you for any advice or information. ❤️

 

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Also, I travel to another state about 4 times a year. Can you put two Yorkies 7lb each in one carry-on? My former Yorky traveled very easily but I wonder how difficult it would be to travel with two.

 

[RT1]

Hi everyone… I lost my 17-year-old yorkie over a year ago and was thinking I might not get another dog as I’ve had one all my life. Well it’s been pretty easy and I’ve been able to travel but I’m finding that I need a dog in my life. I’m retiring this year so I’ll have a lot of time to be home, particularly now with the coronavirus.
There’s a breeder in my city that just listed a litter for sale. There are four females and one male. The male is the runt of the litter. I was thinking it might be fun to have two dogs at the same time. I’ve never had two dogs. I was thinking of getting the male and the female. I’m concerned I might be overloaded with that and I was hoping you guys could tell me your experience with having two puppies the same age from the same litter at the same time.

My question is, will they bond together and not so much to me? Will it be harder to train them because they’ll be distracted with each other? And also do runts eventually get as big as the others in the litter?
Thank you for any advice or information. ❤️

Get two is my opinion.

Twice the fun and they will bond immediately.
And, they will both love you equally.
When I was a youngster, my family had four dogs from the same litter and they all got along splendidly.

If you get the female, please have her spayed to prevent an unwanted litter of your own and also to remove her chances of ever having breast cancer.
I lost a female dachshund that was only 9 years old to breast cancer and the vet said that spaying the dog removes almost all chances of this happening.

The male will probably grow to size since male dogs are generally larger than females.
Just because he is the runt of the litter does not mean anything.

 

[Irishgal]

Two puppies is a lot of work and they will tend to bond with each other.
The biggest issue with getting a puppy now is you won’t be able to attend puppy socialization classes or in person puppy training classes which IMO are critical. You can take online classes but the in person socialization won’t be possible until things get back to normal.

Also before you spay or neuter at a young age please look at the recent, peer reviewed veterinary research about why doing so before the bone plates have closed is NOT a good idea.

 

[Grande Latte]

Get two. Most definitely. Their special bond from birth is amazing to watch.
Trust me, they'll both love you too. You'll be like their dad/ mom figure. They will listen, care for you, and make you laugh like no others.

Think about it, if you ever need to get out of town, or travel a little bit. They already have their siblings to be with, so when you ask for a sitter, or put them up in a pet hotel, it won't be too traumatizing for them.

This is the perfect time. It's meant to be. Please share pics of your new babies as soon as they arrive. Congratulations!!!

 

[baghagg]

I have owned one dog at a time, and I've also had two dogs at once. I can honestly say the two dogs seemed very content to have each other. They were not acquired together as their ages were 4 years apart, but they spent 10 years together before one had to (heartbreakingly) be put down. They were truly like brothers.I never traveled with them by air, so I can't speak to that aspect.
Currently I have only one, and I wanted another to keep her company like my last two had each other, but DH was not on board. My current canine baby has cancer, so it's been incredibly sad for her, although she's managing well. I can honestly say I will probably not have any more after this one, as it has become a very heartbreaking (and expensive) journey. Good luck deciding.

 

[VigeeLeBrun]

OMG, the one decision that I regret, sadly still, after ten years is after locating the top championship Birman cat breeder and going out to the farm to pick up my new little Coco Chanel, that I did NOT buy her sister to join her in our home!!!
Have already reached out to the breeder ~ whom will retire soon to secure another one or two of her kittens from her last litter
Definitely, go for another pet, you will not regret it!

 

[maxxout]

Get two is my opinion.

Twice the fun and they will bond immediately.
And, they will both love you equally.
When I was a youngster, my family had four dogs from the same litter and they all got along splendidly.

If you get the female, please have her spayed to prevent an unwanted litter of your own and also to remove her chances of ever having breast cancer.
I lost a female dachshund that was only 9 years old to breast cancer and the vet said that spaying the dog removes almost all chances of this happening.

The male will probably grow to size since male dogs are generally larger than females.
Just because he is the runt of the litter does not mean anything.

Thank you for your response! I will definitely get both “fixed”. I don’t want to breed and yes, it’s better for their health. And thanks for the runt information. I read that and you confirmed.

 

[maxxout]

Two puppies is a lot of work and they will tend to bond with each other.
The biggest issue with getting a puppy now is you won’t be able to attend puppy socialization classes or in person puppy training classes which IMO are critical. You can take online classes but the in person socialization won’t be possible until things get back to normal.

Also before you spay or neuter at a young age please look at the recent, peer reviewed veterinary research about why doing so before the bone plates have closed is NOT a good idea.

Thanks for this comment. I will definitely research the ideal time to spay or neuter. I’m a U professor and I like to research. It is so true that’s it’s a difficult time for any activity outside of the home, but I’ve always trained my dogs. I’m just concerned if I can train two at one time! Having two would take care of the socialization but maybe make training more difficult. ?

 

[maxxout]

Get two. Most definitely. Their special bond from birth is amazing to watch.
Trust me, they'll both love you too. You'll be like their dad/ mom figure. They will listen, care for you, and make you laugh like no others.

Think about it, if you ever need to get out of town, or travel a little bit. They already have their siblings to be with, so when you ask for a sitter, or put them up in a pet hotel, it won't be too traumatizing for them.

This is the perfect time. It's meant to be. Please share pics of your new babies as soon as they arrive. Congratulations!!!

Thanks! Great points. Do you have two now?

 

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I have owned one dog at a time, and I've also had two dogs at once. I can honestly say the two dogs seemed very content to have each other. They were not acquired together as their ages were 4 years apart, but they spent 10 years together before one had to (heartbreakingly) be put down. They were truly like brothers.I never traveled with them by air, so I can't speak to that aspect.
Currently I have only one, and I wanted another to keep her company like my last two had each other, but DH was not on board. My current canine baby has cancer, so it's been incredibly sad for her, although she's managing well. I can honestly say I will probably not have any more after this one, as it has become a very heartbreaking (and expensive) journey. Good luck deciding.

So sorry to hear about your beloved baby. My yorkie lived for 17 years and the last year she was not herself. She wasn’t diagnosed with anything she was just really old and I think she just finally wore out. She was peeing everywhere and it was quite stressful the last four months. I could hardly get her to eat. I tried everything. After all that I decided I wouldn’t get a dog again because like you I didn’t want to go through this pain. But here I am...getting back in.

 

[Irishgal]

You will have to train them apart, at least at times. Since I assume you crate train one can chill in their crate while the other one gets some training time. You can also do some things together.

Glad to hear you appreciate data driven information as much as I do!

As soon as you can get out it will still be good to socialize with other puppies so that they feel confident around others dogs.

 

[maxxout]

OMG, the one decision that I regret, sadly still, after ten years is after locating the top championship Birman cat breeder and going out to the farm to pick up my new little Coco Chanel, that I did NOT buy her sister to join her in our home!!!
Have already reached out to the breeder ~ whom will retire soon to secure another one or two of her kittens from her last litter
Definitely, go for another pet, you will not regret it!

Yes, regret is hard. I hope you get another from the breeder. This is good for me to hear. Thank you.

 

[Irishgal]

So sorry to hear about your beloved baby. My yorkie lived for 17 years and the last year she was not herself. She wasn’t diagnosed with anything she was just really old and I think she just finally wore out. She was peeing everywhere and it was quite stressful the last four months. I could hardly get her to eat. I tried everything. After all that I decided I wouldn’t get a dog again because like you I didn’t want to go through this pain. But here I am...getting back in.

We all say we won’t get another. Ha. Then we do.
I have three working dachshunds. Scent work, blood tracking and earth dog and field trials.
Yorkies are fun. Originally bred as working dogs they are easy to train and have fun feisty terrier personalities.

 

[maxxout]

You will have to train them apart, at least at times. Since I assume you crate train one can chill in their crate while the other one gets some training time. You can also do some things together.

Glad to hear you appreciate data driven information as much as I do!

As soon as you can get out it will still be good to socialize with other puppies so that they feel confident around others dogs.

It helps to hear a specific about separating them for training. I can definitely do that. I have all kinds of crates. And yes, they don’t need extensive sessions....many short ones while the other looks on. Doable. Thanks!