We all know that puppies are cute with their big imploring eyes & their gorgeous pink tummies, but Yorkshire Terrier puppies seem to have that “extra something.”

It is probably because they are so small, I know most puppies are small but Yorkshire Terriers just seem much more vulnerable than most puppies.

When selecting a puppy there are certain points you should look for, try to look past how cute the puppy is & check to ensure he/she is healthy. The coat is the first thing you should observe, it should feel very soft & have no obvious kinks in it & the hair should be straight.

Puppies’ coats will have more black in them than adult coats & their coat will appear decidedly darker, this is perfectly normal & as the puppy matures the darker colour will go. Adult coats are naturally darker at the roots.

The eyes of the puppy should be bright & twinkling with no obvious signs of any discharge at all & the nose should be cold & slightly damp. The ears of a Yorkshire Terrier puppy are small & “V” shaped they should stand erect & not be too far apart from each other.

The puppy’s body should be compact with a level back. Ensure the puppy’s legs look correctly formed.

One important point is to make sure that you can view the parent dogs, the Dam & the Sire, as this will offer you an indication of your puppy’s appearance when it is fully grown.

You can purchase Yorkshire Terrier puppies from a specialised breeder, this is a good option if you wish to own a pedigree dog, or privately from a newspaper advert, you may not be purchasing a dog from pedigree stock this way though & you must check first.

The big advantage with buying privately is that most of the puppies are being raised in a family environment & therefore growing up around children, this is always a huge benefit.

There are also rescue centres especially for Yorkshire Terriers & many of these receive pregnant bitches, these remain in care until the litter is born & then the puppies & mum are re-homed.

So there are plenty of options available & it really depends which route you wish to follow.

If you are raising a litter of Yorkshire Terrier puppies yourself you’ll need to be aware of certain issues.

The weights of puppies can vary obviously as not all are born exactly the same size, ideally at birth you are looking for a weight range from 2.5 oz’s – 5.5 oz’s, then at one week old the ideal weight should be from 4.5 oz’s – 9.5 oz’s. Two weeks old 6 oz’s – 13.5 oz’s & so on.

When it comes to weaning you should introduce your puppies to pureed food when they are approximately 3 weeks old, the best time to do this is when they are naturally hungry. Most will take to this new experience well & for those who do not pop a little bit of the food onto their nose, they will lick it off & adapt to the flavour.

By the age of about 4 – 6 weeks the dam will commence weaning the puppies herself & they will soon begin to actually prefer the taste of solid food.

When you purchase your puppy you need to find out what they have been consuming & ask the seller to let you have some of this particular food. You then need to keep your puppy on this diet for at least the first week with you as if you alter their food to suddenly it will upset their tummies.

Gradually introduce them to a new food by adding a small portion in with their other food & very slowly increase the amount of the new food.

A recommended food is Royal Canine Puppy and Natural Balance all life stages dry food, your puppy will receive all the vitamins & mineral that they require from this food. Do not be tempted to feed too many treats or human food as you could inadvertently develop a fussy eater!