Good with Children

[DoggieLover]

Are Yorkshire Terriers good with children or strangers?

[MrsCheeks]

hmmmm well I suppose they can be BUT my uncle had one and it hated me with a vengeance lol. She would growl at me whenever we visited and didnt like it when i growled back at her ... methinks provoking the little rat was not a good idea! Experience over the years has shown me that the smaller of the dog world - like yorkies and jack russells - are not terribly nice with children or strangers for some reason. Perhaps its intimidation cos even a toddler is massive to them. Its always best to make sure they know their place in the "pack" and train them AND the humans accordingly. Best of luck. xx

[Philtaz]

In my experience, neither! They all appear to be yappy, snappy little long haired rats!

[Another Dave]

Yorkshire terriers are difficult to persuade. They require a lot of work and can be very stressful to train if children are around a lot of the time. (Lots of 'no!' can upset the kids.) That's why the stereotyped Yorkie owner is the little old woman :)

[PurplePixie]

Yep, I agree with what's been said. I think a lot of the trouble with the little breeds is lack of training...and their owners forgetting that they are still (distantly!) related to wolves. I have found (and not wishing to sound like I hate small dogs cos I don't) that owners of small dogs tend to treat them like toys & little people, & forget that they need to be treated like dogs. Small breeds are often pampered into believing that they are very high in the pack & therefore under pressure, they might snap or if accidently trodden on by a child, might react by snapping rather than backing off because they believe that they are higher in rank than a child. Any dog can be a liability if they are not trained correctly, so a well trained Yorkshire terrier could be excellant with children & strangers or absolutely hopeless depending on its owners & how they handle it.

[FP]

Any dog is only as good as its owner - small or large. My Yorkie is not snappy at all and neither am I!

[andrewlee]

No

[Ray the DJ]

I had 2 yorkies and they were great with anyone. However my friends yorkie will bite your hand off if you try to stroke him. They all have individual temperaments.