Yorkie dogs, in spite of what many people may think given their miniature size, are high maintenance canines.  The Yorkshire terrier breed, like all terriers, are dogs with highly developed hunting instincts, and Yorkies do not lose the desire to go after and kill any kind of burrowing animal simply because they are now the most popular of apartment dwelling dogs in the US. 

Yorkies dogs, to put it simply, are high-octane, high-spirited pets, full of mischief and energy, and will make delightful additions to homes where they are properly trained and given plenty of firm loving attention.  But Yorkshire terriers will also run roughshod over any owners who are susceptible to spoiling them because of their small stature and irresistibly cute expressions.

Because of their small size, and also because Yorkies require owners dedicated to training them properly, the best Yorkie breeders are very careful about choosing the families to which they will sell their puppies.  Some Yorkie breeders will hesitate to put dogs in homes with small children, simply because very young children may not realize that such a tiny dog is not a toy.

Then there is the matter of correctly training a Yorkie.  Even (or perhaps especially) in childless households, Yorkshire dogs can be challenges to train because their owners may feel awkward having to discipline such cute and seemingly defenseless creatures.  It is, in fact, far easier to spoil than to train a Yorkie, but  if you don’t, you’ll have an adult Yorkie who is still not housebroken and who jumps on people or furniture, demands scraps from the dinner table, and generally rules the roost.

Grooming Yorkshire dogs is another issue.  While Yorkies don’t have undercoats, so don’t shed in the traditional sense, they do have long silky hair which will trail to the ground and needs to be brushed daily to keep it from getting impossibly tangled.  While you may have seen what you thought was a short hair Yorkie, you were actually looking at a standard Yorkie with a haircut.