I hope I am not being too discouraging, because I really so love my dog I can’t imagine having any other kind than a Yorkie, but I want to make sure I give you all the negative sides too.
Threats to Small Animals
I would never leave my Yorkie unattended outdoors, whether inside or outside of a fence or other enclosure. I recently moved to rural North Carolina after many years in a relatively large city, Virginia Beach, and I cannot believe the variety of wildlife here. I enjoy all of these wooded areas and sunshine, I delight in it, but I wouldn’t leave my dog outside alone in it.
Last Sunday morning when Mason and I were out walking, a coyote streaked across the road in front of us, not directly in front of us, but maybe 200 yards, which was close enough. I couldn’t believe the first live coyote I’d ever see would be at 8:15 in the morning, in broad delight! I’d been told they are night predators that sneak in and kill chickens and ducks and whatever helpless creatures they can get their paws on. This one was lean and therefore looked hungry, but he didn’t stop to chat, for which I was thankful! He just tore out across a field that lay between one forest and another! I have no doubt that if little Mason had been out walking alone, that coyote would have snatched him right up.
I have actually heard stories around the neighborhood of small dogs that disappeared, leaving behind a bloody rope, when their owners have been foolish enough to leave them outside to guard the house all night! Who’s guarding the dog in such a situation?
And this morning Mason and I passed a fox squashed by a car when it was making its way across the road not a half mile from my house. I see blue Herons, woodpeckers, families of deer grazing in fields, and other wildlife that I enjoy, but I have to be careful.
I have been told that large predatory birds such as hawks and eagles will carry off a Yorkie or other small dog so he can have it for lunch, and I believe it. If those birds eat chickens and squirrels, what’s to distinguish one small animal from another? They’re not going to say, “Whoa, I can’t eat somebody’s pet!”
Dog Nappers
Inside major cities, your Yorkie might face other dangers, human ones, outdoors. The Yorkshire Terrier is currently one of the most popular dog breeds in the United States, and as such, is also often very expensive. I wouldn’t put it past someone to steal my little dog to make it their own! People steal less expensive items all the time, and they’ll steal a loving little dog.
I met a lady when I was visiting my daughter in Orlando last month who told me about a friend who always kept a close eye on her Yorkie, but the dog hated vacuum cleaner noise, so one day, she put her outside in her yard’s fenced area. She quickly vacuumed her great room and ran outside to get her dog back in, but she was gone! Only eight minutes had passed! She never saw the dog again and has no idea whether someone stole it or some animal got it.