Yorkshire Terrier puppies exercise and bone growth.
Yorkie puppies love to play. They love tearing around the house or in the garden at a great knot of speed, digging holes and generally creating chaos. Some of them will do this till they drop with exhaustion. As puppy parents we are inclined to think this is wonderful and our little darling will now sleep and we can get onto other tasks we may need to do. We all are very aware that having a puppy, and in particular a Yorkshire Terrier puppy in the home is a huge distraction. They are delightful to say the least!
Like so many things in life there is always a downside to the things we think are wonderful! Many people do not realise by allowing their puppy to tear around full speed for an extended period of time, slipping and skidding around on the vinyl or tiled floors could well be creating on-going joint health issues for their puppies that will plague them for the rest of their lives.
All puppies are born with soft flexible joints that will allow them to grow. Their bones are still forming at this young age. The joint plates are yet to connect. Because of this you need to manage your puppies exercise, running around, rough and tumble plays, digging and jumping etc. These activities can do lasting damage. For an enthusiastic Yorkie puppy this may not be easy, but it is necessary.
Our lives revolve around our Yorkshire Terriers. They are a toy breed with little bodies and very small bones and joints. We do need to control them!! Fortunately, they are a lot easier to control than a Rottweiler pup that is for sure.
As already mentioned our pups are born with soft flexible joints that allow their little bodies to grow. As they grow the joints grow and in time connect and their bones harden and get stronger. With the small breeds their joint plates close sooner than what they do in the larger breeds. That is one of the bonus’ of having a toy breed.
With the toy (or small) breeds they are closing in the 8 -12 month age range. The females are easier to tell as they say that once they have had their first heat you can be pretty safe in that their joints have now also closed or well on the way to being closed. (This applies to small breed female dogs.) The males you have to guess but as already stated with the small breeds look at the 8 -12 month age. It is different with the big breeds as it will take longer and it could well be 18 months before their joint plates close.
Your Yorkie puppy can still play and do their normal puppy activities. They need this kind of activity to learn and develop in a healthy way and they also need to wear themselves out, as much for them as for any puppy parent! But be aware that full on activity over an extended length of time can be dangerous until their growth plates have connected and their little bones have grown stronger.
Generally Vets recommend 5 mins of play for every month of life. So for one month of age, 5 minutes of play. For two months of age 10 minutes of play. For three months of age 15 minutes of play etc. This can be more than once a day but just remember not too vigorous or hard of a play time.
You may have a concern on how to limit the more vigorous play of your Yorkie pup. This can be controlled by a small pen that has a bed and a pee mat that they can use. It is also great as you know exactly where they are when they are on their ‘down time’ as puppies that are allowed to wander off and find their own places to sleep can be very hard to find. They will curl up anywhere!!!
Jumping is high risk for your puppy. NEVER let your Yorkie pup jump off anything with any height. Even jumping from a 10 cm height for a one or two month old Yorkshire Terrier puppy is too high. As they grow make sure they learn not to jump off of chairs, beds, or any furniture. Do not let them jump off your knee. Pick them up and place them gently on the floor. Lift them in and out of the car. Invest in doggie steps from the pet store or from other online NZ shopping sites to suit the height they are getting up and down from. Have several sets of stairs in the house. Have a set of stairs in the lounge and one that is a suitable height for your bed if your puppy is sleeping on the bed with you. Teach them right from the beginning not to jump as once the habit of jumping is formed it can be hard to break.
One of the problems that can develop from over exercising or over playing your puppies at a young age is luxating patella (also sometimes referred to as trick knee). This is deemed as a heath condition often associated with small breed dogs and Yorkies, Silkies and Biewers are all on that list.
Many people in the past have very quickly blamed poor breeding practises when their Yorkie puppy has been diagnosed with luxating patella. There is no denying this medical condition in fact can be hereditary and will appear in certain lines of pups if the breeding line is continued. A good breeder does their best in researching their breeding dogs lineage ensuring that they can find no trace of this condition in earlier generations. A good breeder will never breed from a line showing this condition.
What many people do not realise that this condition can also be brought on by allowing your Yorkie pup, or any pup for that matter, to over play with lots of running around on slippery floors, with jumping from any height and leaping around extensively. These activities, as previously mentioned, can damage those little joint plates that have not yet connected. We may well try and blame the breeder for this condition in our puppy but it could and can actually be our own fault!
When our pups are diagnosed with luxating patella we all can be very quick to point our finger at the breeder. The breeders do often get a ‘bad wrap’ even when they have done everything right which makes the life of a breeder very hard. But this condition can develop because we as Yorkshire Terrier parents have not limited our pups’ overzealous playtimes with all the ‘zoomies’ and jumping they so love to do. And yes, we love watching their hijinks, but we need to be mindful of our little Yorkies as they grow that this can be harmful. Do monitor their playing and remember the rule: 5 minutes for every one month of life per play session.
If you notice your Yorkie puppy limping or favouring one of their legs do get them evaluated by your Vet promptly.
