Are Yorkies Good Family Dogs?
Yorkies good family dogs? Sometimes an excellent choice, sometimes the wrong one entirely. The honest answer depends almost completely on the age of your children and how many hours the house is empty.
We turn down homes for this breed more often than for any other reason. Not because the families are unsuitable, but because a Yorkie specifically is not what they need.
Are Yorkies good family dogs? The short answer, by household
Whether Yorkies are good family dogs depends almost entirely on the household, not the breed.
| Your household | Good fit? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Children aged 8+ | Excellent | Old enough to handle a small dog properly. Yorkies are playful and enjoy the attention. |
| Children aged 5–7 | Workable with supervision | Needs house rules and consistent adult oversight. No picking the dog up unsupervised. |
| Toddlers under 5 | We advise against it | A dropped Yorkie breaks bones. This is the most common reason we decline a home. |
| Couple or single, home most days | Ideal | Exactly what the breed was shaped for. Deeply attached, wants to be near you. |
| Apartment, any size | Excellent | Small, adaptable, exercise needs met with two short walks. |
| Empty 9–10 hours daily | Poor fit | Separation anxiety is the breed’s biggest behavioural weakness. Consider a cat or a more independent breed. |
| First-time dog owner | Yes, with reading | Manageable size, but house-training a toy breed takes real patience. |
| Older or retired owner | Excellent | Light to lift, low exercise demand, strong companionship. Plan for grooming access. |
What makes Yorkies good family dogs
The case that Yorkies are good family dogs rests on four things.
- Companionship. They bond hard and follow you room to room.
- Small-space living. Apartments and condos suit them.
- Low shedding. Hair rather than fur, so often tolerable for mild allergy sufferers — though no dog is truly hypoallergenic.
- Alertness. They will tell you someone is at the door.
- Travel. They fit under an aeroplane seat and adapt well to going places with you.
- Longevity. 12–16 years is common.
- Intelligence. Genuinely quick to learn when the training is consistent.
Where Yorkies are difficult family dogs
Anyone claiming Yorkies are good family dogs for everyone is selling you something.
- Barking. Terrier alertness plus a small body equals a vocal dog. Trainable, but it takes work from week one.
- House-training. Small bladders, and rain is genuinely unpleasant when you are seven inches tall. Expect three to six months.
- Separation anxiety. The single most common problem we hear about.
- Grooming. Professional attention every 6–8 weeks for life, plus brushing at home.
- Fragility. Not a dog for rough play.
- Dental disease. Toy breeds need teeth brushed. Most owners discover this too late.
- Small-dog syndrome. They will pick fights with dogs ten times their size if you let them.
Yorkies weigh four to seven pounds. A three-year-old cannot reliably judge how much pressure is safe, and a fall from chest height can fracture a leg. It is also unfair on the dog, who has nowhere to escape to. If you have children under five and you want a small dog, look at a sturdier breed — a Cavalier, a Beagle or a Cocker Spaniel. We would rather lose the sale than place a puppy into a household where it will be injured. The AVMA’s guidance on preventing dog bites makes the same point from the other direction: most incidents involving children are preventable, and supervision is the single biggest factor.
House rules that make it work with children
These rules are what make Yorkies good family dogs in a house with children.
- The dog is only picked up sitting down on the floor. No carrying while walking.
- The crate is the dog’s room. Nobody reaches into it, ever.
- No disturbing the dog while eating or sleeping.
- Children help with feeding and training — involvement builds gentleness.
- Adults supervise every interaction under age eight.
- Teach the children to read the dog: lip-licking, turning away and a tucked tail all mean stop.
Questions about whether Yorkies are good family dogs
Are Yorkies good family dogs alongside other dogs?
Generally yes if socialised early, but they have no sense of their own size and will confront much larger dogs. Supervise interactions at the dog park — the risk is usually to your Yorkie, not from it.
Are Yorkies good with cats?
Often very good, particularly when raised together. The terrier prey drive is real but mostly directed at smaller animals. Introduce slowly.
Do Yorkies bark too much to be good family dogs?
They are alert and vocal by nature. With consistent training from the first week it is entirely manageable. Without it, yes, a lot. Be honest with yourself about whether you will do the training.
How much exercise does a Yorkie need?
Two short walks a day plus indoor play. Roughly 30 minutes total. They are adaptable — happy to do more, fine with less on a bad-weather day.
Are Yorkies good family dogs if the house is empty all day?
Four to six hours is usually manageable for an adult dog with enrichment. Nine or ten hours daily is not fair on this breed. If that is your situation, we would honestly suggest a different one.
Not sure a Yorkie suits your home?
If you are still weighing whether Yorkies good family dogs describes your household, tell us about it and we will say honestly.
Tell us about your household and we will give you a straight answer — including if the answer is that this is not the right breed for you. Jinez was raised around children and everyday household noise, if that is what your house sounds like.