How much work
does a Yorkie
really save?

The full narration of the video.

With a Yorkie, you save time on walks, and spend it on brushing teeth. Office workers pick it for being tiny and easy. So let's do the math over one workday.

Morning, before work: a quick walk. The breed standard caps a Yorkie at three point two kilos, lighter than a watermelon. It doesn't need much running. One small loop downstairs is enough, and you still make your train.

It eats little, poops little, and fits a small flat just fine. Those savings are real. But owning one is a bit like buying a small printer.

The machine is small, takes no space, and is easy to carry. What keeps costing you is the ink. A Yorkie's ink cartridges are its hair and its teeth.

It barely sheds. No clumps of dog hair on your sofa. That's because its coat is more like your own hair: it doesn't fall out, it just keeps growing. Keep it long, and you brush it every day, or it tangles.

A short trim helps, but it still needs a haircut every four to six weeks. Now the teeth. Vets went through thousands of Yorkie records. The number one problem was gum disease, about one dog in five.

Its mouth is small, the teeth are crowded, and food gets stuck in the gaps. What does gum disease look like? Red gums around the teeth, a brown crust of tartar, and bad breath. So vets suggest brushing its teeth once a day.

The printer is its tiny body; the ink is hair and teeth. The machine saves space, the supplies get used every day. During the day, with work and commute, you're gone for ten hours. A printer can sit alone all day. A dog can't.

Animal welfare groups advise not leaving a dog alone for more than four hours at a time. And Yorkies are clingy. Left too long, they bark and chew things up. This cost isn't money. It's company.

Evening, back home: brush the hair, brush the teeth, then play for a while. Add up the day: what you save is effort and space. What you add is a few small chores every day, and someone to check on it at midday.

Yorkies live past thirteen, so this bill runs for over a decade. Thinking of getting one? Tonight, time yourself: could you fit in brushing hair and teeth every day? After work each day, how many minutes could you give a dog?