Adopting a Yorkie (Yorkshire Terrier) in Glasgow: rescues and costs

The count beside the short answer is live. It gathers every Yorkie and Yorkie cross listed with us in Glasgow and up to about 41 miles out, each linked to its rescue. A zero is the usual reading rather than a fault: small dogs rarely stay listed long, and none of the dog rescues we list is in the city itself. For other small breeds and crosses within reach, see our Glasgow small dogs page.

Not one with its own website that we could verify, in Scotland or anywhere else in the UK. The nearest thing is a contact: The Scottish Kennel Club, Scotland's kennel club, keeps a list of breed rescue contacts, and one entry is the Yorkshire Terrier Club of Scotland's rescue, marked as national. The list carries no date, so treat it as a lead to check rather than a promise of a dog.

A breed club contact often puts you in touch with an owner rather than a rescue. If that happens, meet the dog where it lives, pay nothing until you have, and ask to see its microchip record so the keeper details can move into your name. Searches also throw up American Yorkie rescues, and English rescues named after the county of Yorkshire, which take every breed.

A rescue fee buys more than the dog. Saving and Rehoming Strays says its £500 donation goes towards neutering, other vet bills, food and microchipping, and, further afield, Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home sends every animal home with a month of pet insurance. Its £150 fee for a dog over 9 is worth knowing, because Yorkies are long-lived.

Buying adds its own bills: Scottish law means the breeder must chip the puppy before it leaves, but neutering and the second round of vaccinations are yours to pay, on top of the £400 to £3,000 Blue Cross quotes. Size is the other unknown with a puppy. Royal Veterinary College researchers found UK pet Yorkies weigh 5.06 kg on average, against a 3.2 kg ceiling for the pedigree.

The Royal Veterinary College's review of UK vet records came out well for the breed overall, describing Yorkies as largely healthy and long-lived. Gum disease is the exception: a 2025 VetCompass study recorded periodontal disease in 21.10% of the Yorkies it followed, more than three times the next most common problem. Breeders have no health tests to show you, because The Royal Kennel Club recommends none for the breed at present.

• Teeth. Ask whether the dog has lost any teeth to extractions and when it last had a dental check, then plan on brushing at home. PDSA lists dental problems for the breed.
• Kneecaps and windpipe. A kneecap that slips out of place (luxating patella) and a windpipe that weakens and narrows (tracheal collapse) are both on PDSA's list, as are bladder stones. PDSA also points to fragile bones as the reason Yorkies are better with older children.
• Eyes and liver. PDSA's list goes on to progressive retinal atrophy, lens luxation, dry eye and portosystemic shunt, a fault in the blood vessels that lets blood bypass the liver.

Floor space is rarely the problem. The Royal Kennel Club marks a flat as suitable and puts exercise at up to half an hour a day, while PDSA suggests 30 to 40 minutes that include a chance to run and play fetch. Stairs in a close are worth thinking about for an older dog with knee trouble, so ask the rescue how the dog copes with them.

Expect to brush every day: The Royal Kennel Club lists daily grooming for the long coat, which doesn't shed. Time alone matters more than size, so read each rescue's limits first; at Saving and Rehoming Strays it is 4 or 5 hours.

Rescue Yorkies are adopted, not sold. A rescue matches the dog to your home after a check, and what you pay is a fee or donation that goes back into caring for its dogs. Yorkie puppies almost never reach rescue, so an adult is the realistic route. Today's near-Glasgow listings, if there are any, sit on our Glasgow Yorkie page.

Buying instead? Dogs Trust suggests booking a vet's pre-purchase consultation to talk through likely health problems and costs, and The Royal Kennel Club's "Find a puppy" search is one place to start. Insist on seeing the puppy with its mother at the breeder's home. If a seller wants money first, remember that Police Scotland advises avoiding paying for anything you haven't seen; it also takes fraud reports.