CBS news report on teacup breeding - has this ever been posted?

[yorkipower]

The Problem With Teacup Puppies
• A CBS 2 Special Report

Apr 22, 2003 11:12 pm US/Eastern
NEW YORK (CBS) They’re advertised as puppies so small they fit in a teacup and even as adults they still look like puppies.

”I fell in love with her, she quaked she was just so small’” says Melissa Weiss. But these little bundles of joy could wind up costing you a bundle. CBS 2’s Kirstin Cole has the story.

”It cost us about $38,000 over the last 2 years,” says Kim Shamsky.

Teacup is a marketing term that breeders came up with to sell the smallest dog, the runt of the litter. Sometimes they’re inbred and can look alarmingly strange, but they’re also trendy, especially for city living because they can be trained to use a litter box and don’t need exercise.

When Sophie was born she weighed just over an ounce, now six weeks later she weighs in at a half a pound, but she can never hope to be more than 3 pounds making her forever fragile.

”This is a 2½ pound Yorkshire Terrier that jumped out of the arms of the owner and when he landed he fractured his bone,” says Dr. Paul Schwartz.

Dr. Schwartz says it's delicate surgery to operate on these dogs and they can really suffer.

Melissa Weiss wanted a dog that she didn’t have to walk, but her teacup couldn't walk because the knee caps were in the wrong place, “She needed 2 surgeries and has pins, one in each of her back legs.”

Sophie has already cost her owner $7 thousand in medical bills and for the rest of her life will be on medication for digestive problems.

Even knowing that teacups are costly and riddled with problems people still want them.

”Yeah I like, the smaller the better,” says Lyn Goldstein.

The 3 pound Yorkies that CBS 2 saw have liver, eye and knee problems. They have to eat often and be carried a lot because their tiny legs can’t climb stairs or get down safely from a bed.

”So you just make a little staircase out of pillows and they just go right up on the bed and they go back down,” adds Goldstein.

Teacups can fetch up to $3,500 each. Breeder Carolyn O'Rourke believes there are a lot of chronically unhealthy teacups because unscrupulous breeders and puppy mills are inbreeding, “When they take the little teeny tiny ones and they breed 2 and a half pounders with 3 pounders they’re playing with genetics.”

CBS 2 spoke with one midwest breeder who says her dogs are artificially inseminated, delivered by c-section and then the puppies go into incubators. Jack Levine at American Kennels calls that freaky and says he would never deal with that kind of breeder.

”Some of these breeders are here one day and gone the next, then what do you do, I mean we stand behind the animals,” says Levine.

Kim Shamsky's teacup had all kinds of health problems and died just a few months ago, but she says she would do it again, “It’s your heart, money is irrelevant when it comes to that as evidenced by all the medical bills.”

[orinskye]

i was a little afraid of the little teeny yorkies ive always had golden retreivers (and a cairn terrier once when i was little) so having a yorkie is a BIG step on the smaller side for me, so.... i when i was lookign for my yorkie, i told breeders "the bigger the better"......lol........ it was a little sad to see all the teeny ones being sold for mucho bucks, and then my little toby (who should be 7-8 pounds full grown) was sooooooooooo much less, an extra couple of pounds less really makes a difference to the breeders i guess........

[yorkipower]

Originally Posted by orinskye

i was a little afraid of the little teeny yorkies ive always had golden retreivers (and a cairn terrier once when i was little) so having a yorkie is a BIG step on the smaller side for me, so.... i when i was lookign for my yorkie, i told breeders "the bigger the better"......lol........ it was a little sad to see all the teeny ones being sold for mucho bucks, and then my little toby (who should be 7-8 pounds full grown) was sooooooooooo much less, an extra couple of pounds less really makes a difference to the breeders i guess........

Not ALL breeders. In fact, for many of the "good" ones, more size is better (under seven pounds though). Show breeders don't like them any smaller than four pounds and prefer femals to be five or six pounds. We got our little show girl who is a real beauty because she is four pounds for less than what some of these so-called teacup breeders sell their pet teacups for! It depends a lot on whether a breeder is in for the money or for the improvement of the breed. YOu cannot tell me that breeding runts to runts does anything good for the Yorkie breed in general. I worry what is going to happen with Yorkie rescue in a year or two when this fad has passed. Will we be flooded with sick, undersized dogs?

[fasteddie]

Nope, don't believe this was posted before. It's good to get the word out as much as possible that little Yorkies can be unhealthy, especially with unscrupulous breeders around these days!

[orinskye]

does anyone here have a really teeny yorkie?...... toby is only three pounds so far, and i am tempted to tie a bell onto his collar because i am afraid of stepping on him or something ....... the little ones just make me nervous, im afraid they are going to break just by holding them..... oh and if anyone is interested....http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/ has the "smallest dog" and it is a yorkie.

[fasteddie]

My Yoda is about 7 pounds now, but a bell is a good idea for the littler ones, orinskye. When Yoda was little, we'd always accidentally walk into him or close doors on him. They are so little, and they want to follow you so badly, it's just hard to pay attention to where they are at all times. We've also almost sat on Yoda too. Poor guy, we're pretty glad he's as big as he is now!

[troubletb]

I wanted a smaller one when I went out to get my Bell. Thinking she would be small when I bought her, because I didn't know any better (at the time) I was told that her mother was 6 lbs and the father 5 lbs.. So I figured Bell would be 5-6 lbs herself, Well- Bell is 8 lbs and as my husband says " I wouldn't want her any other way" Shes the best!! Just as she is!! Maybe too tall and too heavy for a show dog but thats not what I was looking for.. Now my neighbors have two tinies, they are a 1 1/2 yrs old and they have been to the vet so many times. Sometimes for broken bones and such. They are so sweet but you really can't play with them, at least not the way we play with Bell.

[orinskye]

yeah........ my toby is still a pup, and only 3 pounds (well, the vet said that last week, now this week he wieghed 3.6????) anyways, he has scared me soooooooo many times because he thinks he has wings, he took a flying leap off the bed, (a double pillowtop king) the couch, our arms, im afraid hes going to hurt himself......

[mmyorkies]

Yes, yorkies do think that they have wings. The puppies I have just try to fly off the couch now, they are 3 1/2 months and are into everything. I have a 6 month old that was given to me that is only 3 1/2 pounds. I was so hoping that she would grow large enough to show, but I'm in doubt of that. She is adorable, but looks like she will be too small to either breed or show. My 3 month pups are all 3 pounds + and I am hoping they will be showable. It is too early to tell yet with them, which is why I have not sold any of them yet.

[KristiC]

The smaller Yorkies do scare me Lilli had a concusion when she was about 5 months old when she jumped off the couch one of her nails got stuck in the couch and she it the floor I have hardwood in the house so that did not make it any better I thought right then she was dead I went streight to the ER vet and she was better in about a week. It was the scarest thing I had to go thru. Both of my Yorkies are very clumsy I dont know if anyone elses are.To make a long story short I had to pay around 500.00 on vet bills so if anyone out there has a small Yorkie watch out for them because they dont know they can get hurt so quickly.Thanks Kristi

[orinskye]

i wouldnt say toby is clumsy..........maybe goofy is the right word for him.... i do have to say though, i havent laughed so hard in the last three months than i have in the week and a half i have had toby, he is an absolute crack up (and when i do laugh at him, he looks at me like i am insane which makes me laugh even harder)...... his "clumsy" moments i would attribute to his puppyhood, raelly the only clumsy thing he has done is fall off the bed during "play mode" and you know how that goes, they get so into playing that they arent looking at where they are going...

[fasteddie]

Our little guys and gals are just too fearless for their own good sometimes. Not caring that other dogs are about 15 times bigger, not caring that they will land on a hard tile floor, not caring that the leap is over 3 feet high... it just goes on and on... But yeah, be careful where you put your Yorkie, they just don't know their own abilities sometime!

[Catrienne]

My puppy is 13.5 weeks and weighs 2.5lbs, but he isn't delicate at all. He thinks he's a cat, which is hilarious. He'll climb up into my shoulder and try to sleep wrapped around my neck, like a kitten. He tries to run around on the top of the couch like a kitten, too. He loves string and even gets down, waits, and POUNCES just like a cat! He's a trip. He jumped off the bottom bunk onto the hardwood floor @ 9 weeks and started crying and whining andI thought he must have broken his leg. Well, the little butthead had just chipped a nail! Scared me to death! He is such a baby. He CRIED and CRIED when I gave him a bath. Then he'll go around thinking he's 50lbs and growls and barks at the bigger dogs, trying to get himself killed.

His parents were 3lbs and 3.5lbs and they weren't fragile either... He lives in my room with me, so no one has the chance to step on him or kick him or slam doors on him.

So far he seems healthy... he loves food, loves to play... get into trouble. Normal puppy behavior. His parents had the BEST dispostions of any dogs I've ever met; so happy and nice and gave lots of kisses. I wanted a puppy that could be used to visit Nursing homes and the like, and my other two dogs are kind of snappy toward some strangers.

[nikki]

I breed maltese. I like the sturdy 7 lb variety. They are small enough for me. Everyone wants those tiny dogs. I tell them that I don't breed anything that fragile. I had problems with 2 5 lb females.

[stacisnyder04]

My aunt had a smaller Yorkie and she jumped off the couch trying to pounce on something and she broke her leg and had to get pins in it.