Questions on Puppy Mills?

[JaxsonsMommy12]

Okay so I saw that another lady posted about her encounter with what she thought was possibly a puppy mill & I've noticed something strange in my town as well with this particular breeder!

When we started our search for our male Yorkie we knew that we wanted him to have AKC papers, parents on site, vet check/guarantee, & we wanted to be able to see all the puppies & where their living area is/what it looks like. So our search began & I looked in our local papers classifieds to see & I got super excited to see that there was this ad out for Yorkie Puppies. I called the number and the lady I spoke to told me she had Yorkies, Malteses, & Westies. Kinda made me think why would she have all these breeds. She also said some had papers some didn't, parent's could be on site if requested but wasn't always guaranteed, cash only, & she does the vet stuff her self. She had all kinds of ages of the breeds above. She kept saying she had yorkies but they were smaller...going to be real small! She has an ad in the paper every single week! So my question is does this sound like she is over breeding, or just has alot of puppies to sale?

(Went kinda off the beginning of the story we eventually found a nice lady who just adores yorkies & needless to say we walked away with our little pup with all the things on our list!)

[Lovetodream88]

Yes she was either a puppy mill or a byb. I bet half at least of the yorkies she said were gonna be tiny didn't end up that way.......

[BLowry]

I agree...she could either be a mill, byb or she could be a broker...where she doesn't have the parents "on site" I would say she is probably a puppy broker...STAY AWAY!!

[gracielove]

Oh, yeah. Bad news. Stay away.

[Donnainohio63]

This has BYB written all over it, stay far away

[Teresa Ford]

Just a thought. I know several good breeders that do things that might seem like red flags. They have nothing to hide, they prefer to keep their home private and to protect their family and Yorkies from germs and strangers. They only show pups in one room that is gated from the rest of the house. (The floor is tile for easy mopping) They only bring out the pup or pups that they think are a good match, for that family) The Mama and Daddy dog make a brief appearance but, then are put behind the gate. They adults will compete with the pup for attention and are distracting. Some where in the back of the house, guests hear other dogs bark, it sounds like 20, but is an old retired stud and a granny female, and the pups parents. The breeder asks you to take your shoes off and leave your shoes in a tub outside the door. She only takes cash because she has been stuck with fake Visa checks and bouncing checks.
Just a Thought............

[Teresa Ford]

Sorry about the time gap between posts. Some thing came up and I got busy.
Things that are RED RED Flags to me are: No Vet Papers, No AKC papers, Smelly pup or home, sickly looking or acting pup. More Red Flags, Parents of the pup are shy or aggressive, People that can't answer questions about Yorkies or making claims about things I know are not true.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by Teresa Ford

Just a thought. I know several good breeders that do things that might seem like red flags. They have nothing to hide, they prefer to keep their home private and to protect their family and Yorkies from germs and strangers. They only show pups in one room that is gated from the rest of the house. (The floor is tile for easy mopping) They only bring out the pup or pups that they think are a good match, for that family) The Mama and Daddy dog make a brief appearance but, then are put behind the gate. They adults will compete with the pup for attention and are distracting. Some where in the back of the house, guests hear other dogs bark, it sounds like 20, but is an old retired stud and a granny female, and the pups parents. The breeder asks you to take your shoes off and leave your shoes in a tub outside the door. She only takes cash because she has been stuck with fake Visa checks and bouncing checks.
Just a Thought............

Well she said she had to plan for the pups parents to be there which would mean she didn't have the pups parents. She also said she had many different types of dogs and the yorkie pups were many different ages so I don't think this was a good "breeder" being mistaken for a bad one.

[concretegurl]

Sounds like you talked to a broker.

[Teresa Ford]

Originally Posted by Lovetodream88

Well she said she had to plan for the pups parents to be there which would mean she didn't have the pups parents. She also said she had many different types of dogs and the yorkie pups were many different ages so I don't think this was a good "breeder" being mistaken for a bad one.

I agree the poster was wise to walk away in this situation.

I was just suggesting that Good Breeders do not always fit some perfect profile. When I bred Labs years ago, I tested my breeders for everything I could. I carefully selected the best of the best.
But, I never let people in my home except the Fl. room, and patio screen room. I was worried about them bringing PARVO germs. I never allowed buyers into the nursery room. The stud was often off site. There was a lot of barking. And often two bitches had pups of different ages.
What I was trying to say was some things are ALWAYS Red Flags and I listed a few in the earlier post.
Getting a good pup has very little to do with price. Healthy parents, early socializing, clean environment, good Vet care, healthy diet and love are the most important factors. We all have to do our homework to find the right breeder and pup.
Thanks for letting me clarify, sorry this was so long.

[gracielove]

I agree that some very meticulas breeders are very careful about people not bring disease into the home. However, these type of people are usually very clean and have certain areas for people to come in and view the dogs as well as get some feeling for the wonderful shape their dogs are in. They should have plenty of paper work on the dogs and pups (including pedigrees) and pictures of their dogs past and present......hopefully in the show ring.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Some have papers, some don't, cash only, parents may be on site, breeding several breeds...................wow. Maybe just one of those things wouldn't worry me(oh, yes, it would) but all that you described taken together says steer clear to me.