Tammy -- I think some of your information is incorrect. You do say that you are quoting from some places including the akc.org -- but the idea that the maltese is part of the genetic history of the Yorkshire terrier is probably not correct. I do not think you will find any reputable history of the breed that includes the maltese. AKC.org certainly does not, the Yorkshire Terrier Club of America does not. I know there are some websites to be found that seem to have made up there own info -- you have to be careful who you quote and believe.
The Yorkshire Terrier does come from SELECTIVE breeding. Long before there WAS an AKC and breed standards people bred dogs with specific purposes in mind. Once these breeds were established, organizations formed, breed standards, judging, shows, etc... THEN even more selective breeding was done to refine the breed. Generations of very meticulous care, education, and study went into giving us this remarkable breed. So, when someone comes along and says I want to breed this yorkie with a (a) (b) or (c) and "SEE WHAT WE GET" it does rankle a lot of folks.
Beyond the worry about finding homes for all the little mixed breeds, I worry about the ones that wind up looking "all yorkie" and get sold that way. Down the line, puppies start veering more and more from the finely established features the breed has become famous for. It is all too easy to register these breeds with some of the off shoot registeries. Then a novice decides to become a breeder, the puppies look like Yorkies. But as the dog grows the subtle differences become stronger. "Well, its just a big yorkie, it's just a big-eared yorkie, it's just a square jaw yorkie" -- no, somewhere in the line there was probably one of these little mixes unwittingly bred.
GIANT STEPS BACKWARDS!!!! How many correct breedings do you think have to happen before those mixed qualities are out? 3 generations, 5 generations, a dozen?
Another thing is continued breeding. Now that you have your little mixes, do you breed them with other little mixes? Do you realize the vast range of characteristics that are possible? Someone buying the puppies will have no way to imagine how the adult dog will look. Course the seller may not even care, the money is safely in their pocket whle the puppy is little and cute. But someone thinking they were bringing home a Yorkie looking puppy may be very surprised when the dog looks completely different at adulthood.
I think experimentation should be saved for the chemistry set -- breed to standards within the same breed or spay them. Others have every right to disagree though. As a whole we will never all agree on politics, religion, or how to breed dogs. That's life. |