I paid $1200 for my Sheila and she was pick of the litter from a very reptable breeder with papers, microchip 1st set of shots and most importantly (well to me) a lineage I could trace back. Not so much for show quality status but for health reasons and piece of mind. After looking the price seemed fair, same for male or female and no mention of teacup or any other warning signs. The breeder was far out of the city (6 hour drive) and my sister drove her up for me when I got her.
What I DID find was in Toronto (for those that don't know it's a very large urban city) the prices were outrageous and that's without papers and backyard breeders. Toy dogs are a hot commodity in large urban areas and sadly that results in a lot of bad breeders in it for the cash and not the betterment of the breed. The groomer at the daycare I leave Sheila at says she sees 10-15 pound Yorkies all the time and the smaller ones (read: breed standard) are the exeption.
In no way am I saying you can't absolutely love a Yorkie larger than 7 pounds (AKC, CKC etc standard) but IMHO a breeder should not mate one larger than the standard. SO to make a long story short... what I have is a Yorkie I adore and a true representation of the breed.
I am sorry if I come off as a snob or offend anyone
. I grew up around the show circuit and believe in maintaining the integrity of the breed, any breed. Breeders that are in it for the money and not in it for the breed are a sad fact of life I guess. I don't mind paying more maybe because I know how much it costs breeders to campaign a dog and maintain a good kennel with happy/healthy dogs.
Here is a
link to Sheila's breeders. Her daddy is Oreo
.