[nvnvgirl]

This is kind of a long story. Partly b/c I still don't know all the details yet and may not ever really find out the truth. My Max is almost 3 now and has been an "only" dog all this time since he left his litter mates. He is very bonded to both myself and my husband. I am a stay at home "mom" but do spend a lot of time working on the computer during the week, so even though Max is WITH me all the time, he's not being played with all the time. My hubby is gone all week and only home Fri afternoon thru very early Monday morning. I have been wanting to get a Yorkie companion for him for the last couple of years, but financially it just didn't seem appropriate and other logistics also didn't deem it the best idea. Now, even though we are not where we want to be, we are OK. An opportunity has come up to get a Yorkie female (there are 2 available). I have heard 2 differing stories so far about them, but the upshot is that one woman is somehow "getting" several small female dogs this Monday (meaning, they will arrive at her home that day). This woman happens to be a long time friend of an acquaintance of mine and I know that my friend got at least one of her small Malteses through her. The dog that I know for sure that she got from this woman she has told me on more than one occasion that she was almost sure that he had been a "puppy mill" puppy b/c of his relative unsocial behavior. Not that he's BAD, just that he's not a love-bug as much as the other dogs are. He has no health issues and she's had him for several years. I'm sorry, I know this is long, but I want to give as much information as I can so that anyone who is more familiar with dogs and buying/selling/breeding etc, might be able to see possibly if something weird is going on.
Anyhow, I heard about these dogs from my best friend who works for said acquaintance. She knew I have been wanting a little girl and thought she'd pass the info to me. The story SHE told me was that there were several dogs, all small, from a couple of different previous owners. The Yorkies supposedly were from an older woman who was moving from here to NY in with her family and the family didn't want her to bring the dogs, so she was wanting to find good homes for them. There are also a couple of Maltese and a poodle. Now, I am not sure where my friend obtained her information about where the dogs came from. When I spoke to the woman who is bringing them to her home and trying to find homes for them, she told me that all the dogs were female. And that (in particular) the Yorkies are very small, too small to breed (although they HAVE been bred before) and "every time they have puppies the vet charges her at least $1000 for a C-section and she doesn't want to do that anymore"....so...hence the two different stories. I asked how big they were (around 4 lbs) and how old they were (about 2 1/2-3 yrs old). I did not ask how many times they'd been bred, but I will when I go to see them on Monday, along with as many questions as are appropriate.
Does this sound above board to you? I would love to get a little girl Yorkie for me and for Max, but I definitely do not want to take on any huge financial health issues or behavioral issues...I don't have any issues with having them spayed if they aren't now, or with shots, etc. And I don't mind some minor behavioral issues, but I guess what I'm wary of is that the dogs might be a lot older than I'm being told, so if they have "issues" they may be issues that won't change, and I'd like to know that they are basically healthy. So, how do I determine that myself best? I know to look at their teeth, but what would be any significant red flags that I should look for? And as far as the females having been mothers before; is there anything in particular I should observe physically? Max is my first ever dog and he's such a good boy that I am afraid to bring another dog into our lives if it's going to take all our focus off him~ I know that sounds so insipid and lame. I would give as much love to a new dog as I do to Max is what I mean, but I don't want Max to feel as if he's been abandoned b/c there's a new dog in the house...does that make sense? I know it would take some time to acclimate any new dog, but I would hope that eventually things would even out and they'd be best friends (hopefully).
I will try to get the entire story when I go to look at the dogs, but the only thing I can come up with that someone who has a couple of nice small female Yorkies and now realizes they don't want to keep them b/c they're too small and/or costly to breed and doesn't have them spayed would be someone who is in the business of only having dogs for the sole purpose of breeding them and making money. And NOW, I'm wondering if ALL these little females didn't come from ONE person who breeds a lot of different dogs (I mean, how come she's getting ALL females all at once?). Am I being cynical or paranoid? None of this would ever have crossed my mind before I came to YT, and I feel like my eyes have been opened a lot as far as dogs go...before I would have thought "Oh wow, how cool...someone just loves their little dog so much that all they care about is finding it a good home (although, I might think it was a little odd that they "gave" it to someone else to look for a good home)....so many things going on in my head. I want to do the right thing for all of us; me, Max, my hubby (who is perfectly happy just having Max be the only dog), and the new dog too. So, any advice or thoughts on this are very welcome. Thank you if you actually got thru this whole diatribe! Seana and Max