[MyFairLacy]

Originally Posted by mommy9

Hi everyone! This is also my first post. I do own a Yorkie..my first..and I think her breeder was a BYB. I did watch the Oprah show..twice, as my husband recorded it for me, so I also watched it with my 27 yr old daughter. Yes, puppymills are horrific..but as was posted before..so are some show-breeder's. I would like to get another Yorkie, as my whole family really enjoys our girl Miley! I think she needs a friend..I also have a Standard Poodle that is fine with her..but she needs a friend her own size! LOL! My dilemma would be..how does one KNOW that their breeder IS ethical, with healthy puppies?? It would have been nice for Oprah to go more in-depth with what a "good breeder" is..but she did have shelter and rescue people on her show! She could have gave MORE than her measley ten grand too..I think she cared more that this show was a tribute to her recently passed Cocker, Sophie. JMHO. Thanks for having me here, I hope I can really learn a lot from everyone!
Terri & Miley

You are right...not all show breeders are ethical either. I'm not saying you must show to be a reputable breeder (athough you should have show quality dogs...ones that are excellent examples of the breed) but showing is personally important to me. So I start with a show breeder, preferably one that is a YTCA member. That's when I start asking questions...LOTS of questions and just listening to what they tell me. I also expect for them to ask me plenty of questions. I want to hear about any past health issues and how they fixed it. I want to hear what they do to health screen and want to see proof that it has been done (anyone can say they health screen so get proof). I want to hear good things from other people and any bad things too...you have to weight the good and the bad. I want to know how many dogs they have, where they are kept, how often they breed, why they breed, why they chose the yorkshire terrier, what lines they have, why they chose those lines, how well they know their lines, etc etc.