Quote:
Originally Posted by Ladymom  Yorkies, like any purebred dog, have certain conditions inherent to the breed like liver shunts, luxating patellas, and Legg-Perthes. Did you know that Yorkies are 36 times more likely to have a liver shunt than all other breeds combined? That the ratio of Legg-Perthes disease is the highest in Yorkies?
Reputable breeders carefully screen their breeding dogs and do health testing to make sure their lines are free of genetic conditions they could pass on to their offspring. Since you do not know your girl's background, there is no way you could know whether or not she carries genes for liver shunts, Legg-Perthes or any other genetic.
My Lady is the product of careless breeding and is diabetic and epileptic. Her medical expenses run $5,000 a year now. Both conditions are genetic. She became epileptic at age four and diabetic at age six. Thank heavens she was spayed or she could have passed these genes onto her puppies years before she ever came down with the disease herself.
There is a ton of information on this forum about the responsibility of breeding, inherent problems in Yorkies, health testing, etc. to help you make an informed decision whether or not to breed your Yorkie. |
I owe you an apology. I had noth considered all the repurcussions of careless breeding.
Nikki is not my first Yorkie. I had 2 in the 80's: One we purchased for $150.00 from a friend that had several Yorkies, and one we paid $500.00 for from a breeder. Both were registered with AKC. (Charlie Brown and Lucy were their names.) Both were perfect from the time we got them until we had to give them up (I had a son and he was highly allergic to them, causing repiratory problems). Lucy was of champion bloodline. Her coat was smooth and shiny, her teeth all straight. Charlie's teeth were all crooked and his coat was oily and smelly. He required much more grooming. We never had to take either of them to the vet for anything more than well check ups.
My point I guess is that I had no idea until we got Nikki how fragile this breed could be.
I will take your advice and that of the other posters and see what the original breeder has to say about regisering her with CKC rather than AKC. I have my suspiciouns that it's because of the criteria and the costs.
I'm sorry about the problems you and Lady have had to endure with her health. And I'm sorry about the tone I took with you last night. Please forgive my misunderstanding of your concerns.
