One-time statement:
I have read page after page over time regarding this subject and don’t recall ever posting on any of them. I do have an opinion and promise to state it only once!
As most of you know, my Toto is small. I have always considered her just that, small. Our vet insists that we keep her at 3 lbs. or less because her bone structure is so small. She is overweight by a little over a pound at 4.12. She will remain on the diet that she has been on for a year until the desired weight recommended by Dr. Lucy is reached. This is because we want what’s best for her and don’t want to face health problems created by us allowing her to gain more weight than her little body can handle! I am insulted when people see her and say "Oh, you have a teacup!" I just bite my tongue and tell myself they don't know any better! Why argue the fact that there is no such thing?
We bought a small Yorkie because our work requires extensive travel and a large pet was out of the question for us. We bought her from a reputable breeder of show dogs who breeds for quality and was highly recommended. We planned to spay her before we even knew that this stipulation was included in the contract! She has a long and impressive pedigree and has been tested at an excellent facility for any health problems due to genetics and pronounced perfect!
I would just like to state for the record that we consider Toto an “anomaly” [The condition of being abnormal: aberrance, aberrancy, aberration, abnormality, deviance, deviancy, deviation, irregularity, preternaturalness, unnaturalness] that occasionally happens to even the most careful, caring breeders. She was certainly not bred for size … just quality, so I guess we just got the “best of both worlds”! Would we ever buy a Yorkie bred specifically for size?? ABSOLUTELY NOT!! I agree that this practice is wrong and that it should be considered animal cruelty to breed for this purpose! We feel so blessed to just have been in the right place at the right time and were the ones selected to be able to love this tiny “anomaly”!! We made a serious commitment to Toto and have more than lived up to it and will for her entire life!
I guess, bottom line, when these little abnormalities happen … there are two choices … either spay/neuter and the breeder keeps them or find people like us who can & will provide anything money can buy for them and care for them like children!! We thank God every day that Ava chose to do the latter!!