[jp4m2]

After much thought I decided to do a *review* concerning the breeder I purchased one of my boys from. I just wanted to provide some info that may be of importance when considering a breeder. I think it’s important that you get as much info as possible on your potential breeder, not only concerning the quality and health of their pups, but also to some extent, on some of the ways a breeder produces pups that may have an impact on the health of the pup. I’ll just let the potential purchaser decide for themselves if this would impact their decision as to whether or not it’s important enough when making their choice concerning a breeder.

Five years ago I purchased my Jack from Amy. I recently notified this breeder that my Jack was diagnosed with kidney disease. I just wanted to bring it to her attention in case there was a problem within her lines. Isn’t that what a responsible breeder would want to know? I wasn’t too surprised when I heard absolutely nothing back from her.

I couldn’t help but do a lot of reflecting over the last 5 years after Jack’s diagnosis. I recently pulled out Jack’s file and started reading his contract that I had received when I purchased him. I’d hadn’t looked at it since the day I brought him home. I was stunned when I saw the list of exclusions that were listed as *not covered* by the breeder. It included, “trachea problems, legg perthes, liver shunt, hernias and luxating patellas”. …….Five years ago I had no idea what these health problems where or how common they could be in this breed. Jack was my first yorkie and Amy was the very first breeder I had ever seen or been to. The place was clean and the dogs looked well taken care of and the breeder seemed nice. What more do I need to know?..... It was also in her contract that if the pup was to be returned it was up to the breeder, not the purchaser, as to what you where to receive, either: a)money towards treatment, not to exceed the purchase price of the pup, b) a replacement pup or c) ½ your money back and return the pup. I would think the purchaser should have some say as what they would want if a situation like this should occur. This contract had everything in the breeders favor. Would you want to deal with a breeder like this should a problem arise?

Amy had a blog on her site that I had read several times. It’s down now but she claimed she was going to put it back up, for some reason she hasn’t done so yet. The following is some of the info I found in her blog that was particularly distressing to me……According to her blog Amy breeds her dogs from the age of 2 until they are at least 7 years old (that is when she had my Jack’s mom spayed). Actually it could be younger than two years old according to her posting, “I WAIT until they are close to two years of age (in most cases).” I understand the waiting until they are two years old, but to continually breed until they are seven years old seems excessive to me. The females are bred on every heat with no skipped heats. In Jan. 2010 alone she had 8 litters that had to be tended to. From about Aug. until Feb of this year I counted 17 females that either delivered or where pregnant, all needing attention, and that was just the ones that were posted about in her blog. In that same time period there are a couple of repeats. Would you consider that excessive?

Amy claims that since a Dr. Robert Van Hutchison (a canine reproduction researcher) says it’s healthier for the dams uterus to be in a pregnant state rather than skipping heats, so it’s perfectly alright for her to breed this way. She claims the uterus is prone to disease if heats are skipped. This is her response to me when I asked her if she is breeding her females on every heat: “He (Dr. H.) has informed me that giving the dogs a break is to their detriment. If you skip a cycle then they have a high chance of getting a diseased uterus and then having to have a hydrometry.” ……


I can’t even imagine the amount of dogs that would be in shelters if all breeders followed this advice. I guess all those other breeders out there who are skipping heats are doing it all wrong.
I know some breeders can and will breed this way but I say just because you can does that mean you should? Is this really something that should be encouraged and embraced for all breeders to do?

She just had Phoebe spayed. This particular female is my Jack’s mom. She is about 7+ years old. Is this age also proper? Amy seems to think the dams actually enjoy being pregnant. In her blog she would make frequent statements as to how all her females just “ love having babies and being pregnant mommies”…. This is Amy Talking about having Phoebe spayed,…..” [QUOTE REMOVED]

I feel her main focus and purpose is all about selling and producing pups. Last week I saw that Amy had a small female pup listed on her site that was priced at $5,900. There was also one there for $4,900………wow, really,for a pet?? Those tinies seem to be quite profitable.........I remember when I purchased Jack, Amy charged me $200 more for him than his litter mates because he was the runt of the litter. At the time I thought this was just *normal*, and that all breeders did this. I now know this is a practice done by unethical breeders to cash in on the smaller ones. By the way, Jack is a normal sized yorkie, he’s not a *tiny*.

Continued.......