[QUOTE=admin]If a breeder or pet store is selling a "teacup" or "mini", run away! A respected breeder that is AKC registered. While that does not always determine that they are to be trusted 100%, there are standards and qualifications that AKC registered breeders must pass.
That is so true! We learned so much in our "Yorkie search"! Our breeder was recommended by a vet who put us in touch with her. We were working on a project in Missouri at the time and all our interviews had to be done by phone. If anything, she did everything she could to discourage our buying a baby as small as we wanted! Matter of fact ... she
encouraged us to try other breeders if we wanted one sooner than she would be willing to give one up! She only raises dogs to show and they all have pure bloodlines. In the end we discovered that in addition to her passion for the Yorkie breed it's just painful for her to part with any of her babies!! Even the little "flukes" like Toto! I think the thing that tipped the scale for us was a face to face interview with the vet and she recommended us as "adoptive parents". Toto was 16 weeks old the day we finally were able to meet her and the breeder still wanted to wait another two months! I thought I would just die if we couldn't bring her home that day! We also met Toto's mommy and she is precious. I don't think it could have been any more difficult if we had been adopting a child!
Toto was sooo tiny ... barely l lb. 5 oz. I was so scared! We made that 45 min. drive to the vets three times that week! Each time I was armed with a long list of questions which she patiently answered. We have since gotten a little more relaxed with her but we are still amazed every single day by this little creature! The first thing we do when we have to re-locate is find out the quickest, most direct path to our vet! We even had to switch from our favorite airline because we learned that they don't let pets fly!! Sorry folks .... but Toto rules!!!
