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Originally Posted by lvtyorkie  I would have to say, lots more problems have been bred due to trying to make the yorkie smaller. Liver Shunt is one of those. Red flags should go up-teacup yorkie, micro yorkie... Research tells us...usually smaller happens for a reason. Regardless, once you take a puppy as a member of your family you love them, big or small. Making a new Yorkie parent feel bad they bought a over sized serves no purpose. I personally would prefer a larger healthy Yorkie rather than a tiny Yorkie with health problems. We should encourage healthy Yorkshire Terriers within the standard and steer away from breeders whom do not adhere to standard.  |
I don't really agree with with your first statement, Liver shunt hasn't occurred because breeders are breeding down, but MANY dogs are under 4 pounds because they have Liver Shunt. Some dogs are under 4 pounds due to genetics, and are very healthy. Liver shunt is a complex disease and they haven't found the marker for it yet, but I've heard they are close. It sounds like it’s a recessive gene, and this is very difficult to manage because it could passed it on, yet the breeding dog shows no signs of the illness. I do agree with your other statements, and I also want to add that good breeders generally do not breed females under 6 pounds. I certainly don't think people at Yorkietalk try to make pet owners feel badly about their dogs, I think they are tremendously supportive of every size, it's just the breeders we are hard on!
