I have a lot of respect for those of you who are breeders and who work to maintain a wonderful respectable line of Yorkies. This is a lot of work, a lot of expense, and it takes years to do this well.
However - I read YT a lot - and there are a lot of other people (on this site) who breed their pets who aren't as careful about Yorkie standards. And, I am sure that many of these people aren't as knowledgeable about what they should be looking for in their own dog before they breed it. I know they love their pets and think they are wonderful and would love to see a million little duplicates of their wonderful little dogs --- but aren't a lot of people still breeding Yorkies (and other breeds) that shouldn't be bred?
To be more specific - I see very small dogs being bred - very large dogs being bred - Yorkies with short coats and nonstandard color coats being bred, etc. etc. etc.
The excuses I have seen for many of these breedings are: "My sister loves my dog, so I'm going to breed my dog so that she can have one of its pups." "I think it would be fun to have a litter of pups. It would be so educational for my children." "I just love my little Yorkie. I want her to have pups just like her." "My friend has a female and wants to borrow my male to breed."
If anyone ever writes the book about Yorkies that someone mentioned, we should have a chapter called "When is it appropriate to breed your Yorkie?"
I know that a lot of inappropriate breeding is going on - and often for the wrong reasons - and a lot of it is being done by our own members right here on YT.
Do you agree with my thinking that more than most breeds, it is especially important to be careful, knowledgeable, and experienced before you breed a little Yorkie. We certainly read about many heartbreaking results over and over again that should never have happened and could have been avoided.
Again - I have a great deal of respect for those of you who are familiar with the Yorkie breed standards, who breed good examples of this breed, and who
are experienced, knowledgeable, and know what you are doing.
Carol Jean |