Originally Posted by Yorkiemom1  Parents on site would indicate the breeder has their own breeding program....that is not necessarily a good thing, they may have lousy breeding stock. But parents on site indicate they are not a broker, buying puppies all over the country and reselling them. The babies should not be in dirty conditions...but you have to be realistic....I have put puppies into a clean playpen, with their food and water, turned around to go get a littermate, and when I get back, #1 has dumpd the food out, traipsed thru their water, and pooped in the middle of the paper, then bounced and ran all over it. You can tell if this is a new mess the babies have created, or if they are truly being kept in a filthy pen..... Not everyone allows their pups to roam around the house...I do not allow that. Moms and their babies are kept separated from the other dogs.....and I do not mix litter together...after the babies are 11 weeks old, I do let them associate with some other dogs thru the safety of the playpen....the pups and momma are in the x-pen, in the sunroom, and there are several dogs loose in the sunroom...these are dogs that really enjoy socializing with the babies...this used to be a favorite past time for my precious little Hailee...she loved puppies and always wanted to be around them and included in their socializing. Mommas are not as nervous, as the other dogs can not harm their babies, and the babies are tickled to visit thru the playpen and then run back to momma to tell her all about it! "Lots of pups on site" may be a red flag.....I dont think you need to be getting your baby from a "breeding facility", whose goal is to flood the market with puppies....Show breeders are busy showing their dogs and formulating which of their two dogs will produce their next "perfect" example of what a Yorkie is, ever striving to adhere to the breed standard template. They concentrate on maybe several litters at a time, not dozens of puppies to market. I am not a show breeder, but my concentration and focus is having babies that adhere to the breed standard, and are produced by breeding stock that are all retired winning champions from the show ring, or are backed by pedigrees that are resplendent with Champions and Grand Champions, as well as proven and distinguished lines, perfected by the greatest breeders of our times! I only have 1-3 litters a year, in order to be able to provide the very best for those babies and provide them with the attention to detail I insist on giving all my babies. After I retire, I may be able to have 3-4 litters per year....I do not like having more than 2 litters on the ground at the same time....or no more than a total of 6-7 babies at the same time....I personally am comfortable with only that many babies, being able to give them the personal attention they require and the financial means to meet any emergency that may present itself...so I would think "a lot of puppies on site" could be a red flag, because that would indicate TO ME, that the goal and/or intent is to market babies, rather than perfecting a small number of babies and making them the best they can possibly be. There may very well be breeders out there that can produce 100 puppies per year, with a to-die-for "breeding facility", with a professional staff of on site vets, on site groomers, on site staff to feed and clean the housing areas for the pups....but those places I think are few and far between.....and as long as they are producing HEALTHY and WELL SOCIALIZED, WELL ADJUSTED puppies, more power to them...and if they are able to make money doing it, I do not think you can destroy someones reputation as a breeder, as long as they are producing healthy,beautiful puppies that are great examples of the breed standard, SIMPLY because they are able to make money doing it. You can probably start by hanging out at dog show....you have meet and greet days, you need to talk and visit with breeders at the shows, look at their baby they are showing....if that dog is a winner in the show ring, talk with that breeder and see if she ever sells her pups that are not show quality. This is how you start, by exposing yourself to the people that are intent on producing fine, healthy, gorgeous examples of Yorkies. You can also get recommendations from these people at the shows.....they may be mentoring people that are small breeders, producing wonderful puppies, that may not be show quality puppies, but puppies that are healthy and exemplify the breed standard. Find your breeder FIRST....she/he will have the perfect puppy for you! This is very time consuming and it requires much patience on your part....but it will pay off in the long run! You will have found a reputable breeder, will probably have to get on a waiting list because reputable breeders are NOT flooding the market and when you find one, she will be providing a few babies to a select few people...reputable breeders will only sell to pre approved homes. They want to be sure of where their babies are going, so they do not end up on the street or in a rescue or pound. They want to be sure their baby will have a wonderful future, full of love and attention and care. |