I think non-standard and unethical breeding will continue to occur, as just like in any industry, there will be bad and good breeders. The best we can do is to educate as many about the Yorkie breed that we can, from helping newcomers to the breed find out where good places are to get Yorkies from (not petstores), to what to ask the breeder, to what to look for when purchasing a Yorkie.
Also, it's very hard to determine a Yorkie's weight when they are a baby (as we all know) as there are no guarantees on weight at all, even if both Yorkie Mom & Dad are in the standard range. The fact that registration occurs when the Yorkie is a baby means that even if the Yorkie grows to be ten pounds, it's still considered a registered Yorkie even though it may not fit the standard 4 to 7 pound range. This registration then filters down to any Yorkie babies this Yorkie has.
Another aspect we have to remember is price. The top-notch breeders (ones with show or champion lines) will tend to have higher priced Yorkies, as one would generally expect. Because not everyone can afford the higher priced ones, there will always be lower-level priced Yorkies as well. That's not saying lower prices means a lower-quality Yorkie at all. But there may be more problems with breed standard issues with Yorkies that are at the lower-level price. And there are those that just breed for money, high or low priced.
Educating all potential Yorkie parents, one at a time, is the only thing I would think would help, though this is a very slow process... |