I am the owner of a yorkie that came from the pet shop...He is nowhere close to a show potential dog, by the standard he is even very low pet quality, complete with virtually every genetic defect (which I have put a lot of blood sweat and tears into fixing) common in toy dogs...Although I would never dream of showing him or breeding him (he is nuetered), owning him as a pet has gotten me tremendously interested in the yorkie standard and what it takes to finish yorkies, and I have read about it a lot. As the owner of one of these extremely "low quality" yorkies I think it is very important that they are not shown for conformation or bred by anyone even if it is "just for fun."
The reason I feel this way is because the breeders dedicated to the show ring have put a lot of time and heart into keeping the breed as close to the standard as possible, and preventing the breed from carrying the problems of bad lineage found in the types of pups you find in the pet store. Conformation showing in my opinion (as an outsider) is not just about giving the prettiest dogs ribbons, but about recognizing responsible breeders for their hardwork and dedication to the breed the exhibit. I think that trying to show a pet store dog really defeats this purpose.
Pet store dogs as I know are great companions, they are adorable and fun and joys to be around, but due to the numerous problems with the breeding practices of those who sell to pet stores I think that they no matter what should really be kept out of the ring. |