[darlingdinkies]

I know there are those of you who firmly attest that teacup yorkies don’t really “exist” or that they are simply runts or anomalies and any breeder that advertises teacup yorkies is doing the breed a disservice and cannot possibly be reputable. This post isn’t really about that, and I don’t want this to turn into a debate. I am one of those people that believes there are actually reputable breeders of teacup sized yorkies who have a proven history of producing these tiny pups that are perfectly normal, healthy, delightful dogs, and in February 2006 I began searching for just such a breeder. I had done lots of research (though apparently not enough) and after an exhaustive search, I stumbled upon the Valley View Puppies website, owned by Cindy Johnson. Right away, I was impressed with the information provided on the website, general information about yorkies, information about herself, pictures of the sire and dams, testimonials, etc. I made it very clear to her size was MOST important to me, and I really wanted a teacup sized yorkie. I reiterated this point over and over. She assured me the little male I had chosen would definitely be less than 3.5 lbs, and would probably barely reach 3. I told her I would not hold her to an exact size of course, but I did want to feel assured he would stay within what is normally regarded as the teacup range. The little male I purchased was still too young to travel, so Cindy promised she would keep me updated with pictures. I didn’t receive any pictures or emails for a while. I began to get the feeling I had been scammed, and I even ran an identity check on her, to make sure there really was a Cindy Johnson living at the address she had given me. When she finally did touch base, I questioned her. She gave me a huge guilt trip, explaining that she was digging herself out of blizzard conditions in Nebraska at the time. I felt terrible – like a paranoid, crazy lady - here this poor woman was suffering through a blizzard, and I was doing background checks on her! The funny things was, I noticed the blizzard didn’t keep her from updating her web page with new pictures of her other puppies that same week.

As the weeks progressed, I began to think my puppy looked a little large. But Cindy assured me, he was a “tiny teacup”, and that her teacups tend to grow very quickly at first, then just completely stop growing. Still, I wasn’t convinced, so I asked if she could photograph my puppy next to a slightly older puppy that came from a different litter. The sire and dam of this other puppy had a proven history of producing tinies. (BTW, I was originally interested in this other puppy, but Cindy said the little male I chose had a much better pedigree, his mother was smaller than the other’s, and his bone structure was much more petite.) I also asked if she could provide me with both their weights, so I could compare that as well. She said she couldn’t get the two puppies to stay still long enough to snap the shot, and she never did provide the weights either. In hindsight, I now wonder why her husband or some other person couldn’t have held the two puppies next to each other while she took the picture. But the thing was, I was still kind of embarrassed over the whole “blizzard-background-check-episode-thing”, and I just didn’t want to come across as a difficult or hard-to-please customer. Plus, Cindy comes across as so sugary sweet and so genuinely interested in being helpful. I really felt guilty questioning her at that point. I did, however, ask her to provide the puppy’s weight a week before he was due to fly home. She said he weighed 1 lb. 5 oz. Funny thing is, when Huck arrived, a week later, I weighed him on my digital scale, and he weighed in at a whopping 1 lb. 12 oz. Teacup yorkies don’t gain 7 ounces in 7 days! At that point I realized, either Cindy wasn’t being completely upfront or her scale was way off! I expressed my concern over his size. She said he was just fat, because he had received lots of table scraps (That’s a whole other issue! To this day, we still struggle with Huck’s annoying tendency to beg and rummage through the kitchen garbage!). She said his weight gain would slow down and taper off, especially once he no longer received table food. Anyway, to make a long story not too much longer, as you might have guessed, Huck continued to rapidly grow, and grow, and grow, and grow.

He is about 9 months old and just recently passed the 5 lb mark. We travel A LOT. When Huck was still in the 3 lb range we moved from Texas to Maryland. Traveling with him was so easy. We just put him in my small purse style carrier, and I could take him everywhere, in and out of hotels, restaurants, shopping, etc., so we didn’t have to worry about scheduling kennel stays, about him being left behind at the hotel barking, or about whether we’ll be able to leave him in the car while we stop to eat somewhere. Now that Huck is larger, traveling is becoming more and more difficult. Also, I decided to litter box train him. Having a dog that is 3.5 lbs or less doing it’s “business” indoors isn’t a huge deal (if you know what I mean), but that too is becoming a little less practical now that he’s larger. (BTW, he receives ½ cup of NutroMax every two days, and usually doesn’t even finish that. And we DO NOT feed him table scraps! So, he’s definitely not over fed.)

By the time I paid for shipping ($350), I had shelled out $2200 for Huck. Cindy said she based his price first on pedigree, then on size, then on coat, then on ears. Unfortunately, I was misled on every one of those traits. She told me he had an “impressive” pedigree on both the mother's and the father’s side, which she said was the main reason he was priced higher than the others she had listed. However, when I received his 3-generation pedigree, there was only one champion, and it was on his mother’s side. She told me he would be a “tiny teacup” (her exact words). Well, he’s not even a teacup, much less a tiny teacup. He’s barely even what most would consider a tiny toy. As for coat…she told me Huck would have a "very nice coat". Huck has what’s called a wiry coat. A wiry coat tends to appear dry and frizzy and usually never achieves any significant length. As for Huck’s ears – they’re big and tall. I have to keep them trimmed very short and I let the hair on the bottom half of his ears grow, so it hides their size.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Huck. The minute he curled up in my arms, he was mine forever, and, despite any “flaws” he may have, I would never give him up. I do, however, think I paid way, way too much for him. If a breeder charges that much for a dog, then that breeder should be willing to stand behind his or her claims about his or her dogs, even when the dog falls short. And, certainly, if a puppy is advertised over and over as a tiny teacup, the buyer should receive at least a teacup-sized dog. I’ve asked Cindy to provide me with a partial refund - just charge me what you would normally charge for a dog with his pedigree, size, coat and ears, and refund me the difference - a pretty reasonable request IMO. (BTW - yes, I did sign the contract stating, basically, nothing outside of health is guaranteed. I know. I know. But I signed it naively thinking that was to protect Cindy from those type of people that get upset over a few ounces or a coat that is less than perfect or something like that.) She refused, claiming she’d already “bent over backwards for me”, and said she was sorry Huck didn’t turn out to be “exactly” the size I had hoped for. It’s not that he isn’t “exactly” the size I had hoped for. Rather, it’s that he isn’t even near the size I paid for, or the quality.

My main purpose for posting here is partly because I'm just mad and have no other recourse and, of course, partly because I’d just really like to hear y’all’s thoughts…