Yup - that's her! And, as you can see, she's still advertising those "tiny teacups" with "excellent pedigrees". I really do hope this helps at least one person. Hinesight, as always, is 20/20. If I were to ever purchase another teacup yorkie, I would definitely only buy the puppy after it had reached at least 6 months of age. If you are deadset on a younger puppy, use the toy breed puppy growth chart. Unfortunately I discovered this tool too late. Again, it's not a guarantee of size, but it does seem to provide a pretty good estimation. When I went back and compared Huck's early weights and ages to the chart, it was nearly right on the money. I also decided to see if it would have accurately estimated my other yorkie's (Finn
) weight correctly, and, again, it was correct. The only thing is, it is based on an ACCURATE age and weight. Be sure the breeder uses a digital scale or a very well calibrated manual scale, because a reading that is even a few ounces off will estimate a different size range.
As I mentioned before, I still do believe there are reputable breeders of teacup yorkies. Again, after I purchased Huck I learned I probably should have made sure the sire and dam came from a long, long line of healthy teacups and that both parents together had a proven history of producing teacups. Just because the parents are small, or just because one of them has produced teacups isn't enough.
I think these measures will certainly increase the probability of coming home with a true teacup, but the person who posted above is right - there is no guarantee. There are always anomalies, exceptions, in any breeding program, with respect to size, coat, color, health, etc. That's why I would definitely suggest you get it in writing. No breeder is going to guarantee size, but if he/she truly believes his/her breeding programs produces teacups and are charging more for them, then they should have no problem guaranteeing a size range, guaranteeing the puppy will not get any bigger than say 4 lbs.
I really appreciate your thoughts and words of wisdom. I will probably try to contact Cindy again, and, who knows, maybe she will prove us all wrong and decide on a fair resolution to this problem. I will definitely let you know!
Anna