Oh, you are welcome. I try to be nice but words are occasionally so dry and unemotional at times, you never know when a post is coming across as mean or frankly rude to another person, particularly if there are differing opinions.

Just a question about the kennel you are hoping to use again. Are the little Yorkie breeding dogs and retired-from-breeding Yorkies living their lives for the most part in kennels, cages, runs with the occasional outings or are they living their lives housepets in the home living with the family as a vital part of it, surrounded by love and fulfillment every day? How a breeder treats the little Yorkies working for them tells you a lot about how they value their dogs and what their priorities are for their trusting dogs.

From what I've seen on their site, in photos, and talking on the phone, they have both a kennel area for the pregnant females and puppies, as well as having them in and out of the house. They are indoors after the pups start getting more active and have a little door in and out of the house to a free backyard. So as I understand it, the dogs all have a mixed living arrangement (male and female). Some time in the kennel area and some in the home. The retired dogs are in homes. Actually I think they said that in their community they bring the dams to the kennel when they come in heat and then Doug and Sharon keep them throughout the pregnancy and until the puppies find homes and then go back to their own home.

They keep asking me to take a vacation and come visit and seem proud of what they've accomplished. After all of this posting I'm ready to do just that.

This post broke my heart.There is something unique and special about a yorkie. These pups need human interaction to thrive. They love to please their people which is specifically why I love this breed. Although it has been mentioned that these particular breeders allow their pups time to run around and play every day, this is not the same as actual human interaction. I am not so sure how they let the large number of dogs in and out of their house every day. It doesn't make sense.

Eboughy, you said that most dogs from rescues were older with a debilitating disease or better off in a one pet home, but there are many dogs out there that would thrive with other dogs around them. We found Anna on Petfinder.com. She was rescued from a byb who caged her as a breeder until she was no longer useful. When I picture Anna sitting in her little crate for those 6 years, I get sick. Because I know I played a part in another dog condemned to this life when I purchased Charlie. I know your heart is set on a pup from this kennel, but please at least go check it out. If you cannot afford to purchase from a legitimate breeder, save your money a little longer or reconsider rescuing a dog. By the way, Anna is 6 years old. Other than skin issues, which are now pretty much resolved, from years of neglect, she is doing great. I did not plan on getting an "older" dog from a shelter because I too had heard horror stories, but she is a blessing. She is nearly potty trained, which is amazing because she was scared of walking in grass for the first few weeks we had her. I was worried we wouldn't bond with her because of her age. A myth. You should see my husband. He carriers her around like a sack of gold. When people visit and she gets stressed, he walks her to our room and talks to her like a baby.

Picture your puppies that you purchased from this person, would you be content to allow them to live their lives like the breeding dogs from this place are living? If not, then walk away and find a better situation.

So Doug and Sharon aren't the breeders, just the midwives? Who is selecting breeding dog pairs and deciding which dogs to breed, studying the lines for health, conformation to standard, getting the health testing, etc? How can one know what in the world to expect when dogs are coming in from all over, bred just anyhow by anything - maybe a MinPin is daddy? How does one know what in the world kind of dog one will be getting?

After reading a lot, visiting still more and calling, talking with large-scale Yorkie breeders who keep kennels outside or in a basement, separate section of the home or acreage, etc., this is what I've managed to surmise happens a good deal of the time:

It does sound that for the most part once the pregnant female is in late-term pregnancy, ready to whelp and then once she has brought her valuable puppies into the world, she is allowed to be in the house part-time while she nests, whelps, nurses, nurtures and raises, socializes, weans them. And she gets a trip or two to the vet in the family car during that time, is occasionally shown to excited puppy shoppers, maybe, getting a chance to interact with others for a short while. Then it seems once her puppies are all sold, her "baby party" is over and she is then summarily returned back to the kennels away from the daily life with the family once again until she is far along into her next pregnancy. So this little girl who has had a few weeks of involvement in the hustle and bustle of the household and family and her puppies to care for and play with - suddenly it's all over for her. Back to the cage, waiting to come into heat again. And when she's bred out and can no longer carry a litter in her little body ever again or make more money for her humans, she is retired and farmed out.

It sounds to me to be a terrible life for a poor little female dog, unlucky enough to have been born with ovaries and a uterus and teats. She sounds like a machine in a way, kept out back, regularly attended to to keep her running adequately, watched closely and avidly as production amps up and then when she's finished making her product, she's out back again waiting for the next production run until she burns out, at which time she's put aside like an old rusty stove. Even in retirement, after her faithful work for her humans is done and it's finally time for her to just live the carefree life of a dog with the humans she loves, the family doesn't finally bring her in and allow her to live out the life of a beloved pet, in most cases. No, they get rid of her. And I found out many breeders that keep a large amount of dogs quartered for the most part of the day in kennels or crates usually have a very lucky pet dog or two that does live with them in the home and gets to live its life as a real dog, loved and coddled, coming and going in front of all the other kenneled dogs jumping around in their kennels begging for attention. That seems like a real slap in the face to those caged dogs, at least to me. It sounds like an awful life for the dogs living it but that's who so many of us choose to do business with and buy Yorkies from so we can get the dog we want.

That just breaks my heart.

This place from the areal view looks a lot like the puppy mill Laddy came from :(. They to were nice and they to had a daughter who came here and defended them. But let me tell you they had well over a hundred dogs living in those sheds like you see on this site. It is a horrible way for animals of any kind to live. I don\'t know how you can defend this breeder and their practices. If it was an air conditioned kennel with seperate sleeping for each and exercise runs and lots of love and attention maybe but these are the typical puppy mill sheds. Makes me ill just thinking about it.

Right now I have 3 yorkie and 1 shih tzu puppymill survivors in my home. We lost another to a liver shunt. Sophie has one inoperable cataract and multiple small ones in the other eye. She will go blind. They\'ve all had multilple teeth removed and will require more to be removed. We have hernias and behavior issues. And these come from one of the "better" mills, according to animal control. They are "retired breeders". At least they allowed animal control to take the dogs instead of killing them like so many mills do. I do mean kill, not euthanize. If you euthanize you have to pay a vet, bullets cost little. Do you really know what happens to these peoples retired breeders? Are they in the house as pampered pets or dumped in the shelters where they\'ll be put down ? Do they take care of it themselves? You should go to their kennels and look at the cage crazy dogs pacing the little square of their crates. Check out the untreated injuries and skin conditions. Have you seen the condition their teeth are in? Dentals cost money and that cuts into the profit. When I see a puppy in the pet store I want to cry. I know what happens to the poor mom after she can no longer work. I actually cried yesterday because Sophie gave me a kiss. Lacey actually played with a squeaky toy. It only took the 8 months. So the man plays with them once a day. Big deal. Isn\'t that what you"re supposed to do?