No apology needed! :D

Since you had Yorkies 25 years ago, unfortunately the breed has become really popular. As a result, backyard breeders and puppy mills have been breeding them and all the health problems we see today are the result. :mad:

I have to say, somewhat in mrs merch's defense....

Because we are from the same down, I KNOW how rare it is around here to happen upon a breeder who DOESN'T let their pups go early. It is very much the common practice here to release pups at young as 6 weeks. Unless you take it upon yourself to learn about Yorkies VERY thoroughly first, you'd have no indication that there are huge risks invovled with getting one young. I remember that years ago when I was researching before I got my furbutts, learning that threw me for a loop too because it's honestly just not something you hear 'around these parts.'

Unfortunately, our state is one that has yet to adopt a minimum age release law as so many others have.:(

I SO much agree with the others who've posted
 

None of us want to offend you, but you have to be extremely selective in breeding Yorkies, even more so than with most other breeds. Yorkies are very prone to health problems/genetic defects. I have one that has luxating patellas (research on that is conclusive that it's a genetic disorder) and one that has a PSS. There's disagreement in veterinary community about whether that is genetic, but they all agree that dogs that are afflicted by it should never be bred, nor should the parents or siblings be bred after it's identified in the offspring.

My guess is that the breeder knowingly lied to you. I know a lot of breeders, and none of them would choose alternate registration because of the small difference in registration expense. You also won't be likely to get an AKC sire for stud, because people who do responsible AKC breeding don't allow their dogs to breed with untested dogs. Also, as others have said, any half-responsible breeder would never let a puppy go at six weeks old. Eight is the absolute minimum, and ten to twelve is preferable. I won't buy animals (I have both dogs and cats, and used to breed cats) that are younger than ten weeks. They're still bonding with and learning from the mother at that time, and they're too young for some health issues to be apparent at that point.

I truly am not trying to be harsh. I'm very sensitive to this issue because I'm on a campaign to do away with puppy mills. The conditions that you saw are, unfortunately, not uncommon. I'm going to a rally at our state capitol on the 16th to support legislation to stop this, at least in PA.

Please take a look at this thread http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...ppy-story.html