I know reputable breeders that do breed larger males to females that are a bit smaller than them. These are breeder that show and breeders that are members of the YTCA. If everyone continued to always breed down, small male to smaller female then eventually the yorkies would get too small to breed, which is what happens with some people's breeding programs. I would much rather see someone breed a 7 to 8 lb female than a 4 lb female. But like I said before, there is so much more to consider in breeding than just the size of the dog. Over 7 lbs is a fault, just like a bad topline, bad bite, bad front or bad rear. Size is easier to correct than many of the other faults listed. People need to focus on the overall soundness of the dog, study conformation, learn the breed standard and strive for breeding yorkies that most resemble what a yorkie should look like.

As for the personality change, yes, intact males once they are used for breeding will go crazy for 3 weeks when they are around a female in heat. It can get very frustrating trying to keep the male and female separated. As for the marking, I know many people that have intact males that do not mark and I know people with neutered males that do mark. It can be a problem but not always.

Breeding should not be taken lightly. It comes with lots of risk and lots of heartache but it can also be very rewarding.

puppy at 12 weeks is 5lbs 6 oz
 

hello everyone, this is my first post. I am the proud mom of Mr. Darcy. We adopted him on this past friday. I was told he was 4 lbs but at the vet today he topped out at 5 lbs 6 oz. I am a little upset because we were hoping to train him as a family and try to show him, a new adventure for us. I was led to believe he could be akc registered, but he will be disqualified based on what I have read, or is there a chance that he will not grow to over 7 lbs? He is just adorable and I suppose we can just train him for fun without wanting anything more. How does something like this happen and is there any recourse? The vet said he has seen 20 lb akc yorkies come in? That suggests to me that they are not really a true yorkie? Or is something else going on that I just didn't realize. Truth is I will love this guy no matter what his size, we just thought this was going to be a new family adventure that now seems more questionable.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I'll post a pic of him once I figure out how to do it.

Deb

Hi and welcome to YT! Although Mr. Darcy may end up being a little big for conformation showing, you could still do agility and/or obedience, which would be lots of fun.

Yorkies will come in different sizes, from very tiny to quite big, and just because Mr. Darcy might be a little bigger than the standard calls for, it's still likely he is a full blood yorkie.

How old is Darcy? No breeder can tell if a puppy will be show quality until he is a least six months old. Many breeders use the term "show potential" as a marketing ploy.

Show breeders do not just hand show quality dogs over to novices. Most require a co-ownership. You generally have to find a mentor and work closely with her before she will trust you with a show prospect.

Many things besides size go into determining whether or not a Yorkie is worthy of the show ring. It takes a very expert eye to make that determination.

that is great news. I was definitely thinking more of teaching him fun tricks rather than conformity so its great to know he would still be able to do that. We are going to start working with a trainer as a family. He is very smart and so cute. This is a great site, thank you everyone who responded.

Deb

What you are wanting to do is either obedience or rally, not confirmation. For those you do not need to have him within the 7 pound standard. If his parents are AKC, and you got his litter papers to register him with AKC, you can still do this.
Yes, Ladymom is correct - most show breeders will require a co-ownership and will just not sell a show puppy easily to a novice. They will want to make sure you have a mentor where you live or mentor you themself, if you live nearby. There is so much to learn and so much to do right to finish a dog and earn his/her championship. She was also right that you usually cannot tell if you have a show potential pup till they are 6 months. And even then anything can fall apart with the dog before it reaches 1 year old. I hope this breeder that sold you him also has a champion already. Many people will advertise they have a show potential pup and do not even have a champion themself. Be careful of this!!
Best of luck with your new baby and I think you and your family will have a lot of fun with him in Obedience or Rally! Showing is great family fun and allows you time to spend together as a family.
T.

Is there a height standard for Yorkies?
 

I have two Yorkies and my chocolate is 6 pounds and stands 6 inches from the withers to the scapula. While my other Yorkie is 7 to possibly 8 pounds and stands 9 1/2-10 inches from withers to scapula. I'll find out tomorrow how much she weights at vet but she is only 6 months while my chocolate is much smaller and meets more of the breed standards than the other. I was thinking I possibly got a Silky Terrier that was miss papered as a Yorkie or a poorly breed Yorkie due to parents not being properly paired with mom being larger and dad being smaller. Please help?

I'm thinking you might want to make a new post/thread of your own... this thread is from 2009 and many won't see or look at what you wrote because of the age of, or the title of the thread.