Breeding for Tinies
 

I am not trying to be controversial here, really I am not, but I am wondering why there is such opposition to breeding tiny dogs? What would be wrong with trying to responsibly establish a separate breed type of Yorkie that is smaller than the current Standard? And I mean responsibly, slowly and with health, genetics and breed type kept in mind, over many generations getting a mini-yorkie? Poodles have 3 sizes in their Standard, so do Schanuzers, I believe, and all breeds deviated from a common dog in some way, why such opposition to a small yorkie, if the original, current standard is not compromised in the process?
PS I saw the most adorable giant yorkie at Petsmart today. His owner said he was 17 pounds, just never stopped growing. He was gorgeous!

I might be wrong, but all the threads I have read about Tinie Yorkies are about the out of this world price tag. It also seems the high risk of medical problems.

To establish a new breed is a whole different ball park for me.

I breed to enhance and compliment the breed, within all the AKC Standards for Yorkshire Terriers.

Good Luck

A Rat!!!!!!!!!!
Now that's funny, Yorkie Rat! ha, ha, ha, :grin2: :yelrotflm :grin2: :yelrotflm

they are already small! i don't want one any tinier!! everytime i step down i have to make sure tucker isn't under my feet (he seems to like it under there :rolleyes: ) they can also have some health problems, it just isn't healthy!!

No, I am not a breeder, and no, I don't want a yorkie rat either, I just see all the controversial threads on tiny yorkies, and they do seem to be in demand, (gauged by the exorbitant prices), I was just wondering why responsible breeders not try to breed for them? And again, I have zero interest in breeding, and I wasn't looking to be sarcastic or argumentative, just wondering if there is such a demand, why not supply it?

Poodles and Schnauzer have 3 sizes but they are (Schnauzer) giant, standard and miniature or (Poodle) standard, miniature and toy. Basically, large, medium and small not toy, tiny and so teeny you won't be able to see them with the naked eye. I kid but seriously where do you draw the line? What are people doing with these dogs that they want them so small?
There is a demand for a lot of things in this world that should not be supplied. Not trying to offend you.

..qna
 

Hi ... um i think im reading this right back in the 60's akc had diffrent size catagories it was 5 pounds and under and over five but was not to exceed 12 pounds this is out of the complete yorkshire terrier by joan b Gordon and Janet E bennett *yorkie book of the early 70's
my vet says there are no aditional health risks by having smaller dogs ..but i dissagree my dog piglet had one litter and i fixed her after csection small ones can have more issues to gas also and hypoglycema i could sell piglets girls for tons of bucks but choose to put them on limited registration and have a hard core health screening and hard core screening of parents all my girls have to have a mom or dad who will take them with them to work with them or work out of home Tinys sugar drops so fast that by the time someone gets home from work the damage would be done !

The existing yorkie toy standard IS ALREADY the bred down, tiniest size of this breed. The foundation size of this breed was much larger than the yorkies you see today. That is why you will occasionally see a throwback, larger pup.
There are ranges that are reasonable within a breed type. Below that range the optimum health issues are pushed sorely to the limits. People that attempt to breed smaller and smaller sizes are crossing litter 'runts' to 'runts'. As a general rule, the runt of a litter is not the healthiest specimen and will be more likely to have serious health issues.
Why did Poodle and Schnauzer breeders limit to a certain size? Have you seen a 1 1/2 lb Schnauzer? There are limits that make sense.
If you need to have a dog smaller than 3lbs, get a Chinchilla.
The biggest reason it is so disturbing to see the astronomical price tags on 'tinies', is the fact that in encourages unscrupulous people to breed down for big bucks. If it was a good idea to go smaller than the existing standard we would see divisions according to size already established within the standard.

excellent post. There are so many risk factors in breeding small dogs. I don't know how a breeder can live with themselves if their 3 or 4 lb female has to have a c-section every time they are bred. That is cruel and unfair. A female that small has a slim chance of delivering normally. Yes, people charge a lot more for the runts or tinies. We had one yesterday trying to sell a tiny for $8500 plus it had health issues. If a 5 lbs yorkie is too big for someone, they need to look to a different type of animal.

Excellent posts all of you !! I get so sad when I hear about theses small females being bred so small just for profit. The caring breeders all know what they're talking about ...and anyone intentionally breeding tinies has ulterior motives for doing this....money

I agree with you Villette, but I wanted to add something. I am obviously not a breeder, but I TRULY appreciate those who uphold the breed standard. I like the feisty little dog that I have. I think that breeding for temperment and weeding out genetic defects is very important. Its hearbreaking (to me) to see people having litter after litter of dogs that they know nothing about. Sometimes when I see the parents owned by people who don't really give a $hit, I think that they are really screwing up the breed.

Tinies and 'extreme tinies' (as coined by one of our members) do not impress me. I have seen some adorable babies who are 3lbs or less, but I don't think that the entire Yorkshire Terrier breed should look like them nor should people be breeding for them -- Especially if they're going to breed 2.5 or 3lb dams.

The tiny babies happen enough in a normal breeding program. Talk to someone who has had a premature human child and all the problems they go through. Many of the tiny yorkie babies are just like that human child. The smaller they are the more health problems they can have, shorter life expectancy, immune problems and on and on. Are they more expensive? Yes sometimes due to the amount of extra time, money and care the breeder has put into raising them.


No thank you I would rather stick a watermelon up my nose then to try and just breed for the little ones.

The Yorkshire Terrier is already a small dog , why having them smaller .

Just walk away Chucky,,, just walk away. <~~~~ from rugrats. LOL That's what I am going to do with this one! Walk away!

CHINCHILLA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH :animal36

Sorry I just thought that was a hilarious point! :p

I am not a breeder but I think it is very wrong to breed tinies. A Tiny female would need a c section and she could die. Plus I think the breed standard should be followed. There are alot of health problems with the small yorkies.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
I like what you wrote. I have, what I consider to be, a 'tiny'. My little Kia is 4#s. Very tiny body, very tiny bones. She came from a very reputable breeder that does NOT breed for the tinies. I signed, (willingly, happily, gratefully) a spay agreement. I can't imagine breeding this tiny girl.

It's a lot of extra responsibility to have a tiny, and I'm a nervous wreck when anthing medical arises. We almost lost her this past spring to her rabies shot. I never leave her home alone for more than 3 hours tops.

Thanks.

That was uncalled for and unnecessary imo. :(
There are really small chihuahua's and yorkies and trust me...they are all dog!!

How big is Piglet?

Chloe is only 3 pounds and I really hope she gets bigger. She's almost 5 months old so I am hoping for around 5 lbs. at least. She is so so tiny, I could not imagine her having babies. These tiny babies are so delicate...you have to watch them every second...and even then, they can hurt themselves. I did not purchase her thinking she was a tiny...my breeder said she would be about 5 lbs, but I just don't know...she is a very petite little girl!!! Anyway, I am totally against breeding any baby girl under 5 lbs. I know I don't respond to a lot of threads, but this just touches my heart.
Joy

You Rock :) I love hearing those kind of statements.

I have two two lb babies. One came out of my 5 lb girl, so we kept her and had her spayed. Luckily she turned out to be fiesty and healthy as the mom. I went looking for a little bf for my sugar and ran across another tiney. Got him for a really fair price. He weighs only 2 lbs and the only thing bad that has happenned to him was my hubby dropped a piece of steak on the floor and he got choked on it, so off to the vet we ran. He was fine and still is. My first yorkie died of kidney failure and she was 2lbs at four month of age. All of these little babies are fragile i think, but for sure I would never breed a dog under 5 lbs. I have bred my little two lb male and had some beautiful pups ranging from 4 to 5.5 lbs. I call the people who buy my babies to see what goes on in my babies lives.I like to know if my babies are ok and that the owner is ok . So far so good:)

I would never breed a female under 5 lbs. even then it would scare me.

Piglet is now 3.6 oz but before breeding she was stable at almost 4 pounds and the vet said she should be fine .. she is but it was too rough on me she was fixed. I and found out how lucky i was she didnt pass away durring anestesia *miss spelling* though like Kathy said even when you breed large yorkies smaller babies are possible Bettys last years litter produced a 2 pound girl and daddy is 6 pounds and so is mom !

I thought this was kind of funny. Clearly she is being facetious.

Man, I would have thought that after making 5912 posts that would be obvious to you.

:cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:

You and me both!!

To be honest, when I was looking for Coco, I PURPOSELY looked for tiny yorkie. I didn't know much when I started my search but I got a ton of information from the YTCA folks and other breeders that I had extensive conversations with. I understood the health risks, and was ready to handle it if need be. Yorkies, I agree, are already tiny and small but I think we don't quite realize how small 3lbs is. When I got Coco that first day, my jaw dropped. She was like in MY PALM. I didn't think she'd be that tiny. I took great care but was super careful and sometimes scared. Personally I think that these dogs are small enough and having a tiny myself, sometimes it's scary the kind of troubles these little runts can get into. While I have never had any health problems (knocking on wood) with Coco and her size not even hypoglycemia, encouraging breeding for tinies allows many irresposible people to join in for the money. So no I don't think they should breed yorkies to make tinies. Sometimes you get tinies anyway, even if it's not the intention, why not just leave it at that? I don't like the idea of a poor small female being put through that horrible ordeal. BUT I DO LOVE MY TINY GIRL, SHE'S MY WORLD AND SHE LOOKS NOTHING LIKE A RAT. :p