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At one time our Yorkie club advertised in the Washington Post...Morris Howard was in charge of it. He ran an ad every few months...Yorkies have not always been easy to sell. I had a litter of champion-sired females (4) about 20 yrs back..I asked $500 for the three I was selling..all were nice girls, not tip top show quality, but good bitches for any foundation...I had no calls for weeks...I ran an ad and sold one, reduced another to $450 and sold her..gave the 4th to a breeder friend for puppies back when she bred her, hoping for a better selling time.

I have seen a time when you could not give a literally male puppy away...then two things happened...I hung around long enough to become known where I lived and Yorkies got POPULAR!!! AND the internet changed the world!!!!

I see nothing wrong in advertising in the local newspapers...I know show breeders who do this...caring for a puppy for months, waiting for a call is not in the puppies best interest IMO...a breeder only has so much time and attention to give...the number one problem I hear is the breeder did not house train and the dog is 6 or 8 months...

I liked some of the web sites..like Shooterdog, Breeders.net, lets people find you instead of the puppymiller...your vet is a wonderful spokesman for a breeder, groomers also. Don't like puppyfind, puppynet and this type of site...

I had business cards made and put them in vets offices.( as dozens of other show breeders do) ...I am not a fan of advertising on pet forums because I see so many problems come from it.

I tell a breeder to do what they feel is ethical, live with your decision..I never defend my decisions regarding my dogs..it is no ones concern but mine...breeders are going to talk about other breeders, you can do everything they think is right and they will still talk about you..so do what you feel is best for your puppies...

As to making money...you can make a lot of money in dogs, I never had the heart to do what it takes...if you put the dog first,as a rule you are lucky to break even over its life time...

Thanks for the replies and insight everyone. It's been extremely helpful, as I've been considering going to shows and learning for the future. I'd love to have approval over my breeding stock, (which is very tiny but will def. require a change in the bitch for sure) but I'm thinking about the future. I'd love to look back 20 years from now and have accomplished such a task as a few here have. It's enlightening to here views concerning showing and non showing.

I agree with you there, And the Vet bills on my dogs that get an illness etc. emergency whelping assistance, emergency care on a bitch that suddenly developed pymetria,
sending a bitch to be bred, paying the flight cost, plus stud service, plus c section that I didn't think would have to be as none of mine have needed a c section only to have two dead pups. Cost in total over $1000 and no pups for me or anyone else. And that's just off the top of my head.
Testing my show/breeding stock and finding the best Vet I can that I know will know what they are looking at in the results. None of these Vets seem to have their clinic anywhere that close by and at minimum I end up an hours drive away one way and sometimes more. Gas here is about $4 + a gallon.
Then there is show costs and time away from work while at dog shows, dog show supplies, entry fees getting there and back. Time away from work awaiting a whelping and until the pups are well on their way that I can leave them a bit longer which is why I have my own dog grooming business that has no benefits no paid leave, no paid medical leave, no paid holiday time, no pension plan.
On another thread, I mentioned a dog I sold, got back 6 mos. later as the owner did not listen to what I told her to do and not do and ruined his temperment. I spent 3 mos of Obedience training with some excellent trainers I work with at my expense to get his confidence back and refunded some of the purchase price to the woman that originally bought him. After all the work and money I put into him, he is doing much better and was rehomed for a small part of what I likely could have sold him for but i knew this was a good home and it is, he is doing great.
Then there was the dog I sold at 3 years of age for $300 that I spent about $1000 on to find out she can't carry a litter including the spay, got back at 14 years when the owner died suddenly of a heart attack. I spent another $500 for her Vet care blood tests dental, etc and she died 4 mos later of kidney failure old age related. I made how much?
Then there was the pup I sold at 12 weeks, developed seizures a month later, I paid for testing and meds, chiro, massage therapy. He outgrew it by a year or so old, is now 8 years old and doing fine. The owner never told me until he was over a year old and weaned off the meds that she dropped him on his head the day she got him which likely is what caused the seizures. You think I got any money back for the Vet bills I covered that turned out to be likely the owners fault? Try no.
This scenario, if you take responsibility for your dogs and puppies is not unusual.
Pups I sell have all three puppy vacc's and most of the time are spayed/neutered which helps get rid of prospective buyers that want to buy sign nonbreeding but breed anyway and sell unregi. or register with a bogus registry.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
And as another breeder show friend told me and likely YorkieRose did too, it doesn't matter if you advertise in newspapers etc, your screening is going to be the same anyway.
I agree with you though also on advertising on pet forums, not something I would ever entertain to do.
My new website is out there to give the info for anyone looking for a reputable breeder and what that would look like. I don't sell puppies on my website, it invites enquiries only and provides a bunch of info. If you haven't seen it yet, I will invite anyone to peruse my site and no nothing on there is for sale and I have nothing for sale this year.
http://loribenyorkys.com/

Just to clairify the cost factor for the puppies. If you breed only dogs that have been check for health and liver shunt tested that will cost you approx 1500 in the midwest, then caring for the bitch while pregnant, x-rays, vitamin supplements another 300.00. Most yorkies DO NOT(within the standard) have 5 puppies, anywhere from 1 - 4 (if your lucky). Then if you have to by chance have a C-section add another 1000.00 and then there is the cost of tails being docked, figure about 30-40 per pup, and if you keep the puppies as long as you should, at least 12 weeks, there is the cost of the shots for them another couple hundred per pup. Add food costs, health checks, bile acid checks, to make sure if you do sell one or two they are healthy. All this applies only to puppies that are healthy, if you happen to be unfortunate enough to have some illness go through the litter figure about another 1000.00. Then if you send your pop out with crate is it used to, toy, food to start with, add some more. You also have the cost of the post whelp check for the mom. Then if you are a show person, you are not going to sell the entire litter, because the reason you bred in the first place was to get a show puppy, so maybe, if you are real lucky, you just broke even. Breeders that do adhere to the standard usually are breeding for show quality, rather than pet quality dogs, and are much more particular in the dogs they select to breed.

Here is my 2 cents, for whatever its worth. I have had two litters prior to the one I have now. I put both in the local newspaper and then I also had signs up in the supermarkets. I have sold all (only 7 puppies) and now I have two more. I think both are sold already. I honestly think if you have a decent puppy, in standard and healthy, after a few litters the puppies will eventually sell from word of mouth, but you need to be above all honest with what you are selling. I tell people straight out, my puppies are not show potential, they are pets. If someone is looking for a show dog I tell them I most likely do not have what they want. (doesn't mean that my dogs aren't perfect) I think that are!;)

And Karen, your dogs are. I enjoyed our visit and meeting Petey for the first time, but seeing Bell, and espiecially Lily, Harley's daughter. I feel the same about my babies. Like you, I believe that I have high pet quality puppies that I want to go to loving forever homes. I have been so lucky to be able to do that even since Lexie throws these huge litters. We raise our babies right in our homes, socialize them, and train them to be a good pet. I love getting emails and little gifts from families who have "my" babies. Did you know that I got a post card from Hawaii...yes one of Lexie's sons went to Hawaii with his new parents!!