For the record I didn't pay thousands for any of mine. None of mine are particularly good representations of the breed and I love them to death and I am grateful they are all healthy. I think my Sugar is the absolute cutest, sweetest, best dog in the whole world and nobody could love a dog more than I love him but guess what? Not a good representation of the breed in appearance or personality (I happen to love his personality btw-it's very maltese like).

There is however, nothing wrong with someone wanting an excellent representation of a yorkie and the only reason the quality was brought up at all is people who did spend money to get it were told they were being ripped off and felt they needed to defend themselves. It was a very rude and argumentative thing to say.

Thank you mscat :D I totally agreed with your post! :thumbup:

I agree with you:thumbup: Also to get a good health quarantee your most likely going to pay more. Nether of mine are good representatives of the breed either but they are my babies. I dont begrudge anyone that wants a good representative. I dont think any less of someone who just wants a good dog for less money either. Thats what I wanted and got with my first one.

No, i totally agree. That was a rude thing to say. I would never tell anyone that they were stupid or got ripped off if they paid more to have a yorkie that more closely matched the breed standard, or was better for breeding or showing than mine. I just thought it was also rude for people, in turn, to say that they paid more for their yorkie because the more expensive yorkies were better dogs and you get what you pay for. Not everyone did this, but a few did.

I don't think the majority of YT feels this way either. :)

They dont! Stick around and you will see

Just curious what is wrong with MO? I bought my precious in Missouri. :confused:

There are alot of puppymills in Missouri and I bet thats what she was talking about

I think the price has a lot to do with quality of care the breeder gives them too.
I bought Scooter before I came to YT, so I didn't know what to look for in a breeder. The lady I bought him from sent his vet records etc. and they said he had his dew claws removed, but there's still one left. The vet said he was a healthy dog and fine to fly (for shipping.) But he was less than 2 lbs. When I picked him up from the airport he was so hypoglaecemic he was almost comatose -- he couldn't pick up his head.
And he wasn't healthy anyway, he has a heart murmur. How can a vet miss that?
I don't know but it doesn't sound like responsible veteranary services to me. She also didn't stand behind her health guarentee when I informed her about his heart murmur.

Don't get me wrong, I love scooter to death. And he was VERY well socialized, and probably one of the politest dogs you'll ever meet, but the quality of care he (and I) recieved from his breeder was crap. She is clearly in it for the money, not the dogs or the breed. But he was only $500.
I think if the breeder cares about their dogs, you'll be paying a lot more for all the care and attention they get when they are still with the breeder.

It's just because whenever I would see dogs at pet stores they always seemed to come from those states so when I was looking for a dog I decided I wouldn't get them from those states (I don't even think I really knew about Puppy Mills then but subconsciously I think that must have been what I thought).

Since this thread has gotten so long and a little OT (which I'm guilty of contributing to:p) here is the original question. I think it is obvious what is important to the OP and I am very, very happy he got a healthy dog. Especially since he thought knowing a dogs lines was for nothing more than bragging rights.:rolleyes:

Maybe you should ask me how SHE died before you presume it was her health.

Thanks for the redirection Nikki! :p

I guess maybe if the size of the dog was the only factor that contributed to price then it would be an easy answer. However, as we all know, it's not.

Yeah that's how it started...actually I think the person who seemed most concerned about pricing and bragging rights may have been the OP.

I brag my dog goes potty outside. :rolleyes:

I get to brag about that too... sometimes...:p