All purebred dogs have a pedigree. It's the canine equivalent of a family tree. A well bred dog has lots of champions (usually in red) in its pedigree. You want to see the champions in close relatives, parents, grandparents, not generations back.

A dog with a good pedigree tells you that the breeder has had her breeding dogs evaluated by judges in the ring. Why is that important? Because it means you will get a puppy who will grow up to look and act close to what the standard calls for. The proper structure is not just about looks. Knock knees or feet that turn out put stress on the joints and can cause problems later on. A good pedigree means that a breeder knows her lines and screens for genetic conditions and probably health tests to insure that she only produce healthy puppies.

If it's very slight it could tighten up as they get older. She might wind up being just fine. :)

I hope so! If not oh well, I got her knowing that I may have to have things done for her or my other pets and I have the means if the time comes. I wouldn't trade her for anything. Its just like having doctors bills for myself and my kids and you just save for emergency times.

Thanks for the info! Mine has no champions in her family tree.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Great post, I read so often people saying since they aren't going to breed or show so they don't need to buy a dog with a pedigree and/or papers. I think it's so important to support those breeders who are trying their best to improve the breed.

Hey everyone! Thanks so much for all of your help. :) so I ended up asking her for a health guarantee but the said "I'm afraid I'd have to charge a lot more if I provided a health guarantee. The parents have had 3 previous litters and none of them had any problems". Is it okay if the parents have had 3 previous litters or is that considered too much? She went on to say that the puppy can go into a coma if he plays too much and she'd give me an information sheet before I leave. Does all that sound alright? Should I take my chances without a health guarantee? I'm just scared of something happening and being stuck with a huge bill in the end like the poster who had to pay $1600. And why is it that they can go into a coma with too much playtime?

She's referring to hypoglycemia where the blood sugar drops dangerously low. It can be triggered by exercise and yes, puppies can go into a coma and die if not treated quickly. It's usually just a problem in the first few months, not a lifelong problem.

Hypoglycemia, although scary and something to watch for, is not the purpose of a health guarantee. You want a breeder who will stand behind her puppies should one have a genetic disorder like a liver shunt, Legg-Perthes, etc.

I would certainly not take my chances on a puppy with no health guarantee. I'm sure this breeder isn't doing any health testing or screening so the genetic makeup of these puppies is probably unknown. Read through the posts in our Sick and Injured and Health sections and you will see all the genetic problems Yorkies are prone to, especially liver shunts and luxating patellas.

My best advice is save a little bit more and get a well bred puppy from a reputable breeder. If not, you run the risk of huge vet bills and heartbreak later on. My Lady is a rescue and poorly bred and her medications and routine bloodwork to monitor all her health issues run $5,000 a year. That doesn't include unplanned vet visits when she is sick. We usually have at least one a year (this year we have had two) and they run between $500-700.

This woman sounds more like a hobby breeder than a puppymill. She probably has a couple liters a year of pups and knows enough about breeding. I'd ask for a health guarantee. The fact that the pup has no papers means little if you are just looking for a pet to love. I wouldn't breed your baby.

How many dogs were at her house? Did you go to her house? Was it clean? $400-$600 is a good price for a pup with no papers, putting the dog on 'sale' is a red flag for me, but she might have her reasons. I tend to be a bit naive though and trust others right off the bat. If you get a health guarantee, saw the parents and are happy with the pup and feel it is a good fit, then go for it.

(don't bash me for saying this)

:thumbup:

It comes down to, do you want to take the chance without a guarantee?
Rescuing or adopting is different in that you are taking on their problems willingly if they have any and doing what the old owner couldn't or did not want to do (in some cases). This is a breeder and most good breeders offer health guarantees and do pre breed testing.

As Ladymom said, hypoglycemia is not what a guarantee is for in most cases unless maybe it becomes a huge problem. Dogs can get it faster if they exercise because their energy and sugar is being depleted, however, that is no reason not to let them play. If they are fed often and don't come to the new owner before twelve weeks, it shouldn't be a big issue.

I would like to add one more thing about registration. The reason many purebreds aren't registered is one -- they are not purebreds, or two -- the breeders own dogs were purchased without breeding rights. Buying a quality dog with breeding rights is usually more expensive, and many people just get around this by going ahead and breeding anyway and not registering the puppies at all, or registering with one of the alternative registries, who don't care if you didn't have breeding rights. To me, this is the same as stealing. When you buy a puppy from a breeder like this, you are aiding her in this fraud. Some people would never dream of stealing something from your house, but have no problem buying suspected stolen goods, and to me this is the same thing. Papers do mean something, they just don't mean that the dog you have is any better than another.

That's the thing. She said that if she were to offer a health guarantee, the price for the puppies would be a lot more. She just left it at that. Originally the puppy was $600 and even at that price, she wasn't giving a health guarantee. She just said that she had no problems with the previous litters or the sire and dam so maybe that would put my mind to ease.
I did go to her house but we only stayed in the front enterance. The dogs that we saw were the sire and dam and the puppy i am interested in buying. We didn't see the puppy's sister. She also had one more dog that i saw that was very big and white (not sure of the breed). She had 2 birds in a cage as well and although we didn't see any, she said that she also owned 4 cats.
The house from what we saw was kept moderately clean. It smelled of smoke but that's about it. It was in a very secluded area which was an hour and a half away from where i live.
I am not planning on breeding the puppy, i just simply want a pet. I know that with a pedigree it pretty much tells you whether the puppy is purebred but to be honest, if he has like 1/3 or whatever of another breed, it doesn't really make a difference to me because like i said, i'm looking for a pet that i can love - not a puppy to breed. I'm just kind of scared to take her word for it. She seems like a really nice woman and i absolutely fell in love with the puppy when i saw him but i don't want to be stuck afterwards with huge vet bills. I understand that i will obviously be paying vet bills but if i'm paying money for him, i'd like to feel at ease that he'll be safe from serious disease for at least the first year. I know it can't be guaranteed but i've read posts from other posters here saying that some of their puppies got sick within the first week of getting them and they were stuck paying up to $1000's more.

Do you guys think that i should maybe ask her if i could take the puppy to my own vet and get him checked out before...since she is not offering a health guarantee?

Thanks again!

You can take the puppy to your vet, but unless the puppy is sick now, your vet won't be able to predict his future health. Many genetic diseases don't show symptoms for several years and there is no test to look for genetic markers. That's why it's so important to get a puppy from a breeder who knows her lines generations back and health tests the dogs she breeds for liver disease, luxating patellas, eyes, thyroid function, etc. As I said earlier, just read the Sick and Health sections and you will see all the Yorkies with liver disease. With Yorkies having 36 times more liver shunts than all other breeds combined, I personally would not even consider getting a puppy from anyone who did not know if her lines were free of shunts and had bile acid tested the parents.

Again, my Lady was perfectly healthy until she was four years old. She now has a laundry list of diseases including epilepsy and diabetes (she has to get insulin shots twice a day) and her medications and diabetic supplies run $5,000 a year.

Bargain puppies can be no bargain in the long run.

Well... I think that there is no perfect puppy and there are always risks one just has to take. You mentioned that you are able to afford vet bills and there will be vet bills, if not now then later. A big junk of luck always plays a role in the purchase of a puppy. The puppies with a long pedigree and health guarantee are way more expensive and run from $1,000 upwards and can get sick too...

Maybe you could give this a thought: since you are a first time Yorkie owner you might look into adopting a puppy or an older one from a rescue organisation. Those babies are always already spayed/neutered, health monitored, vaccinated, mostly house broken and the foster parents can tell you about there likes and dislikes. You would also not have to worry about somebody trying to pull a scam on you and above all you would give a poor homeless baby the chance of a new life... :)

I wish I would have read this before I went looking for a puppy! I love my Sophie and wouldn't trade her for anything but you have some really good points!

And at least you are doing your research BEFORE you take one home. Good luck. Rescue puppy, Backyard breader, pets store or pound they all need homes and some love!

I didn't get a health guarantee when I bought my boys. They were $750 each and came with the paperwork for me to file them for AKC. I did not register them since I had them fixed and had no intentions of breeding, showing, etc. They were just pets. Her vet gave them a clean bill of health, and my vet did too for the most part. One of them had a heart murmur, but it was not horrible and it closed up within a year. I know I was lucky that they are so healthy, you could be too. Or not. I respect breeders very much and all the work they do to ensure a great pup, but I don't think hobby breeders are bad people breeding bad dogs either. If you cannot get a health guarantee without jacking up the price of the pup, then take the pup to your vet (maybe she'll pick up the price of that) and have him examed there for your own comfort. Make sure the vet checks for yorkie/small breed congenital things. However some won't be known at this young of an age yet. I think there is a test for live shunt and for LP, along with some other tests to make sure he is healthy.