Yes they have definitely changed. The coat has gotten silkier and better growing than the original yorkie. The have also gotten smaller. You will still see different muzzles in the show ring today but a lot of people to prefer a shorter muzzle. A yorkie should never have a smushed muzzle or one that is too short. It also shouldn't be too long. But depending on the breeders preferences, you'll see some variety in muzzles.

Hm
 

I looked at another video on YouTube that "responds" to the Pedigree Dogs Exposed. I'm not sure I agree with him entirely, but he makes some good points.


Among the things he addresses is when a breed trait becomes a deformity. I believe these were his criteria:

- The dog cannot breathe easily under normal conditions.
- The dog cannot keep up with its owner on a brisk walk.
- The dog cannot mate naturally.
- The dog's life span is shorter than average.

So it looks like the yorkie is safe. Whew!

That being said, the documentary was a real eye opener and I encourage people to watch it. Here is part I:
Some of this stuff can't be argued away. I had no idea that German Shepards were being bred for short back legs. That really breaks my heart, and they look awful in my opinion. And a judge saying straight faced that a dog like that is a better representative of the breed than a standard police dog - that would be laughable if it wasn't so sick.

What was not revealed on this interview is that PETA was behind it. That is the reason AKC refused to be interviewed.

PETA showed up in KKK garb at Westminster and were asked to leave by law officers, because they did not have the proper paper work to demonstrate outside the Garden.

As far as testing, YTCA is now implementing a program to have the proper testing conducted on breeding animals.

I did wonder who was behind the show. But when Nightline scheduled the interview with AKC that wasn't PETA - I just think they would have been better off sharing their side. Actually in watch in the BBC program, I was impressed that the Kennel Club gave these people so much time.

I am disgusted to hear about what happened at Westminster - what was the point of the KKK garb?

I am so glad to hear that YTCA is taking some steps - good for them. I really appreciate you taking time to comment.

When I posted this last night it was in a hurry to notify people to turn on the show - I don't think dog shows are a bad thing and was using the words Nightline was using to promo their segment. I was really hoping some show breeders would comment on the issues brought up here.

After watching & reading some of this, I see how little I know about other breeds or their show standards. Some of this is so sad.

It's not that the AKC doesn't want to comment, they will. But, they don't want to do what the UK Kennel club has done and add credence to PETA. They feel by trying to justify is just playing into the hands of animal rights activists.

Yes, there is problems in some breeds and most responsible breeders are working actively to change them and those breeds standards. Remember alot of those standards were written years ago. As time as evolved, breeders have become more in tune with health issues. YTCA and their members have been actively working with vets, genetic specialts, donating money to them to assist in finding genetic markers to eradicate life threatening diseases. But, your YTCA breeders having these tests performed, these people take their breeding seriously, studing the breed, genetics, etc. Our problem is with breeders that don't know what they're doing, your mills, BYB, high volume breeders that do it just to sell puppies. AKC and YTCA can make it manditory for testing. But, then there are other breeders that aren't AKC/YTCA that will fly under the radar.

Animal Rights Activists are radicals that want to do away with your rights in owning pets. That's just putting it mildly. I encourage all to do some investigation on some of these groups and their leaders.

If people knew how show dogs are really treated, they'd want to be a show dog. I know mine are treated like royalty. Special food, excercise, special shampoos, beds, lots of love....and boy do they love to travel. Even after they've retired, they hear those crates being loaded up, watching me pack my suitcase, they get so excited.....wanting to go.

Mardelin, what do you think of the dogs that were shown in the UK documentary?

I'd like to think that KCs take dog health seriously, but I can't believe that such unhealthy dogs are taking home best in breed. Surely there is something wrong there?

I'm not a fan of PETA at all, and I haven't seen the Dateline special. I have to think there is some truth to the accusations though, because it seems like the health provisions in the UK were enacted last month, and your earlier post says the YTCA is working now to add them. I think that's great, but it does seem like a response to public pressure, no? It just seems like if it were all about the health of the dogs, no scrutiny would be required.

I don't doubt that the show dogs themselves are treated fabulously. My concern is their trickle down effect on the breed, both directly by having pups, and indirectly by encouraging extreme standards.

I'm really asking. :)

I can't speak to the UK, but it appeared to me that the buckled under PETA pressure (just my opinion) by not televising Crufts.

YTCA has not just begun to add them, it has been working avedly over the last few years, so it's not under public pressure. YTCA exhibitor/breeders have had a code of conduct and ethics in place since it's inseption. The dreaded disease that plagues our breed is Shunt. Yes, we can bile acid test, however, the test may prove your dog clear of shunt, but it does not reveal whether you dog is a carrier or not. I will honestly tell you I know of no YTCA breeder that would knowingly breed a shunt dog. We do are best to eradicate (and I don't mean by putting down a dog, just not breeding) life threatening diseases. In the case of LP, well it is a problem that plagues toy breeds. In the recent years responsible breeders are taking care not to breed the dogs that have an genetic predisposition to it. That doesn't mean your dog cannot aquire it, by allowing them to jump, etc.

As far as encouraging extreme standards, I'm just glad that things are changing. King Charles Cavaliers have taken great measures in eliminating MVP. Dobermans now have a genetic marker (I can't remember the disease that afflicted that breed). Hip Dysplasia can be determined by x-raying breedable dogs. There is testing being done by reputable breeders, but unless you are involved in the breed and dog world, you really don't know what is being done and believe me there is alot being done.

That's why even something intended to harm (PETA's efforts) can be turned around used for good - if the advances in testing & discussions like this take place. Those changing things just need to have voices louder than PETA and organizations like them

Was PETA behind the UK documentary?

In the response to 'Pets Exposed' that I posted, I believe the guy said that the average 'breeding coefficient' was 5%. He then said that mating with a first cousin is 6.25%. So that sounds like the average dog cross is the same as a first or second cousin mating. This still sounds way too high to me if that's the *average*.

Yes, they were.

There is line breeding but, I don't think that the coefficent values are that close. Since the yorkie breed cannot bred pheno type to pheno type, line breeding is the only way to set type, once your lines are established you pretty much know what your lines will produce. The problem with line breeding is that you can box yourself in and have to breed outside the lines and then you have to be concerned with how the breeding is going to mix genetically.

In the ole days, when well known breeders had the big kennels (which are frowned upon now) the breeders had a wider range of pedigrees within to the kennel to select from.

Thanks, Mardelin. I'm still not sure where I stand with this issue, but I am thinking back on the documentary in a different light now. Like the Caveliers, they are EVERYWHERE in my neighborhood, and it would make a lot more sense if all those dogs are fine and the incidence of the disease described in the documentary was grossly exagerated.

I'm almost impressed by PETA, actually. I had no idea they had the kind of savvy necessary to make that documentary. When I think of PETA, well, I think of people showing up in KKK garb at dog shows. Maybe the UK chapter is better organized or something.

Take a read at this........familiarize yourself and learn the difference between Animal Rights Activists and Animal Welfare Organizations.

Yesterday, Fasseas testified before Chicago City Council and claimed that veterinarians who oppose a spay/neuter mandate are greedy. She said the veterinarians care only about protecting their business interests. Both the city and state veterinary medical associations have opposed the mandate because it enables government to make medical decisions for a pet that should be made only by medical professionals.

Her testimony came only hours before tragedy struck the home of talk show superstar Oprah Winfrey, who adopted two puppies from the Pets Are Worth Saving (PAWS) animal shelter that is operated by Fasseas. An outspoken disciple of the radical Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Fasseas founded the PAWS program and remains chairman of its board.

Winfrey lost one of those puppies to dreaded parvovirus, which apparently was contacted while it was living at the PAWS shelter, the American Sporting Dog Alliance (ASDA) has learned. In addition, PAWS shelter staff took some of the puppy’s littermates to the Oprah Show, and a beloved puppy previously obtained by Winfrey was exposed to the deadly disease and now shows symptoms of it.

Winfrey reportedly is fighting now to save the second puppy’s life. Emergency clinic veterinarians, whom Fasseas accused of being greedy, have fought round the clock to help Winfrey to try to save the two puppies.

PAWS recently completed a luxurious $9 million shelter to house only 20-plus animals in separate rooms, tour guides report. Crystal chandeliers adorn the lobby, and fund-raisers are diamond-studded black-tie affairs. It’s a pretty cushy set-up, and the PAWS board has been very successful in attracting large donations from wealthy people and companies. PAWS is known for taking the most desirable and easily adoptable dogs from local animal shelters, and then putting them up for adoption. So-called donations to purchase a puppy from PAWS reportedly range upward from $200.

Unfortunately, the PAWS staff and Fasseas apparently haven’t learned the basics of disease management and prevention in an animal shelter with a constant turnover of dogs from many different sources, and the puppies and Winfrey have paid the price.

It also is ironic that Fasseas has been critical of private breeders, commercial kennels and pet stores for allegedly selling many puppies that are seriously ill. Fasseas echoes animal rights movement propaganda that people who raise dogs sacrifice their dogs’ health for money and profit.

It is tragically ironic that Winfrey also has adopted this HSUS stance, and a special report she aired last year on “puppy mills” pointed to the disease allegations and touted rescue programs as a preferred alternative.

The American Sporting Dog Alliance has documented the trail of the sick puppies to Winfrey’s doorstep. This is the way the story unfolded.

Angela M. Brown, a Chicago woman who is active in the rescue movement, obtained an American cocker spaniel bitch from a relative in South Carolina. The dog was in poor shape, and Brown soon realized that the dog was pregnant.

Weeks later, eleven puppies were born. Brown took great care of the bitch and her puppies, and appears to have done everything right. One of the puppies died at a vey young age, three were adopted to private parties, and seven were relinquished to the PAWS shelter “in mid February when they were 9 weeks old,” according to the rescuer’s website.

Winfrey obtained one of those puppies from the PAWS shelter. She named the precious female puppy “Sadie,” and introduced her on the Oprah Show. Sadie apparently did not have parvovirus, but Winfrey reported that she was up all night with the puppy the day after she obtained it from the PAWS shelter. She said the puppy had “a little virus.”

Winfrey fell in love with Sadie and asked to adopt a second puppy, which was a male named Ivan. Ivan and some of his littermates appeared on the Oprah Show on March 6.

But Ivan came down with a serious illness at some point after Winfrey took him home, and she rushed him to an emergency veterinary clinic. Ivan was diagnosed with parvovirus and died last night. The disease is most often fatal to young puppies, which are very susceptible if they are exposed to it. Parvovirus is highly contagious and is spread very easily.

Based on the dates when the puppies were relinquished to PAWS and the appearance of the remaining littermates on the Oprah Show, it would appear that the puppies were exposed to parvovirus at the PAWS shelter. They would have clearly been at the PAWS shelter during the incubation period for the deadly disease.

During this period, PAWS personnel brought some remaining littermates to the Oprah Show for exposure to a national audience. As it turned out, at least some of the remaining littermates were infected with parvovirus. The infected puppies also came into contact with other guests on the show, and possibly with show staff members and people in the audience.

Winfrey’s beloved Sadie also was exposed to the litter on the TV show, and reportedly came down with the disease. Sadie’s fate remains uncertain.

It is not known if any of the puppies were vaccinated against parvovirus at the PAWS shelter, or if they were isolated from the general population of dogs. These are standard disease prevention and management practices for young puppies with undeveloped immune systems.

The American Sporting Dog Alliance offers our prayers for the speedy and full recovery of Sadie, and also for the continuation of the fine work done by many Chicago rescue and sheltering programs, which are among the finest in the nation. Our hearts go out to Winfrey.

Here is an example of the animal rights movement propaganda that is published on the PAWS website: “Inhumane ‘backyard breeders’ have found a profit-center in exploiting pets that are often used in dogfighting, other illegal activities or simply given up when no longer wanted…Many backyard breeders keep pets in inhumane conditions and are not registered or inspected. This ordinance will require registration of breeders and a mechanism to monitor that breeders engage in safe and humane practices.”

We have found that people who live in glass houses should be careful about throwing stones.

The American Sporting Dog Alliance represents owners, breeders and professionals who work with breeds of dogs that are used for hunting. We also welcome people who work with other breeds, as legislative issues affect all of us. We are a grassroots movement working to protect the rights of dog owners, and to assure that the traditional relationships between dogs and humans maintains its rightful place in American society and life.

The American Sporting Dog Alliance also needs your help so that we can continue to work to protect the rights of dog owners. Your membership, participation and support are truly essential to the success of our mission. We are funded solely by your donations in order to maintain strict independence.

Well, not everyone here supports the American Sporting Dog Alliance. I wish people would keep in mind that a pup died, not who its owner was. The focus should be on preventing things like this happening in the future at this shelter, regardless of who founded it.

There is a thread discussing this news in the "articles" section, btw.

[QUOTE=QuickSilver;2522475]Well, not everyone here supports the American Sporting Dog Alliance. I wish people would keep in mind that a pup died, not who its owner was. The focus should be on preventing things like this happening in the future at this shelter, regardless of who founded it.

There is a thread discussing this news in the "articles" section, btw.[/QUOT

I did not post the article to cause contreversy, but to make a point that Animal Rights Activits should not be so quick to point fingers. I don't care who is running a shelter for rescues, that the welfare of the animals should be first and foremost. I don't care who rescues/adopts from whatever facility that they can feel confident that their pet was giving excellent care and every percaution was made that the pet is protected.

I use that exact same argument when show breeders insist that they are bettering the breed.

I'm sure many do want to better the breed, but when you are breeding for one particular trait withut considering the health of the dog, it is just not right.

You have to blame the idiots who set the stndards, and the judges who choose those dogs over the others.