Glad I didn't know then what I know now!!
 

I have a confession to make..... I bought Nala from a breeder I found on ebay.... I didn't know better. I googled Yorkie puppys for sale and ebay is where I landed. I fell in love with her the second I saw her picture. The breeder didn't really ask me any questions about my home or my family. There was no contract, and she didn't even tell me what to feed her. When I picked her up, the breeder's daughter was crying and she told her not to worry the puppy was going to a good home with good people. I wondered then how in the world she knew I was "good people" since she hadn't bothered to ask me any questions about myself or my family or where this puppy was going to be living. :confused: When we got Nala home, her little ears smelled really bad,:eek: so I gave her a bath as soon as we got home. Poor baby must have been traumatized. She was only 9 weeks old and weighed 1 lb 7ozs. Again, I didn't know better. I took her to the vet the very next day as I had picked her up on a Sunday. The poor baby had ear mites!!:mad: I can't believe this lady did not know she was selling me a puppy with ear mites!! I called her to tell her that Nala had ear mites (cost me $$$, which I didn't mention) and she would need to seek treatment for her other pups and momma and daddy which lived with her. She said thank you.... and hung up!!! That was it.... she didn't even ask about the little puppy that she had said was being raised in her home with her family. That was the last time I have spoken with her and she lives in my town!!
Nala is now on TOTW (thanks to YT) and has a clean bill of health so far and she is PRECIOUS!!!! She will be 24 weeks old in 2 days and weighs almost 4 lbs. I am so glad we have her and can't imagine her living anywhere else, but I would never buy another pup this way, thanks to the great peeps at YT. I have learned soooo much from this site and it has helped me take such good care of our little princess. I usually research everything to death... not sure why I didn't do a better job of researching this... I guess I just wanted that sweet little baby I saw in the picture. I have since learned from YT that we have a wonderful breeder about 12 miles from where I live. I will remember that when I am ready to look for Nala a sister, but I'm kind of glad I didn't know that when we got Nala or we wouldn't have her and since her breeder didn't check me out who knows who would have bought her!!
Thank you YT members for so much valuable information... I have been stalking the forums for quite some time now.

So glad it all worked out for the best! I too, bought my Bevo without knowledge. Thankfully, other than a broken leg (he fell off the couch as a pup when he was really excited!) be has had no issues! I think in some way we "rescue" these pups from potential bad homes. I know my baby is well cared for and extremely loved. I did pay a high price for him initially but he is so worth it! I wish you and your baby the very best!

Wow what a story, you're the first Ebay puppy buyer I've read about. Glad Nala doesn't have any serious genetic defects, that's what I worry about most when dealing with backyard breeders. Also, as long as they are selling dogs, they will continue to produce them, and you wonder about the care given to the breeding pups. Glad everything worked out okay, and I hope you continue to educate others on what to look for in a good breeder. Lol, tip, good breeders don't sell on Ebay! :D

Ditto!!

I can't believe I purchased my pup on ebay... knowing what I know now. You should have seen the look I got from my vet's face when I mentioned that I found her on ebay. I didn't know what that was about at the time. This lady has the mom and dad and she breeds them once a year, I think, from something she said. Not sure how many litters she has had. I do let people in my town know about her and that is not a good way to get a pup. People ask me where I got Nala all of the time, because she is so darn cute, and I always tell them about YT and what I have learned about searching for proper breeders. :D I am a work in progress!

Hi Robin,

I feel the same way...I wouldn't trade our Lucy Belle for anything. BUT. I didn't know...until I got on YT. I didn't even know what a puppy mill or backyard breeder was. All I knew is that my teen daughter had been begging for a yorkiepoo. We DID look up different small dog breeds and read about them and still decided on a yorkiepoo. But we bought Lucy from a local breeder and even though she's been doing this for a very long time, I had never heard of her. And we live in a rural area..not a booming metropolis. A friend got a yorkie from her and told us about them. Once we got there, I saw that she had many different breeds, not just yorkies....and there were other things, too...I had a hestitation about buying from her but the kids had already met and fell in love with Lucy...and they pooled their money to pay for half of her fee. Plus, the breeder was really very sweet. I couldn't recommend this breeder to anyone else, though, because of my hesitations..... BUT....we have Lucy. She is precious to us.

Thanks Pajama Mama! I am thankful I have learned so much from YT, but I would not take anything for sweet Nala. Fortunately she is healthy so far, but I have purchased pet insurance in case any problems arise. Our breeder was only breeding this one set of dogs AS FAR AS I KNOW... but I can't be certain. I just think she didn't really know what she was doing. She didn't seem to love these babies the way the breeders I read about on YT do. I am appalled now that there was no contract, but I didn't know better then. She also never asked if I planed to have her spayed or not! I do plan to have her spayed btw. So thankful we are Nala's family instead of someone else and so thankful I found YT.

I am so happy for you that things have worked out well. You are right! You are so in love with Nala and who knows where she would have ended up? I think she's a very lucky little girl.:)

I've seen a breeder or two that is supposedly highly recommended on here that lists pups for sale on Ebay in my area.....hhhmmm....

....I second that. Along with kijjiji and a few others. Hmmm is right...

and it's illegal to sell anything live on ebay...how disgraceful.

it's allowed on ebay classifieds.

Don't feel bad
I feel the same way...only I naively contacted a breeder whom was re-homing an older dog..(my Elvis when he was about 2 yrs).
I felt so prepared and informed with my list of tough screening questions and thinking it was no big deal to get a dog from the other side of the country...I got all the right answers...oh boy was I naive!

I verified nothing and received no proof just words.

Just about everything was lie. Shocker I know right...
The 'I thought I knew what I was doing' bubble was burst rather quickly when Elvis arrived with flea poop, bad teeth, worms, and all his joints popping when he moved--arthritis.
It was the seizures he had a couple months after I got him that were the icing on the cake...be glad it was eat mites...I've spent several thousand now and he's only stabilized...no cure here.
Thankfully there is a YT to save us all from making the same mistake twice, educating us on to deal with these issue from a more personal level that vets can provide and oh the support that comes comes from here!

Hopefully potential first time puppy (or dog) adopters will learn from these experiences and be saved the heart ache (although even when given the opportunity I chose to keep Elvis and deal with his problems) and for those of us that learned the hard way...we can share the details for what to change and fine tune it for next time.
Not to mention YT has some really great breeders you can get to know here.

Did you have her bile acid tested yet?

I guess I will clarify...it was ebay classified... not just ebay. But is that not the same??? I didn't even know you could purchase pets on ebay, but I also wasn't really aware of how to find a reputable breeder either. I googled Yorkie puppies for sale near my area and ebay classified is where I ended up. The breeder lives in my home town, so I did not have to travel to get her. She was 10 minutes from my home. This was the first time I have purchased a puppy, as my other dog is a wonderful mixed breed given to me by a friend. She is 13 yrs old and has never had health issues, so I didn't really know I should be so careful when purchasing a new pup. I wasn't educated about byb or puppymills until I found YT. I will be much more prepared next time as well as being able to warn others I know who may not know better. I am thankful to have this information now, but I am still so glad that I have Nala because I am so in love with her.
Unless the acid bile test was done with her initial work up, and I don't think it was, she has not been tested. I didn't know I should because she has had no issues other than the ear mites. I will be sure to get that tested. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. Nala is happy and seems quite healthy and my vet seems to think she is healthy... I sure hope so, but if not I will deal with it and at least she has a family who will do whatever is needed to keep her healthy.
I'm not sure if this breeder is greedy or just not educated about breeding. I don't think she breeds any other dogs other than Nala's mom and dad, and they live in her home, along with a puppy they kept from her litter the year before. I didn't know at the time that there should have been a contract, but I was surprised at her reaction to the ear mites. I wasn't asking her to pay for the treatment, I just wanted her to be aware that she needed to take care of her other pups and mom and dad. I would never recommend her to anyone!

I'm so happy that things have worked out so well for you and your pup.

In terms of the Bile Acid Testing, if you plan on having her spayed soon, then as part of the pre-op blood work, you can ask for a bile acid test to be done.
In the library there is Jean Dodd's protocol on bile acid testing, you can review and print out if need be for your vet.

I didn't know about puppy mills and byb until after I already got Molly and found YT online. She came from pet land, fortunately I did contact the breeder and go meet with them. They were nice but had about 20 dif. Breeds, :O. I can at least say it was clean and all the dogs seemed healthy, however I know now when I get my next fur baby I will go to a reputable breeder and not take a gamble. The only health problem is after 3 days home she came down with kennel cough and we are still fighting it. But I am glad I got her, there were lots of little kids there and a lady with about a 1 year old and 2 kids a little older were ready to take Molly to buy the second I was done holding her so I decided right then she was coming home with me to be my fur baby!!! I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world!!!

Thanks so much for the info on the bile acid testing, Gemy!! I will definitely to that. We have been waiting to have her spayed because she was so small.

Seriously? I mean I know there are "reviews" where people have just purchased a dog, and they "highly recommend" the breeder, but I never take those seriously, and think the breeder probably encouraged them to write the review. :p As many have said before, just because a breeder is a member of Yorkietalk, it doesn't mean that they are a good breeder, all it means is that they have access to the Internet.

On the plus side, at least the buyer will see how the dogs are raised, it really bothers me when people do not take the time to do this, and just accepts the notion that the breeder "loves" her dogs.

loaf... My baby is precious and I am glad I have her regardless of who I got her from. As you say, "ear mites are NBD", I guess, other than the $129 that it cost me to get rid of them. If I had sold that puppy for several hundred dollars and the next day I was informed that she had ear mites, I hope I would have offered to reimburse the buyer for the treatment. Granted, I did not ask for reimbursement, but when I called to tell her the puppy had ear mites she said "thank you" and hung up. Does that sound like a reputable breeder? Really, I would have spent any amount of money on Nala, because I am in love with her, so the money wasn't as much of an issue as the fact that she just didn't seem very concerned.
I have not mentioned this lady's name on here or anywhere else, and just because I would not recommend her does not mean I have ruined her in any way. I have told my story to help educated people who may not know how important it is to find a reputable breeder, but I have not told who this person is. After reading so much on YT, I realize there should have been a contract with my puppy and I didn't know to ask for one and she never offered one.
Should there have been a contract and how should the ear mite issue have been taken care of? OR was the breeder correct and I am wrong? When I am wrong, I take ownership and admit I am human. Just wondering?

Let me clarify... when I tell people about where or how I got my pup, I do tell them I found her on ebay classifieds. I also tell them my breeder was local and breeds in her home. I DO NOT give her name! Only information that may help them find a reputable breeder that will offer a contract and support.

IMHO ear mites happen right...Elvis was supposedly "dewormed" before he was sent to me...and he arrived with all three stages of whip worms...I too called the breeder to let her know and ask how this was possible if she said she wormed on a regular schedule, and that she probably needed to treat the rest of her dogs-told me it must have slipped her mind...and then that he probably had gotten them since he was with me...ugh he had all three stages of them, we don't get whip worms in my area, ye that and they were found in the fecal sample we brought to his initial vet check within 48 hours of him arriving here...

I feel it happens right but depending on how someone deals with things liek worms, mites etc...now the rest of the issues here I'm going with ear mites were indicative of showing this person is not a breeder to be recommended...lolaf seems to have a bit of a chip on the subject considering you did not name the breeder...but I'd agree if the only issue was ear mites...no it's not something to really bad mouth someone over unless they truly were rude about it or something that would show their ability to conduct business in a professional manner as well as responsible breeder. I spent just under a couple thousand on my dog, in purchase and then a couple thousand in medical bills right after I got him...so personally I'd take ear mites and a healthy pup any day...I'd have called it good with worms, teeth issues, arthritis and coat issues...live and learn & DO NOT REFER OR MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE TWICE

Why not? It's just advertising just like any other website. I could have breeders in my area and not know about them or that they happen to have a litter available at the time I was looking for a puppy. It's still up to me to inquire about their breeding practices, health screening, seek references, etc. My pup came from across the other side of the state. There could have been equal quality pups in my area, but if not for advertising of some sort, how would I know?

You are right concretegurl! I have learned thanks to YT and I won't make the same mistake twice. There were a few issues, but I have Nala and she is healthy as far as we know. I don't want to bad mouth this lady, I just don't plan to refer her or use her again. I think her issues are more from lack of knowledge than anything else, but I have learned that can be dangerous for the pups.
KazzyK810, I tell people I found her on ebay classifieds when they ask how I found her, but I also now tell people about this site and that they sould research and find a reputable breeder before they purchase a Yorkie. There is much to know that I didn't have a clue about. I am still learning!

Glad you have learned on YT. Trust me, we have all made mistakes but we learn from them. :)