Had one of THOSE conversations....
 

I was walking down the street with Thor today, and this woman rushed over to talk to me.


Her: Hey, I have a yorkie too. How do you clean you keep his eyes clean?

Me: Yeah, that can be a problem. Does your yorkie have long hair? Long hair gets stuck in their eyes more easily.

Her: She has long hair. Also, what groomer do you use? My dog always looks really scraggly, no matter what I do. My dog's a teacup. Is yours?

Me: Well, he's 4 lbs, so he's on the small side of the normal range.

Her: Mine's 2.5 lbs. Here, check her out. (Shows me phone pictures of this GORGEOUS little yorkie).

Me: OMG, she's beautiful!

Her: Her eyes stink. And her mouth stinks. She's a stinky girl.

Me: Do you brush her teeth?

Her: No. She has a double set of teeth.

Me: How old is she?

Her: Three years old. By the way, I have litters.

Me: (:eek:) Oh. Huh. Yeah, if she's three years old and has double teeth, you need to take her to the vet to have those teeth removed.

Her: Last time I was at the vet, they told me they would report me to animal control because it's illegal to dock the tails in California.

Me: (:eek:) Who docked their tails then?

Her: I did it myself.

Me: (:eek::eek:) Right... well, yeah, she needs to have those teeth removed. Smell is a sign of decay.

Her: I have lots of pups. Never had one this small though. And you know, don't want to get into trouble with animal control!

Me: (:eek::eek::eek:) Yeah, well... you probably need to take care of those teeth. By the way, I use groomer X. Bye!



In retrospect, I'm hoping she was just making it all up for some reason... I mean, a breeder who docks tails, but doesn't know how to clean a dog's eyes??

What a weird encounter! I hope she was making a lot of it up, but who knows.

Is it illegal to dock tails in California?

wow what a freaky woman lol

Passing out here.

wow...it is strange and if she has litters....very sad too!

Well, some breeders do dock the tails of their litters. I certainly hope not this one though.
Professional breeders (and I'm not talking about puppy mills, although they probably do it too) do a lot of their own procedures. I don't agree with it but I guess there is no law against it.
She sounds like a really bad back yard breeder.

I'm not sure I could have been quite so diplomatic as you....good job on that one! :thumbup: I don't know much about it, but is it normal to dock a Yorkie? Louie's tail is VERY short (we call it his nubbin) and we don't know why because he's a rescue. The rescue we got him from said he was originally a puppy mill dog, so do they normally dock tails? It's much shorter than I would think they would dock. It's like an inch long, if that.

I don't know if docking is illegal in California - I've never heard that it is, and I can't find anything about it online, so my guess is that it is legal.

Thor also has a nubbin. His first owner bought him from a pet store, so he's almost certainly a mill doggie. It's pretty common for mills to dock the tails too short.

I don't think it's illegal to dock anywhere in the U.S. What a crazy woman! I cannot believe that she hasn't taken care of the teeth... So sad. And litter(S) really?!

I'm sure puppy mills must dock their own tails. They certainly will not pay to have it done. When done properly the vet counts the number of vertebrae and cuts at the correct point.

It sounds like somebody cut your little ones tail too short. I don't think puppy mill people have a clue about how to do it right.

???????2.5lbs, double teeth, litters, stinky eyes and she docks tails....:animal37:animal37:animal37 run fast.

Oh my! I feel sorry for her dogs! Poor little guys!

Poor little dogs.....

Hmm, did she have litter with the little one or does she just have a litter?

Her: Three years old. By the way, I have litters.
Her: I have lots of pups. Never had one this small though. And you know, don't want to get into trouble with animal control!

Maybe she has other yorkies that birthed this one.

Either way, just sounds like she wanted you to buy some puppy mill dogs from her.

Oh wow... It must have been hard not to say something a bit harsh to her!

It is possible that it is illegal for her to be docking tails in CA. They may have a law that only allows vets to dock. The only info I could find stated tail docking is currently allowed in all 50 states although a few have legislation pending to make it illegal.

Kiko has a little nubbin too. When I get home she wags her little nub 90 mile a minute to show how happy she is that I am home; it's so sweet.

:eek: :eek: :eek:


Geez, I feel so sorry for her pups.

My pup's breeder did her own tail docking and gave some of the early puppy shots - AFTER being thoroughly trained by her vet. Gracie's tail looks perfect - not a nubbin, but nicely docked. I'd guess that other good, experienced breeders also do some of these things, too. It does save money, but also trauma for the puppies if they don't have to be dragged to the vet so often. I do agree that the women mentioned by the OP does NOT seem to fit into that category!

Not that I'm aware of. Maybe the vet was uncomfortable doing it to a small puppy, or a puppy over 3 days old. (3 days is the limit right?)

Weird conversation QS.

Yeah that's what I was thinking!!! Pour me a MARGARITA with extra salt please!!!

How creepy and awkward. I feel so bad for that lil furbaby though. I just breaks my heart.

Yikes who in their right mind says things like that. Some people just have diarrhea of the mouth and i doubt she even realized there was something wrong with what she was saying. That's just sad on so many levels.