something that REALLY grinds my gears...
 

I've been meaning to address my feelings on this topic for awhile. It was recently brought up in a thread I responded to so I thought...perfect time to disclose my feelings.

I don't understand why the term "teacup" is such a hush hush topic here. It's like whenever someone says teacup everyone jumps out of their skin as if they've done something so wrong. Some people WANT smaller yorkies. That's the whole reason I picked Miley...she's estimated to be no more than 4.5 lbs. Of course she can go over her estimated weight.

wait let me back up...

I DO understand why the term upsets people. But not every teacup is a back yard bred dog. Miley came from a reputable breeder and so have a lot of other teacup's, tinies, whatever you want to call them.

I guess i'm so heated about this because a few weeks ago I saw a thread and we weren't aloud to have an "official teacup club" because the term is like an eboli virus here...yet an official teapot club is okay? I may be a little dramatic with this but that reminds me of skinny vs. fat. It's such a horrible thing to call someone fat but it's such a compliment to call someone skinny. Why is that? Like why has fat become such an insult like teacup? :(

Some people just want smaller dogs so if there is a reputable breeder who is breeding HEALTHY teacups why is that such an issue? :confused:

The breeders who are aiming for 2 pounds and under are the ones who made teacup a dirty word, in my opinion. The vast majority that are purposely bred to be that small are unhealthy and peddled through brokers. That is not to say that a 2 pound dog cannot be healthy.

The breed parent club YTCA and AKC do not recognize a breed call the teacup Yorkie. The standard simply says to 7 pounds.

Also, unscrupulous breeders use terms like teacup, baby doll face, teddy bear face, and so on as marketing terms to charge more money.

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The hairs on my neck prickle when people say Roxy is a teacup yorkie but I also have the same reaction when they tell me Lucy and Roxy aren't yorkies because they are too big. No one insults my babies:thumbdown. I may call them Porkie yorkies or teapots in private but never in actual public!

Roxy was the smallest of her litter and I kept her because of concern for possible health issues in the future due to her small size.

No reputable breeder will deliberately breed to produce "tinies" or "teacups".

If so where does it end? With Yorkies the size of a mouse? Over the years Yorkies were bred down to reproduce at around 7lbs or so. Surely that is small enough?

The Yorkie Breed is already under literal attack by every BYBer and puppymiller out there, producing so far off standard Yorkies, it is literally a crying shame!

Not to mention the whole world of health problems we have in our breed. Spend some time in the Sick and Emergency forum, and you will start to get an idea of both the financial and emotional costs to the owners not to mention the pups of poorly bred Yorkies.

It is an emotional topic here for many of us (obviously me included), as I would never support or endorse a breeding practise that focuses on producing "tinies".

Quite frankly until we can overcome the health problems already present in this breed, and to do that effectively we need true genetic screening for at least the top 3 most prevalent diseases in this breed, the deliberate breeding of tinies screams a huge red flag to me.

:thumbup::thumbup:I agree And you have explained it well

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I understand that but then why is it okay to throw the term teapot around but not teacup? That's the problem I have with the terms.

Yorkie Size Myths Maybe that will help you understand. In my opinion a breeder who loves the breed and wants a good blood line and etc.. they will not want their puppies to be teacups bc usually they are not healthy. When A small puppy is born from a litter a good breeder will take extra care and making sure that puppy is eating well and do what it takes to get that puppy to a healthy weight. I just don't think people realize what they do to get their puppies that small.
There is no way of really telling what size your dog will be full grown. I mean their are the growth charts but for me they were off a little. Pixie was supposed to be 5lbs by the charts....lol she has surprised us and is 7 lbs, the Vet says she would like to see her at 6.5 so we are working on it.

Well look at how cute yorkies are...no wonder everyone wants one! ;) I agree that no reputable breeder would purposely breed a "teacup" but they also aren't purposely breeding "teapots" either! I just don't understand why it's okay to use the term teapot but teacup is such a disgrace.

yesterday while cruising through my facebook page and yakking with everyone, I came across a person who belongs to a group I do, but is not one of my friends. She said
(paraphrasing) I am studding out my 13 mo. old male yorkie who has .... breeding and who has one baby already when he was 8 months old. He weighs 3.5 lbs.... etc... contact me for info. I didn't like this... at all. My point of bringing this up here is that it is just "bad form" and would turn a knowledgable "dog person" away, as does the phrase "teacup" etc when describing a breed we care a lot about.

Okay when IIIII say teacup I am referring to a healthy puppy that is just small! Just like those who call their babies teapots on here are referring to their healthy over 7lbers! Just like humans some are smaller and some are bigger! It's life! Not every litter is going to have all 7lb adult yorkies.

A Teapot is healthy and their weight is normal for them. A teacup is bred to be small by starving the mother when she is pregnant or whatever they do to make sure they have a teacup....small under nourished and usually sick with health issues:(

I'm well aware that the AKC does not recognize the term "teacup". What i'm saying is WHY is teacup such a disgrace when teapot is okay? There's clubs for it and everything but for us who have smaller HEALTHY WELL BRED dogs there's nothing. WHY is that okay? that's my question. And if i'm not able to voice my opinion then maybe I should stop visiting the thread. I don't feel as if I've offended anyone. And believe me...there are plenty of threads that talk about how teacups don't exist so i'm not sure how this is a bad thread. I too care about the breed and i also realize they come in different shapes, sizes, and colors. I'm not stuck on what "standard" is.

I personally feel like smaller yorkies are looked down upon because BAD people have done BAD things to the dogs to achieve the "teacup". My baby IS healthy and she is smaller. So what does she just not fit into any club?

One of the big differences between the two terms is the intent with which the term is used. Teapot is a loving term given to a Yorkie who is over the standard of 7 lbs, usually given by the Teapot's owner. It is NOT used as a marketing technique to scam individuals into paying more for a Yorkie. I've never ever seen or heard of a breeder advertising a Teapot for more $$ than for a standard 7 lb. and under Yorkie.

Teacup, on the other hand, is used as a marketing term to make prospective buyers to believe that the smaller Yorkies are somehow more valuable and justifies the breeder charging more $$.

the term teacup means (to a reputable breeder) a potentiallly sick, unhealthy dog

teapot doesn't simple

Isn't the "loved" club enough for her?

In defense of the smaller than average yorkies.....there are many that are very healthy! Max was a healthy 4 lbs when we adopted him and he only goes to the vet to get his teeth cleaned, shots & check ups. He is 6 years old and very healthy. He is over weight now at 7 1/2 lbs, but we are working on that. There are also yorkies that are bigger than average or Teapots that have health issues! Just because they are small, doesn't mean they are sickly!

I just dont see why the the bigger yorkies can have their own club with the term "teapot". PLEASE believe me when I say I get and understand everyones frustrations with the term because of what is associated with it. It's because of this thread that I even went through a REPUTABLE breeder and paid $1500 for a dog...I would've NEVER done that in a million years before researching here WHY it was important to go through a breeder. But not EVERYONE who has a smaller yorkie got their puppy from a BYB on their death bed.

But it only means that because of what BYBs have done to attain smaller UNHEALTHY yorkies

Awh ok I get your point now, and it is a very valid one. I think my point is that while teapots are over standard nobody is rushing to breed them, well maybe some do, but it seems that the "market" is not going "gaga" over getting a teapot Yorkie. So the bybers, puppymillers, and other unscrupulous breeders aren't falling all over themselves to breed the teapots.

The fashion craze well at least that is what I think it is, is for these small very small dogs, and well there is a market for them, that as you have intuited here, we believe to be filled by those self-same unscrupulous breeders, those that are out just for the buck. And doubly damn the health of the dog or progeny at all!

So we don't want to promote the term "teacup" as if this is a desirable term, which btw we do know is, in the whole lot wider world of Internet.

Anyhoo just my thoughts on this.

The teapot term was created on here as a joke. No where are you going to find bad breaders breeding oversized yorkiess and calling them teapot. That is why the term teapot is accepted and teacup is not. The Ytca the mother club of rhe yorkies doesnt recognize the term tcup and the AKC the chosen registry of yorkies doesnt recognized the term tcup. Bad breeders have created the term Tcup so why should we be expected to accept it

It's because there are breeders who breed small dogs, not breeding to the stand of 5 to 7 lb. They use the terms teacup to get 2.000 to 10.000 for a pup they deemed a teacup. They usually don't breed like the breeders I've seen here- don't know the dogs health histories, they're MOSTLY wanting to just make a ton of money off the tiny ones.

With that said... :) <--- not snarky, but this whole thing makes me smile because I was going to make a little teapot club, but never got around to it. (yet) It was going to be for any dogs under 5 lbs, but that excluded many people, so I was going to make it for 7 lbs and under. I still want to make it, I just haven't yet. Last time I tried the groups were totally messed up, so I'll try again, or help someone else that wants to make it. :)

The little teapot club was going to have to say in Gen chat that we "do not support unethical breeding of yorkies for lower than the standard of 5 lbs." if they joined. And then say something about why your pup should be in the group. Like the TEAPOTs do when they join, just something fun to do.

It was explained to me also that the Teapots came about because they are so large no one thought they were yorkies. That's a bit of the why's that I know.

I understand that and that's what bothers me about it. Let's be honest...very rarely do you see anyone who wants a teapot yorkie. When most people think yorkie they think smaller dogs. I wholeheartedly agree that the way the term teacup has been thrown around by the market IS the reason why teacup is so looked down upon. But for us who bought from a reputable breeder with a HEALTHY smaller yorkie...I just don't understand... :(

there is nothing wrong with your yorkie. The term teapot means something different to the good breeders, than it does to the general public. teacup is potentially an unhealthy dog ... bred that way on purpose to make more money.... byb on purpose do bad things to their girls to try and get teeny, puppies so they can charge a $1000 more for them(if they live).... its cruel and inhumane.... therefore when the good breeders here the term teacup their minds immediately picture a starving bitch trying to feed babies that may die.... so that a greedy ignorant human can maybe make a few bucks.... unethical.

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And I completely understand that some breed just for the money but Miley cost probably the same if not less than what others I know have paid for their "normal" sized yorkie. And again, who's to say she's going to be 4.5 lbs at her adult weight...I just hate that she has to be excluded in a sense because I FEEL that we are playing into the BYBs definition of the term. The part that I bolded was perfect.

Whats the website of your reputable breeder

Why is that relevant? So you all can pick apart at whatever imperfection you find on her site? For that reason I will not disclose her website. I am happy with my puppy and Miley was not PURPOSELY bred to be small.

Courtney... We all love you. Please remember that.

I really wish teacup wasn't thought of as bad, because I have 1. I cringe everytime teacup is mentioned now, because I feel like my pup isn't as good. Not by my fault, but by greedy breeders who have made so many think badly about the small ones. I wish I could change it, but it can't be changed.