Keep in mind I live a few hours from Lancaster PA, so a lot of dogs around here are from puppy mills. Most of the yorkies I see are well over 10lbs and don't look like yorkies. Or they're very tiny and look very sickly.

On the rescue sites for my area most of the yorkies were 10-15lbs, 7 years or older, and not the best looking. I said not all rescues are like that, but that's what I saw. My area doesn't have tons of small dogs for adoption.
I was looking for a yorkie under 3 years old, 5-7lbs, and actually looks like a yorkie.

I purchased from a breeder because all three of my kids have allergies. My oldest has it the worse. So adopting was not an option because I need a pure bred hypoallergenic pup. But you are saving a dog either way. People are going to breed regardless and the puppies need good homes.

There are lot of yorkies that need homes, I work at an animal shelter and see them all the time but even I would not think badly of someone wanting to buy from a breeder as long as they researched a good breeder. I got my first dog from a breeder after looking at rescues for over a year and not finding what I was looking for. I say I pre-rescued him because he has lots of health issues that I am sure no one else would have put up with and the other person who wanted him was going to use him to breed. I think its a personal decision that you should not have to validate. Do what is right for you.

I don't have a problem with people buying from a breeder rather then rescuing as long as it's a reputable breeder and there not supporting a terrible breeder or puppy mill. I bought Callie but will probably stick to adopting in the future. Never had anyone say anything about it.

Benjamin (less then 3 lbs) came from a kill shelter in Las Vegas. California Lily (4 lbs) came from a kill shelter near Los Angeles. So there are small rescue Yorkies in and near California. However both Benjamin and Lily where "Rescue Only", meaning if I had not been part of a rescue organization, I couldn't have gotten either one of them out. Benjamin was about 5 we think when I rescue him. Lily we thing was probably somewhere between 10 and 12, but hard to say exactly, so she was older. Regardless, there are pros and cons both ways. With a rescue, you adopt them because you love them, but you really have no idea health wise what you might be getting or run into down the road. A puppy from a reputable breeder you are going to have a much better idea because they will have done their research on what problems have shown up anywhere in their bloodline, they will have done proper health testing on the parents, and they will let you know if anything develops anytime during your dog's life. Just one angle to look at. While I have chosen to rescue, or in my current Yorkie's case take in a dog someone was rehoming, that's my choice based on my lifestyle and what was a good match for me. Honestly I think if Louie had not come into my life, I probably would have gone to a good friend of mine that has bred Yorkies for many years and gotten a yorkie from her. No right or wrong, just a personal choice, and I probably will get a Yorkie from my friend in the future (she usually has a 2-3 year waiting list at least! Although I personally prefer adults since I'm in a wheelchair and find puppies a bit hard for me to handle, so I would probably take a dog she either decided not to use in her breeding program or that has retired from her breeding program).

There are many pure breeds in rescues. The probablem with buying puppies from bad breeders and puppy mills though is it keeps them in business which is not good for the breed or the poor parent dogs who suffer. Even with AKC papers though you might not always be getting a pure bred yorkie people do frorge papers all the time.

That dosent mean they don't deserve love and a home.

I never said they didn't, there are plenty of people in this area to adopt them. It's a long and hard process to find and adopt a small dog, much less a purebred yorkie, in this part of the country.
It's not like Texas where there's an abundance.

Also the rescues wouldn't allow me to adopt, I'm 24 and my yard wouldn't pass their standards (Lola goes out on a leash). The rescues here are super picky, I was talking to a couple in their 50's, they wanted to adopt a cavalier king charles spaniel and were turned down because their 10 year old grand kid visits once a year.


I looked at a lot of yorkies, puppies and adults, and Lola is the only one who spoke to me. She's exactly the dog I wanted and I'm thrilled with her and my choices.

All of my pups have been rescues, I have never purchased a pup from a breeder. It started when my boys were small & I wanted a "teapot". After that, all of my pups sort of fell into my lap. I would love to someday buy a pup from a REPUTABLE BREEDER. It seems that every time I'm getting ready to & starting to research breeders, a rescue pup comes into my life. I guess that's just how it's meant to be for me!


I don't think anyone has the right to judge whether you go to a shelter or a breeder for your pup. You need to do whatever is right for your family.

You would be surprised by how many don't get adopted but I do understand what your saying and rescues rant for everyone.

I really do not think it is anyone's business, so ignore critics. I have both and love them all!

I remember mentioning trying to look for a breeder when I was looking for my current yorkie. I've hadn't had so much as a negative reaction as to suggesting I look for rescues or adoption shelters. I didn't really want to because what I was looking for was extremely difficult to find because they'd be taken as soon as they post. Most of the yorkies I've seen on the shelter sites were either too old (averaging 10-14 yrs) or had lots of health issues that comes with them. I say to them, I want a dog that'll be with me for as long as possible and won't be come with immediate or potentially high financial problems from health. There were some that might be considered like the younger ranges of 3-7 yrs, but again, I wanted the longest time with them.
Considering the circumstance of obtaining my current yorkie pup, Kimchi, I consider it fate :D

I don't know why people assume that a pup in a shelter or rescue is more prone to medical issues. They also are not always older. There are many, many yorkies looking for homes now. People are surrendering them and dumping them right and left. I field emails every single day and trust me, it is becoming close to epidemic.

The bottom line, if a person purchases a yorkie, it is extremely important to know who you are purchasing from and the track record of that breeder in terms of the health of their pups. All of the yorkies with health issues came from some breeder. People should keep that in mind.

This has nothing to do with Kimchi...I wish you many years of health and happiness. Just wanted to be clear about the fact that illness often begins with the breeder and/or who they place their pups with. Many sell to just anyone and "anyone" does not properly care for them, leaving them subject to health issues and accidents.

ladyjane: I totally understand. It's not that I think all sheltered/rescue dogs have health issues, sorry if that seem to come across that way. It's just that the search for my area/state (at least when searching online at the time) are mostly elderly (or past the age I was looking for) and/or have (or have had) some kind of health problem that will require a little more care/finance than I can deal with upfront. Granted, I was really tempted by a dorkie puppy I've seen ^_^ but was really wanting a traditional yorkie.
I also agree the breeder makes a huge difference, as I know from first hand, a yorkie I've had when growing up before (my brother had gotten her and our male) came from what I would call a backyard breeder. She had really bad health issues from the beginning and took a long time for her to recover from it and, though she lived a fairly decent long life at 12yrs, passed away quickly from some kind of health problem. Our male at the time came from a show quality line and had very little health issues all his life and passed away from old age (he was blind in the last few years, but lived long at almost 15yrs).
And thanks on the well wishes for my Kimchi ^^ (she's the first dog I actually bought, myself) Vet said she's looking very healthy. Right now she's trying to be dominate ^^;;

I'm in the same post as the OP and I totally get what you mean.

I take those moments as opportunities to educate the person giving me grief on why we decided to go the route we did.

We are very proud of our puppy-to-be and to quote someone on another thread on YT, "Buy your breeder first." We absolutely adore the breeder we're getting our pup from. She has made us feel like a part of her family and I feel confident if I was confused about something and needed advice in a month, a year, 5 years, 10 years - - she would be more than happy to chat on the phone for an hour.

This is a potentially a 15+ year commitment. It's a huge deal.

Rescuing is wonderful and I'm so thankful for everyone is able to do that. They're saving lives and that is extremely admirable.

As previously stated on this thread, if you're going the breeder route and can say confidently that you know your breeder is reputable, ethical and striving to improve the breed, you have nothing to be ashamed about.. now you just have to focus on being the best pack leader you can :)