My teacup Yorkie

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by rgadams

It's interesting when I was younger, 45 years ago, and my wife and I were breeding Yorkies, the AKC weight standard was 10 lbs. Now it's 4 lbs. We would never sell a Yorkshire Terrier without papers or pedigree. Breeding the Yorkshires was very enjoyable to us. The money we earned was a side benefit. We would never insist that our puppies had to be spayed or neutered. We always kept in touch with the buyers. Things seem to have changed now. This is my last post for awhile, back to reading my good book, Hah!! Hah!!

Well it's a shame you are not more informed about yorkies. The standard is not to exceed 7 pounds. Like I said before reputable breeders have a spaying contract because they work very hard for there lines like extremely so. I'm still having a very hard time believing you bred yorkies when you know so little about them.

[BobbiB]

Originally Posted by lisaly

Urinary incontinence is very rare except for when it is done very early, as some breeders were having their pups spayed before going to their new homes. It's unfortunate that they felt the need to do so to protect their lines. Some people, even though they had limited registration, choose to breed, even when they are contractually not to do so. That's very sad.

There is a risk of weight gain when you remove hormones. Even an excellent vet nutritionist, Dr. Rebecca Remillard, states: If your pet is not neutered, you may still use our recipes but may need to feed 10-20% more per day to maintain proper body weight. This tells me that most likely metabolism will slow a small amount, and as a pet parent, we need to reduce the amount we feed our pups after we spay or neuter them. The loss of hormones doesn't make me that happy, but I weigh it against all the other risks. PetDiets - Homemade Diets for Healthy Pets

1. Pyrometra is a major threat to unspayed females. It is very deadly when not caught early. That's not a risk I'm willing to take, even though my husband daily goes over Katie's body looking very closely for any changes. I'm sure he would find anything, but what happens when he's sick and I'm trying to make sure both he and Katie are doing well?
2. Since I believe in waiting to spay after the first heat and after their growth plates have closed, I was not able to take my babies out for their long walks for a month while they were in heat, and they loved those walks. I even worried about playing out back with them, for fear that a dog could somehow jump our high privacy fence. It was worth it to keep them healthy and to help them develop orthopedically, but I wouldn't want to have to keep them from doing what they loved to do for two months of the year, every year.

The newer medications Isofluorine and Sevoflourine are much safer than older medications. If you have presurgical blood work to make sure a pup can process anesthesia and if you wait until after the first heat and growth plates are closed, you should be fine, even with a tiny baby, depending on the results. Usually there are baby teeth that need to be pulled out.

I wish you much health, love, and happiness with your babies.

I can vouch first hand that pyometra is absolutely terrifying. I had an American Pit when I was younger that was great. I thought, and by normal check ups, she was In great health. I never bred her, never planned to, and just kept super close tabs to make sure accidents never happened. I didn't know...had no idea, that not spaying could be dangerous at the time.

My perfectly healthy 50lbs dog went from normal to nearly dead In less than five hours. Turned out she had pyometra and was in need of an emergency spay with a fifty/fifty chance to live. After her surgery, she weighed 41 lbs (9lbs of uterus and pus!) and her recovery was a six month ordeal. She was never the same. I hate myself for being so uneducated, but I guess we live and learn. It has made me much more educated on the importance of spaying and neutering. There are definitely advantages in most cases, IMO.

[matese]

Originally Posted by rgadams

About eight months ago I bought another Yorkie, a tea cup Yorkie. I was told all horror stories about teacup Yorkies by the big breeders. They are not true, she is a beautiful dog in good health and is a sweet addition to our home. She even came with a written vet health verification AKC papers, and instructions how to raise it. She is now 11 months old and weighs under 2 pounds and again in excellent health! She is registered now with the AKC.

Do not let the big breeders dictate to you! The first thing they tell you is spayed the dog, wrong! This causes more problems than it's worth. About 10 to 20% leak after they are spayed plus their activity is very low and they gain a lot of weight. All the big breeders our concern is about competition with their business, not the health of the dog! This is what happened to my larger Yorky I bought from a so called good reader. I had her spayed in order to receive the papers from the breeder. I did not get the papers but I did get a dog with bad health. She is a beautiful Yorkshyre terrier, show quality, and we love her very much even though she does have her problems. Hope this will be a help to others.

I hope this will be a eye-opener there in a help to other people

I have had 4 females, all now past, all weighed from 10 to17 lbs "larger yorkies" the first 2 I did not have spayed I did not know nor did a vet tell me about Pyometria. My first one at age 13, got Pyometria, she got emergency surgery, she died 9 days later before my eyes, I would never want anyone to have to go through that, 6 months later the 2nd not spayed at age 10 y/o got Pyometria, I recognized the signs and rushed her to ER for emergency surgery, she died 6 months after surgery. My 3rd and 4th were spayed, weights.. one was 13 lbs the last was 17 lbs, they did not leak their activity was high energy, and they were not over weight. My 17 lb girl was just put down this past Oct. at age 17 y/o. It all depends on the individual dog, you are inferring all spayed dogs LEAK, ACTIVITY levels are LOW and they get OVERWEIGHT. This is incorrect, it all depends on the individual dog. To all that read this thread, if you are not going to show or breed your females, Spay them for the health of your girls.

[ememlove]

I've been told about the horrors of having teacups myself yesterday, read this article: Breed Information
After reading the posts here I realised not all of them suffers but still have risks, so need to be careful. But still teacups are adorable little cute beings.. <3

[intilis]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

There are generally so many genetic problems with the very tiny dogs over their lifetime that the general reputation they tend to have as tending toward unhealthy and easily injured is justified. If you doubt me, Google "health problems in teacup Yorkies" and read every one of the many posts. The stories of tiny dogs having more health problems than a standard sized dog is not a breeder's myth but sadly all too true. I so hope that's not the case for your little girl and she stays bright, happy and healthy all of her life. The truth is, however, oftentimes inherited genetic problems don't show up until the dog is older - say 3 - 5 and even older. You'll find out more as you read the stories you turn up from your Google search.

My Tibbe had a cast iron stomach for his first 3 - 4 years of life but then began having bouts of nausea and vomiting, refusing food. This continued and worsened, included lethargy and head-rubbing on the furniture and walls and eventually the vet tested him but the liver tests kept coming back negative. I insisted we do a more involved test - a Bile Acids Test, as suggested by Ellie May, a longtime member here, and it was positive, indicating liver dysfunction! Oh, no! By cast-iron-stomached well dog had suddenly gotten ill and his future looked dim.

A nuclear scintigraphy and abdominal sonogram ultimately ruled out liver shunt and therefore no need of a very serious surgery but showed gallbladder sludge, many tiny kidney stones that weren't blocking normal kidney function but could later in life and the two vet nuclear radiologists consulting on his case diagnosed inherited Microvascular Dysplasia and told me to watch him as to kidney and gallbladder symptoms later in life. He was put on a special diet and now can only eat his special food or he becomes dreadfully ill, requiring many vet visits, more blood tests, medication and suffering on his part, poor baby. And he was so health his first 3 or 4 years!

The moral of this story is Yorkies, especially the tiny ones, often do carry genetic code in their DNA that can crop up to cause medical problems any time it decides to and buying from a reputable breeder who won't breed dogs with known health problems themselves or anywhere in their ancestry and has her breeder dogs vet checked for a variety of health certificates for the genetic problems this breed tends to have, is more likely going to have healthier, standard-sized puppies who tend to stay healthier throughout their lives than puppies of the casual, BYB or greeder who breeds merely to bring them wads of cash.

This caution among respected/reputable breeders (unlike the breeder who breeds solely for the large dollars teacup dogs with fore-shortened muzzles, large heads and big, bulging eyes bring in and who will breed a dog whose sire or dam had liver shunt, tracheal collapse or patellar subluxation, etc., with no compunction as long as it is tiny and has "the look") is highly desirable when looking for a healthy dog with a good temperament to buy and a quality you probably won't find among many who breed a tiny, undersized female hoping for tiny puppies. Breeders who shamefully breed just to produce teacup dogs by breeding a tiny male to a tiny female under 5 lbs. often risk her life just to produce a litter of tiny puppies and make more money. These tiny pups often are sadly genetically programmed to develop severe medical problems anytime in their lives due to their breed and their tiny size and unhealthiness of their line but for which the breeder can charge a great deal more money than she might for standard-sized Yorkshire Terrier puppies, are often sold for a shockingly large amount of money and rushed into a new home at a very young age before they can begin to show any early signs of illness. The irresponsible breeder sells these pups very, very early in their lives, despite the fact that the puppies need to stay with their mom at least through the 12th week in order to have their brains properly imprinted by mom and their siblings and get their best start in life.

It sounds like your baby has had a healthy life so far and I pray she stays that way forever. Just keep her safe from easy injury which a tiny is susceptible to should they try to jump off the bed or couch, when playing with other dogs or reckless children, etc., take her for her regular vet check-ups twice yearly and get her into the vet ASAP should she begin to show any unusual behavior or signs of illness/injury/pain. Hopefully, none of the down side of owning a very tiny dog will ever come her way but it has to so many tiny dogs that their reputation precedes them for a reason.

By the way, spaying can prevent uterine infections and breast cancer - fatal in about 50% of dogs - and unwanted impregnation should a 15 lb. male get to her at a time when you are indisposed, say in the hospital, or she is being puppy-sat while you are on vacation or a business trip. All are very valid reasons to spay a female dog at the appropriate time in her life.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by ememlove

I've been told about the horrors of having teacups myself yesterday, read this article: Breed Information
After reading the posts here I realised not all of them suffers but still have risks, so need to be careful. But still teacups are adorable little cute beings.. <3

There is no such thing as a teacup.......

[matese]

Originally Posted by ememlove

I've been told about the horrors of having teacups myself yesterday, read this article: Breed Information
After reading the posts here I realised not all of them suffers but still have risks, so need to be careful. But still teacups are adorable little cute beings.. <3

Although this T-shirt is beautiful, IMO I don't think you should be promoting "tea cup yorkies" there is no such thing as a tea cup yorkie, it's just a gimmick bad breeders use to get big bucks for smaller dogs. Please rethink that T-shirt.

[SophieKatesMom]

It seems kind of obvious that the OP was here for one reason, to "stir things up".

Thank you for stating your opinion but I will stick with the information I have learned from the experience Yorkie owners here who's opinions I value.

FYI, the T Shirt for a "Teacup Yorkie" is cute but we all can see that is a Yorkie baby and we all can tell you from experience guessing the weight and size at that age is just that...a guess.

[rgadams]

I guess I was a little overzealous on spay because of my bad experience I had. Thank you for all the good advice you have given us!

Now back to teacup and breeders. My 7 pound Yorkie I bought two years ago is a beautiful dog. She is with in all the standards of the AKC and could be a show dog. I bought her from a so called good breeder. She would not give me the papers till the dog was spay. After she was spay the breeder would not give me the papers and all contact with her stomped. The Health of the dog is poor, a bad stomach, bad jaw and of course incontinence. I bought my little teacup or as you say small Yorkie nine months ago. She also is a beautiful dog, long silky hair and a excellent personality although her weight is not standard under 2 pounds, she is a sweet lovable dog. The breeder provided AKC papers AKC pedigree and a health certificate. So far her health is excellent! The breeder is in contact with me anytime I call her with advice and support. Which breeder do you think is the best?

Back when I was a Yorkshyre breeder 45 years ago, I would be considered a backyard breeder even though I was one of three Yorkie breeders in the Salt Lake City area. My dogs all had good pedigree first second and third generation show dogs. My puppies were always in demand and I had no problem selling them. Even then people desired small dogs and I could get more money for the smaller dogs which I considered was very ethical because of the demand. Of course a small puppy would come around just once in a while. I would get around $400-$800 which now days would be about $3000. I can't remember of a single puppy that bad Health even the small ones.

Whether we like it or not the teacup Yorkies are here to stay! I would not be surprised if AKC. one of these years will recognize the teacup!?

[TxVicki]

Originally Posted by ememlove

I've been told about the horrors of having teacups myself yesterday, read this article: Breed Information
After reading the posts here I realised not all of them suffers but still have risks, so need to be careful. But still teacups are adorable little cute beings.. <3

Do you always have to post those T-Shirts you are trying to sell??

[Faboosh]

Originally Posted by rgadams

I would get around $400-$800 which now days would be about $3000. I can't remember of a single puppy that bad Health even the small ones.

Whether we like it or not the teacup Yorkies are here to stay! I would not be surprised if AKC. one of these years will recognize the teacup!?

That's just the thing, though- all a "teacup" is, is a way of price gouging consumers. There is no such thing as a teacup, just a dog that happens to be very small. There's no way of guaranteeing the size of the dog, so if that "teacup" you just bought, ends up being 5 or 6 pounds, which is still within the breed standard, then what? You paid $3000 for a dog that a reputable breeder would have charged maybe $1500 for. That's cool.

A reputable breeder wouldn't charge more than $2,000 tops for any size dog, because they breed for standard and health, not for size. Paying more than that for any dog is plain foolish, imo.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by rgadams

I guess I was a little overzealous on spay because of my bad experience I had. Thank you for all the good advice you have given us!

Now back to teacup and breeders. My 7 pound Yorkie I bought two years ago is a beautiful dog. She is with in all the standards of the AKC and could be a show dog. I bought her from a so called good breeder. She would not give me the papers till the dog was spay. After she was spay the breeder would not give me the papers and all contact with her stomped. The Health of the dog is poor, a bad stomach, bad jaw and of course incontinence. I bought my little teacup or as you say small Yorkie nine months ago. She also is a beautiful dog, long silky hair and a excellent personality although her weight is not standard under 2 pounds, she is a sweet lovable dog. The breeder provided AKC papers AKC pedigree and a health certificate. So far her health is excellent! The breeder is in contact with me anytime I call her with advice and support. Which breeder do you think is the best?

Back when I was a Yorkshyre breeder 45 years ago, I would be considered a backyard breeder even though I was one of three Yorkie breeders in the Salt Lake City area. My dogs all had good pedigree first second and third generation show dogs. My puppies were always in demand and I had no problem selling them. Even then people desired small dogs and I could get more money for the smaller dogs which I considered was very ethical because of the demand. Of course a small puppy would come around just once in a while. I would get around $400-$800 which now days would be about $3000. I can't remember of a single puppy that bad Health even the small ones.

Whether we like it or not the teacup Yorkies are here to stay! I would not be surprised if AKC. one of these years will recognize the teacup!?

The standard is not to exceed 7 pounds so small yorkies under 3 pounds do fall under the standard. Neither breeder sounds great to me but the first one sounds better. I'm going to say it again because apparently it's not getting through the Yorkshire terrier club of America says there is no such thing. It is a fact no reputable breeder wants to be associated with that term because it is a money making scheme. I'm sorry you don't get that. There are a lot of genetic illness that won't show up until around 2 years old so hopefully you will be lucky and won't have to learn the hard way like so many do. There is a great thread in the library if you are interested in what reputable breeders do and how to find one for the future.

[Lovetodream88]

Here is a link stating the standard which is not to exceed 7 pounds
About Yorkies
And here is the link about "teacups" http://www.theyorkshireterrierclubof...1335Teacup.pdf

[matese]

Originally Posted by TxVicki

Do you always have to post those T-Shirts you are trying to sell??

[kreuer]

Originally Posted by rgadams

I guess I was a little overzealous on spay because of my bad experience I had. Thank you for all the good advice you have given us!

Now back to teacup and breeders. My 7 pound Yorkie I bought two years ago is a beautiful dog. She is with in all the standards of the AKC and could be a show dog. I bought her from a so called good breeder. She would not give me the papers till the dog was spay. After she was spay the breeder would not give me the papers and all contact with her stomped. The Health of the dog is poor, a bad stomach, bad jaw and of course incontinence. I bought my little teacup or as you say small Yorkie nine months ago. She also is a beautiful dog, long silky hair and a excellent personality although her weight is not standard under 2 pounds, she is a sweet lovable dog. The breeder provided AKC papers AKC pedigree and a health certificate. So far her health is excellent! The breeder is in contact with me anytime I call her with advice and support. Which breeder do you think is the best?

Back when I was a Yorkshyre breeder 45 years ago, I would be considered a backyard breeder even though I was one of three Yorkie breeders in the Salt Lake City area. My dogs all had good pedigree first second and third generation show dogs. My puppies were always in demand and I had no problem selling them. Even then people desired small dogs and I could get more money for the smaller dogs which I considered was very ethical because of the demand. Of course a small puppy would come around just once in a while. I would get around $400-$800 which now days would be about $3000. I can't remember of a single puppy that bad Health even the small ones.

Whether we like it or not the teacup Yorkies are here to stay! I would not be surprised if AKC. one of these years will recognize the teacup!?

Just because you bought a yorkie from someone who sells standard size yorkies and not "teacup", does not make them a "good breeder".