Puppies in Los Angeles/OC/IE
 

hi everyone!
i joined a couple days ago and have been reading through various threads to educate myself on the basics of the breed. thank you all for sharing your wealth of knowledge and sage advice.
my family has always been a dog family. my mother has owned several shih tzus. the last was Maximus the General who passed about 12 months ago.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/it6zehk2ai...copy.jpg?raw=1

my mom has finished grieving. she told me she couldn't have another shih tzu after Maximus but that she was interested in a yorkie. my parents are retired. spend half the year traveling the country in a monster RV. and the other half doing projects around the house or visiting me in CA. it hasn't been the same for them without a dog.
i'm hoping someone will suggest a solid breeder in the LA/OC/IE area. and maybe i can surprise her when they visit this Christmas.
THANKS!

I can’t recommend a breeder. Most reputable breeders though will not give someone a Yorkie puppy that is meant to be a gift because sometimes that goes very badly. They want to meet who will actually be taking care of the puppy. My youngest was a Christmas gift for a 12 year old who quickly lost interest. You can try ytca.org. I can give you some tips. Stay away from anyone using the word teacup it was a word made up by bad breeders to make money there is no such thing, make sure the puppy is not leaving their mom until 12 weeks old because they are still learning things from their moms and siblings until then, make sure the breeder is not breeding females under 5 pounds because that is very dangerous and shows the breeder does not care in risking the dogs lives, see where the breeder houses her dogs and make sure it’s not a puppy mill with all the pups in a shed or outside in stacked gross cages, you want to see both parents, AKC is the only reputable registry in the US so reputable breeders will only use the registry, and reputable breeders work extremely hard for their lines so they will have a contract that requires you to spay or neuter the puppy. The reason it’s important to buy from a reputable breeder if buying from a breeding is because bad breeders destroy the breed by haveing Yorkies that look nothing like Yorkies or put unhealthy Yorkies out there. I hope I helped some. Oh and don’t buy from pet stores those pups come from puppy mills.

I would definitely advise against buying a puppy as a gift. As mentioned above, a reputable breeder would want to speak with the person who was going to own/care for the pup.

Since your parents are retired, you might want to suggest either a rescue or find a retired show pup from a breeder. I discourage retired folks from getting puppies mostly because you have to think they might live to be 17 or 18 and if something happens to the owner(s) the poor pup is displaced. Also, you don't know if a puppy is going to adjust to travel....some do have motion sickness just like some people do. If the pup is older and has a reputable person evaluating him/her then you would have a better idea about whether the pup would adjust.