Not intended as legal advice (sorry need to make this disclaimer!)
 

I am a practicing attorney but I am licensed in NY. I'm gonna give you a quick and easy answer to your question but please keep in mind that I'm beholden to legal ethics and am probably not licensed in your state, therefore, this is not intended as "legal" advice (and therefore Ironically, the breeders on the board are more free than I am to give you all the details on the law!). The BEST commonsense advice I can give you, which is the advice I ALWAYS give when a legal question comes up on the board, is to seek out the advice of an attorney near you to find out what the local law is in your area. A great reference book to have is “Nolo’s Dog Law.” There are “boiler plate” contracts out there too which a good attorney can tweak for your jurisdiction and particular purposes. That said - here's a quick and easy, "broad strokes" answer to your question which you can then go ahead and apply more specifically with the direction of the breeders on this board and a local attorney:

A contract is a contract. If you were selling sprockets instead of puppies, you, as the seller of your "product" are the "Master of your bargain.” You can draft out your contract according to the terms you think are reasonable, you can negotiate with the other party, and as long as both parties can negotiate freely and have the capacity to do so (for example, special rules apply to children and mentally ill), you can put terms into a contract to protect your interests, which in this case means, to protect the dogs you are selling. You don’t need to be a “Breeder” to get the right to do that. You just need to be selling something that you have a legal right to be selling and drafting a contract with another party who is able to negotiate with you and to be advised of his or her legal rights and the subject matter of the contract must be a legal transaction (a contract for an illegal action, such as selling illegal drugs, would not be enforceable).

I hope this “broad strokes” answer is clear, otherwise, I call on the help of the breeders!!!! Ha.

Thank you SO much Yorkiepower!! I appreciate the trouble you went to! I just hope to get my babies back if the buyers decide they don't want them so that I can ensure they go to a good home! I wish I could keep them ALL within my family or people on my street so I could keep a good "eye" on them :cool: I'm going to start working on a contract now and hope that it sticks in a worst case senerio (sp?). I am also going to state that I will give a full refund for price paid in the event that the puppy/adult dog is no longer wanted. My family cannot hide from me :D but hopefully that will keep a stranger from giving or selling it to someone else! Thanks again for your expertise! :)

Do you live in Indiana, if so what part. I am in Valparaiso, and I do show my dogs. I breed to get my own line of dogs to show and really enjoy it. Both my husband and I show the dogs.

The only problem with the yorkie, is that we can not guarntee what they will end up weighing. you can come up with a throw back from 4 or 5 generations back. I had a litter of 3 with a 5 pound girl and a 5 1/2 pound boy. The pups 2 of them are almost 6 pounds and one is only 3 1/4 pounds. We can only give what we think they will end up weighing, but we can no more promise that then you could promise a child of yours being born at 7 pounds will not weigh over 150 pounds when full grown. Life gives no guarntees.

very interesting - i totally get your post but it was a little random. it is obvious how much you love your babies! it would be nice if breeders cared a little more like you do! keep going with the good work!!

Hi. Anyone seen "Old School"? They have a tiny yorkie in it, cute little thing dressed like it's owner. At the theatre I heard so many people (lots of teenage girls) talking about wanting to get a teeny tiny dog like that one! My Sophie averages 4.4 pounds and she was perfect, to be honest when I got her size never figured in, I got the biggest one in the bunch because she insisted on it (I usually go for the runt!) At the time I didn't know a lot about their size, just that they were small dogs.
After she passed, I started looking again. I have a defective heart and will one day have to have a valve replaced but we're trying to put that off as long as possible. Because of this I am restricted on how much weight I can pick up, 5 pounds or less (but I do cheat and go up to 6 sometimes). So, it's natural for me to ask the weight of the parents, 8 - 10 pound parents pretty much rule the puppy out. It's not that I want a teeny tiny yorkie, I just have to be careful. A lot of people take me wrong when I ask about size and don't always wait or ask for an explanation. Not everyone concerned with weight doesn't have a legitimate reason for it nor particularly wants a teeny tiny. But there are a lot of people out there that like to 'hook in' to the latest thing, I've seen what are now called 'micro minis' averaging 2 -3 pounds, that seems way too small for a yorkie to me and way too dangerous for the pup, I wouldn't want one that tiny, it would scare me to death!
Windy

I'm proud of you for speaking your mind and caring for your babies. I use to breed pits so, I've been both sides of the fence. Nothing irked me more than when people would call and ask how cheap will you go and are they gamey. Gamey in pits means they want to fight them, and if all you care about is how cheap I will go obviously you don't have the money they will require to take care of them. My dogs were family pets not fighters. I'm out of the business now because of people like that, and I've been wanting a Yorkie for years, so I came here to educate myself before I get one. This way when I do make calls I can ask intelligent questions instead of sounding like a complete dummy. I call, introduce myself, and start off just telling them something about me and my family. I always offer a home inspection, my vets name and number, and my groomer. I have a little poodle now, which I found at the pound. I always got a positive response from the breeders I talked to, but when I found Suiki at the pound I knew she was the one from me. As far as showing I too have disablities that would make it very hard for me to show, so if you ever just want to talk to someone you can email me to just talk. Yeah! for you speaking your mind, and letting people know all breeders are not bad people. Just people who really care about their pets, their family really.

[QUOTE=aimee]Interesting post - I'm not sure what brought this on. I will say that I am probably one of the people here who would not qualify to own one of their Yorkies because I have children at home. I was lucky that the breeder I found made calls to both my vet and the shelter I volunteer at before allowing me to purchase Tia. I had been turned away many times, without the breeder looking into my background, which didn't offend me but did make me sad.[QUOTE]

I'd have to agree with you on that one. I think that I would easily be turned down as well b/c both me and my fiance work 2 jobs. However with our schedule, Sydney is rarely left alone. The longest she is ever crated is 4 hours. And despite what might sound like a lack of time she is the happiest puppy in the world. I have to say that if I had your experience I would be offended. I think that there is a distinct difference between someone who is just plain ignorant (that the breeder can tell has no idea how to care for a yorkie...or what they are getting themselves into) and someone like you who has a child that they feel can handle the dog.

My first yorkie...Remmy I got from a backyard breeder. Very nice lady and I love Remmy to death...he is the best dog I ever had. I think that I am lucky that he has not gotten ill or there is nothing wrong with him. I was uneducated but when I got him I set out to learn as much as I can...I have learned so much. I did not know exactly what a breeder was and the chances you take when you don't buy from someone who truely cares about thier dogs. Or where petstore animals really come from. When I got silk I got recommendations from people and organizations and then when I went to get on a "waiting list" I told the breeder everything I could think of about me and my family. I was on her waiting list for 2years before I got Silk and I did not get her as a puppy. If I wanted a puppy I would still be on the waiting list. But some things are worth waiting for. Chris

When I bought my first yorkie "Cooper" I felt like I was at an adoption agency, going through an interview. It made me feel good, knowing that I was getting him from a breeder that cared so much!:animal-pa

If agree with Orinskye. I wanted a normal size or larger yorkie. Katy should be around 6-7 pounds which is great. And I did research the breed before getting her. She is nearly 11 weeks old and weighs close to 3 #'s.

This thread is 3 years old guys.