I'm glad I am not the only one on here with a pet store baby... Chewy is the biggest love bug ever... very healthy, very beautiful. I would buy another baby from a pet store and save a darling baby if I were looking for another one.
I get upset then people refuse to acknowledge that some pet store dogs are healthy, are good pets. they blow past these posts like they never saw them and make comments that make you feel like you are a bad person if you buy from a pet store.

I think to each his own. we are all entitled to our opinion. there doesn't have to be a wrong answer here... I respect how some people feel about pet stores. I know I'm not going to change their minds... but no one will change my mind either and respect on both sides would be the kindest way to go here.... this thread gets people all worked up and taking sides and it really isn't good for the friendly feel of YT... We are all here to share info about our yorkies not get upset with each other over issues we will never agree on!!!! I say peace to all... Let's feel the love! How bout it?????:ghug: :hearts6: :big_hug: :yay_jump:

Let's Communicate
 

I too, have a pet store dog but did not buy her from a pet store but from an individual who did. I think what a lot of people on this forum are trying to do is just get others to think........ex: feed a wild animal food and he will keep coming back for more; feed the need for puppymill dogs by buying from pet stores and you feed the need for puppymills to exist. I have no problems with Kallie (health or behavior) and she is a dear little girl and wouldn't trade her for any amount of money BUT, I will not buy from a puppy store as my post mentioned earlier. And you are right, let's keep this a discussion and not a fighting match. The meeting of the minds is a good thing but that does not mean we have to agree but we still need to be kind and thoughtful of others.:)

YOU ARE RIGHT ON!!!!!!! A BREEDER THAT CARES ABOUT THEIR BABIES WOULD NEVER, NEVER, LET THEIR LITTLE ONE\'S GO WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT THE FUTURE OF THAT BABY, THEY PUT ON THIS EARTH WILL HOLD. gOOD BREEDERS CARE, WANT TO MEET THE PUPPIES PARENTS AND WANT TO MAKE SURE THE PUPPY LOVES THEIR NEW FUTURE PARENTS. THE HARDEST THING A GOOD BREEDER DOES IS PLACE THEIR PUPPY IN THE PROPER HOME, WHEN THEY QUIT CARING THEY SHOULD QUIT BREEDING.

Pet stores is just a small percentage of sales for puppymills. As far as breeders that care about where there babies go ...well my opinion is few and far between on that matter, most all breed for the cash. No one will ever convince me different. This is just my opinion.
As far as the puppy V\'s friend bought from a petsore happens all the time to others that came from a reputable breeder.

Until you raise a litter and are deeply, deeply in love with the breed, you will probably feel the same.
I do know a few breeders who are in it only to better the breed, their is no money to be made if you really take good care of your babies, keep them till they are really ready to be with their new future parents, and for me, I sell in pairs only, and could make much more money if I sold one at a time, but I can\'t stand for one of my babies to be alone, so i sell in pairs and bring the price way down. I am thinking of getting out of the breeding business as it is so heartbreaking to part with my puppies, I keep the parents forever. The joys these wonderful dogs bring into my life is priceless!

I wanted to add, I have been breeding for four years and have had Yorkies for 35 years, I have yet to make even a dime on my puppies, I can\'t even break even!!!! Let alone make any money. My Vet is the only one making money on my dogs! I spend way to much on my puppies and their mothers to insure they have everything they need to be healthy and sound. I am even to the point of getting out of breeding because of the expense and heartbreak of letting the puppies go.

I am sure their are a lot of Brookers and Pet Stores who do make a lot of money on puppies, but when you breed and show their is little money to be made, and all the breeders I know are in it to show and better the breed. Most have very few litters a year maybe 3 or 4 at the most. Taking proper care of the mothers and the babies is very expensive, so I really have yet to meet any one other than Brokers that are making money in breeding.

I think that\'s what a lot of people get confused about. They think they can sell a pup for $1000 and they\'re making money but most breeders I\'ve spoken with say they spend more than that just caring for them all. Plus all of the sleepless nights and hard work that goes into raising a litter. I\'ve never raised one myself but am in constant touch with some very excellent breeders and they are always looking for a nap break :rolleyes:

Sooooooooo true!!!!! No one will really know how hard and expensive it is till they have just one litter. You are joined to the hip with these little ones till they are out of danger of dying, most are o.k. by the time they are a month old, but the tinys don\'t go to their forever homes till they are about 9 months old. None of my puppies leave before 4 to 6 mos. when I start to advertise them. I have over a thousand in each puppy before they leave, and all the stuff I buy for them to go to their forever home is another 300.00 to 500.00 to make sure they have everything in their new home that they have here.

Needless to say I am not a very good business woman, my heart is way to big and the love I have for this breed runs very, very deep. I spend so much money on these little ones to stimulate them, give them the best of diets, not to mention all the , toys, play houses, exercise pens, beds, blankets, sweaters,etc. etc. I could cut back, but choose not to. When the people leave with their new puppies they need a truck to pack all their stuff in that I give them. Their is nothng more special in the world than a yorkie puppy, and spoiling them is the easiest thing you will ever do. The hardest thing I have to do in this business is part with the puppies.

I guess by now you know I love the dog shows and the breeds are all the best that is out their. So do yourself a favor, next time you want a really nice puppy, spend a little extra, you won\'t be sorry, and you will thank yourself over and over, and will most likely have a puppy that you just can\'t quit bragging about, and a puppy that will not give you any health problem, just a little puppy that will be a great joy to own, and for sure one you can be proud of. Yorkies that are a bargin, beware of. As I said before, you get what you pay for!!!!!!!!!!

I do not agree with you on this quote. I have read on this site, hundreds of times, owners purchasing from breeders, not the same breeder and getting pups with all kinds of health problems and the breeders ignoring them when they request help or a refund! Some pups even die! They are no different than the puppy mills! Just because you purchase a pup from a breeder does not make that pup any better than the pet store pup. I totally agree with everything Carol Jean said. There are more health issues on this site from breeders than pet stores pups. Pet store pups are highly over priced! They cost more than the breeders charge. Yorkies in NY are selling for $2,800.00 in a pet store. Buddy came from a pet store. His has been healthy from day one. He is beautiful, smart, loving and fully trained by 5mos. I paid $1,400.00 for him. When I read some of the nightmare stories on here I thank my lucky stars I bought him in a pet store. At the time I did not know about puppy mills but that would not have stopped me. He has a wonderful home and we have each other. The pups are not to blame. They deserve a loving home like any other pup. Authorities need to go after the puppy mills and back yard breeders. Easy task, they just don\'t want to do it. All they have to do is see the invoice from
the pet store and go investigate the breeder. If they find abuse shut them down. Too easy or too lazy? Carol & Buddy

If I were upset, you would know it. I was simply making an observation and stated as such. Sorry, but I haven\'t been on line much these past couple of days to respond to you. If I were raking you over the coals, you would definitely know.

btw...this is a great thread!!!!!:thumbup:

Pepper\'s story
 

First let me say this is all my opinion.

I\'ve had both ends of the petstore thing. My first Yorkie, Charlie, came from a petstore. He was healthy and just the sweetest little guy you would ever want to meet. After almost 9 years my baby died. Instead of doing what I should have: RESEARCH!!! I went back to the same petstore and saw Pepper. OMG what a scruffy little guy...but what a personality! I fell in love! I paid my $1600 dollars and took him home. But that night we found out that all was not right with my guy. He woke up from his nap with very wobbly legs...seemed almost drunk, couldn\'t stand up right..he was also coughing badly. Took him to the vet the next day. And after a whole lot of tests and heartache...we found out he had "something neurological" that was what the vet said. After fighting with the petstore for weeks they finally took him back and gave us our money back. But we couldn\'t forget our Pepper and even though we knew his life was going to be shorter we bought him back. More tests to elimentate various illnesses and we finally had a name: Cerebellar Abiotrophey. An illness that is crippling. It attacks his nervous system so he can\'t walk, stand, eat, drink, play without help. I have to hold him up sometimes just so he can pee. The vet said we would be lucky to have him make it to his first birthday...Pepper will be 3 in february. I have watched him go from having these "dingy" spells every few days to being like this 80% of the time. He has periods now when he doesn\'t know what is happening to him and it scares him so badly that all I can do is hold him so he knows he is not alone...and it breaks my heart. Pepper\'s time is coming to an end because he goes through days when he can\'t eat. He vomits everyday. He doesn\'t want to play much anymore when that\'s all he wanted to do before. I am going to have to have him put to sleep because his life is becoming a burden to him instead of a joy. Pepper arrived at a petstore through the biggest broker in the country. When we took him back to the store the broker replaced the "defective" puppy with a new yorkie. After 2 years of searching I finally found his "breeder" I had to get really nasty for her to agree not to breed his parents anymore...and then it was only Peppers mom she agreed to retire. This illness is genetic...every one of his siblings probably have it. It breaks my heart to know that because I bought him more puppys are doomed to this illness. Because I bought from a petstore more puppies ended up in that hell! Yes, I would love to save them all but I found out too late that I am responsible for puppymills because I helped keep them in business. You are right that there may be some petstores who don\'t buy from brokers or puppymills but almost all of them do and since that is true how can you take the chance that the store you are buying from is one of the rare ones who don\'t deal with puppymills or brokers? My Pepper\'s life is hell. My heart breaks everyday watching him struggle just to go pee or drink water. I get up everyday wondering if this is the day that I will have to make that decision to end his life. Please for Pepper\'s sake don\'t buy from petstores. If we stop buying live animals from them...they will stop selling them! Anyway, that\'s Pepper\'s story. I love him wholeheartedly and he and I will keep fighting for time.

I think this is the reason pet stores, mills and brokers make money because they choose not to do all of the extra things, because they have no heart. So for them it\'s all about the profit, not about the puppy\'s well being. That is another reason I also could never be a breeder, 1. I would NEVER sell the puppy :rolleyes: 2. I have too big of a heart and would spend twice as much on each pup than the selling price and 3. I would die if I saw my dog eat her own placenta :eek:

Your post made me cry, my heart goes out to you and litter Pepper, you both are in my prayers, what a sad, sad, sad situation to be in, my heart breaks for both of you.

So sorry about your little guy
 

I\'m truely sorry for your baby being sick. I can only imagine the heart ache you are going through...But...
For every heart break story you have about pet stores, there\'s another for breeders...one\'s that people thought were good honest people who had the BEST babies for sale. People are not perfect.. they get sick and they die... so do dogs.
I\'m sorry but I will not change my mind on this. If I want another dog and I saw one at a pet shop I would buy him or her. It\'s how I feel.