Let me share a story with you that recently happened to us. One of our fosters had blood work and all done...then went in for a dental. Had bleeding issues after the dental and the vet suspected it might be liver related after checking the labs again. Did BATs and then they were elevated...further testing revealed a shunt. What would you do? Those are the things that make rescues charge more...you can try to avoid these things, but it is never totally that simple. I have many other stories that are so similar. In the years I have been doing yorkie rescue, I am seeing more and more issues..mostly congenital stuff.

I should add that we have another young pup that was acting finicky about eating...and getting extremely tired after playing. We felt that something might be amiss because he is too young to be that tired. Tested him...and H\he has elevated BATs and a shunt is suspected.

Oh..and thanks for the clarification! :)

I fully understand what you are saying and if and when I have this happen I will have to pay whatever it takes to make the Yorkie Healthy, your right, the adoption would then go up. I know from fostering for so many years that there is no money in rescue, you are lucky if you break even and most the time you lose.

Indeed!

Sorry about that..... My intent was not to disrupt.... Looking at YHR website, that's NOT the rescue I saw with "adoption" fees based on youth and desirability.

I made the mistake of reading a rule in here.... I just asked a question for clarification.

Thanks! Good work all....

:thumbup:

I only know of one group that does that, but they really do care for their pups. They spend a lot of money in vetting.

I would like to know the rescue you are referring to if you don't mind sending me a PM.

Nothing wrong at all with questioning it. :) I just saw rescue in quotes and was a bit taken aback by some of the general remarks...but it looks like I may have misunderstood. :)

so Bonnie and Clyde went to the vet today just for their initial check up. Wanted to know why Bonnie was pulling her hair out, thought maybe she had mange. I was wrong. Bonnie had a bad allergic reaction to the fleas that were all over her when I got her, took care of that right away with flea meds. Vet gave her a shot of steroids and some antibiotics to take care of the infection, he also managed to find out why her breath was so bad. Seems she had hair stuck in her teeth that had been their quite awhile. He showed it to me and the smell of it made me sick. So she is feeling much better tonight. Clyde is in perfect health just needs neutered and shots and we scheduled that for the 24th. I am very happy there was nothing serious wrong with these two precious babies. This is what Clyde looks like without his fluffy coat, Bonnie got lucky and got to keep hers.

I think there are a lot of people out there that don't understand why rescues cost so much....they think that since the dog was unwanted by someone else and it came to the rescue for free, it should go out the door for little to nothing. They don't consider all of the costs that accrue while the dog is at the rescue. There's also the people who say "well, I can go buy a brand new puppy for $500 from a breeder(most likely a BYB), so why should I pay all that money to rescue an adult dog that potentially could have problems?!?


I personally don't see a problem in a rescue charging more for the more adoptable dogs( generally younger, healthy dogs, smaller dogs etc etc) and less for the dogs that are harder to adopt(generally the older dogs or dogs with issues, bigger dogs, bully breeds etc etc).

There was a yorkie around here that was 15 years old and not potty trained and he was needing a home. A family would have a year...2 or 3 tops with him if they took him in and because of his age, probably lots of bills to go with it. His fee was substantially less than most of the other pups at the rescue because of those circumstances.

The bigger adoption fees for the healthier, younger dogs help offset the heftier vet costs for the older, sicker dogs. I don't think rescues should be profiting off the rescue....but most rescues are loosing, not making money, when everything is all said and done.

I don't think I've ever seen a rescue for $1000. $500-600 is about the limit I've seen. I completely understand why YHR charges what they do for adoption fees. They take in a lot of sick dogs that have big medical bills....they take in dogs that other rescues may not touch because of the high medical bills....so they have to offset their medical costs somehow. All you have to do is look at YHR's webpage and adoption list to see how many medical cases they take on. If someone doesn't want to pay those adoption fees, they can always go adopt from another rescue that doesn't take on the sick dogs like YHR does.

It's too bad more vets aren't out there to do work Pro-Bono....donating their time and only charging rescues for the materials...esp. things like spay/neuter and vaccines.

Glad to hear Bonnie and Clyde are OK. I knew your little Yorkie girls would go fairly quick!! The girls seem to go a lot quicker than the boys do!! Although...it also seems like we've got no shortage of Rescue Yorkies needing homes here in the midwest. You look at other places on petfinder and there are hardly any purebred yorkies for adoption...but in the midwest, it seems like there's always yorkies in need of homes!!

Great photos.... so glad that they are doing well ! :)


I bet Bonnie feels so much better without that chunk of hair in her teeth or all those fleas biting her.

These two came into rescue yesterday and the little Yorkie girl is already in her forever home. A lady who lives in Pa had an approved application and asked us to keep an eye out for a smaller Yorkie girl. Her name is Vegas but it will be changed. Congrats to you Vegas and your new home. The little Maltese is still with the rescue. She is in foster home and doing well. She is 5 years old and weighs a whopping five pounds. They are so sweet

Can you PM me some details about the maltese girl? thanks :)

Look for "Skylar" here: The Little Yorkie Rescue / Available Rescues

Thanks Mark :)

You're welcome..... I didn't send a PM though..... buuuuuut.... ;)

I let her know and she said that that pup is already spoken for. Paperwork, home visit and a vet check already scheduled. :)