The first three dogs I bought here in the US at 12 weeks, two of the three Championed, one didn't finish her CH title she just wouldnt move in the ring she was gorgeous and she knew it and she didn't make a real good size for breeding either, she had one litter via csection and did produce one Champion male but the female in the litter was also too small so she was spayed and petted out.
Fourth one I bought here in the US I got her at 12 months thought for sure I had something, when she arrived her rear was well in the air the worst topline I had seen.
I was on CO-Owner to Champion this girl.
A lady who had shown her dog for a year and no points finally got her break when I took this dog in the ring and did what the breeder of my dog told me to do was string her up to level out the topline. Well I told her I would never go in the ring again with her it wasn't good for her name or mine. She signed off and allowed me to breed her well she was also not one of good breeding size so another CSection and spay. I gave her to my sister. So that didn't work out either.. she offered me a discount if i bought another one but to get one at 12 months with a very bad topline/high in the rear I knew that I was not willing to try that breeder again.
My reason for importing was to get some bigger size in my females.
I was able to buy here no problem but the females didn't make size so after going thru that a few times you you broaden your search to meet what your program is in need of.
There is a lot of wonderful European dogs but just as here, there are some that simply are not going to make the cut for Champion.
People have various reasons why they choose to import .
My last import is a dream dog, he is gorgeous. Something about him struck me when I first saw him, and being a friend of the breeder I was very lucky when she agreed to let me have him. We have a wonderful friendship and she had one of my dogs that she Championed in Europe and she will be getting another one of mine, my Diamond will be going to her next year as long as she makes size.
I agree it takes a lot of time, patience and a hard head and tuff skin. I needed all of that to get thru the first ten years of showing and establishing a show home. I can say this from personal experience.

Beautiful boy...,lots of lovely dogs there...but I couldn't resist to comment that's a very clever topknot style sometimes used to disguise a longer or even just a medium muzzle, one that may be acceptable to many of us, but a certain kind of topknot can change the appearance of the face drastically, to make the face appear a bit flatter than it is. Can be done to hide a faulty stop as well. JMO I've seen it. I am by no means being negative, I have some LBV two gens back and love my babes.
The only thing I would say in general is you have to watch out for soft coats if looking over seas. Not all but some. Your little one in your avatar is so cute. I am at work and a little bored, was looking for something to read, couldn't resist commenting on this post. Ok, back to work now., Good luck!

Thank you soooo much for answering my post. I was thinking I was going to get ignored/rejected for saying I liked the overseas lines. I went to Prestigeous yorkies website (Deana) and I would buy that little Sis one TODA"Y if she was for sale!! he he She is exactly the look I like! I like that pompodour topknot but did not know it was sometimes used to disguise faults, i adore the way it looks at side profile. I guess you could say I am picky about what yorkies look like. Thanks for your kind comment about Gia. I know she was breed for show but rejected because of her obvious size (teeney) but she probabley has other flaws (color around nose) abuat her topline is great (pic does not show it), she is silky. The breeder in this town I am in has a LBV female who is soft coated like you mentioned. She is very very thick compared to Gia. I can't tell coat characteristics very well. Still haven't gotten myself to a show yet but I WILL.
husband loves the breed and we need some hobbies when he retires/never would I breed for profit / only for pleasure and to produce beautiful pups for good homes . and I would charge ALOT of money for them to weed out riff raff. See... I have a plan. Then after say two litters spaced out/ retire my beautiful girl and we would have had the pleasure of baby yorkies! At the last show I watched on TV, the Eukanuba one, the yorkie did not look all that good to me. I don't think it was TyAva's , as she has some good ones. I tried to get one of hers to no avail. I get so mad when the yorkies don't get in the top ten! There is soooo much variation in this breed. To me, one min pin looks just like the other except some carry themselves better in the ring. he he sign me , yorkie fan only (well maybe maltese too)

All of my dogs are from North American lines with the exception of a couple with some German lines, but I have the complete opposite problem.. I am getting VERY large puppies, and have 5.5-7.5 lbs girls...though I did have a litter of TWO nine lb boys out of two 5 lb parents.. go figure, lucky me.. (not!)

I guess I don't understand why you would have wanted to breed a girl with a bad topline in the first place, size or no.. Which takes us back to the european or brazilian lines.. the fronts on a lot of these dogs are atrocious! A lot of them have toplines that look like a "U"... not something I care to bring into my breeding program.. if I don't have the problem, I'm sure not going to create it. I haven't found a hungarian or brazilian dog yet that I felt would add something to what I already have... with the exception of CH. Rothby's Rockafella At Amwend (YUM!), and heck he's NA born! LOL

Well Becki my answer to that would be, when you are new and this is what is sold to you on CO-Ownership until Championed from a show breeder, you think its OK that you may be able to pull something from this, we sure we didn't want a dog with a bad topline, we waited and bought a 12 month old bitch for that reason, but I did much better with my 12 week old pups LOL. She did produce one pup with a great topline but I am sure that came from Prince the sire. But at any rate when you are new and learning you are going to make a mistake here and there especially when another breeder is selling these things to newbies.
It was part of the learning process and I guess the tears came into play on that one. Alot of money spent for not!
I have seen many show breeders start with quality or lack of that they wouldn't touch today.
I have never bought a Brazillian dog before.
And I agree some of the toplines that you see is like a U and I wouldn't have any use for that either.
My new boys sire is a CH Squirrel dog very very lovely boy and the dam is european and she is a very lovely girl *superior/monderlay and Durrers. I am extremely happy with him he is 13 months and a perfect topline, nice leg and a very handsome face and great color. :) Oh and the temperment is out of this world. The friendliest fellow you would ever meet! Loves to kiss kiss kiss :) :)

You can see my new boys sire here.

Yorkshire terrier SQUIRREL'S BEYOND THUNDERDOME "Max"

I missed where you had just started out.. yes I agree with you there.. all of my first dogs now are either spayed and here, or spayed and in pet homes. I did keep one daughter of one of my original dogs.. bred her once, got two boys I didn't like, spayed her and that was that...as my quality had increased so much beyond that girl at that point, there was no reason to try again based on the two boys I got out of her... so I gotcha.. I just missed somewhere that it was in the beginning for you.

I'll go check out your boy when I get a chance.. the Baby is taking a nap so trying to get some grooming done quickly before he wakes up.

Becki

Thanks for the nice comment on Lil Sis, she is my baby girl. At night she won't sleep unless my hand is in her crate then she will curl up on the palm of my hand and go to sleep, she doesn't fit in the palm anymore but she still tries LOL she cries if I move my hand out. I dunno if I will ever get her broke of that but I love it!! LOL
Her brother is 5 lbs and she is almost 2 lbs now, they will be 6 months old on the 22nd. Lil Sis has my heart and she knows it! I didn't mean for her to remain small, I would love if she would hit a growth spurt, her mother is one of my favorite girls. And I always wanted one that looked just like her but I forgot to say what size when I prayed for one LOL
You need to get to a show and see all of the gorgeous Yorkies.
Your girl looks lovely, I have one that also has a bit darker coloring around her muzzle, not much but I notice it.

Becki- I am sure you are not talking about me. When I decided to get back into showing and after great research. I was searching and asking. Either no one had a female pup (I was wanting a female) or they had one and when I looked at photos or went over to look - I was just not excited with what I saw. I am just real picky. So I decided to search more and everytime I saw one that made me zing - it was from Hungary. I heistated, put off asking - because they were so far away. I then kept looking and still this the Hungarian breeder yorkies - I just going back to. Also my husband's side of the family are actually from Hungary - his dad came from Hungary when he was 9 to the US.

A few people still knew me from before when I showed and I could have bought here. I had shown before, so they knew I would follow through and knew what I was gettting into. But nothing here again I was attracted to. So I finally had some friends abroad and asked them to check this particular breeder out for me - whose dogs I kept going back and looking at. They did and got back to me - all great! The breeder showed, had great dogs, many champions, respected, etc... So I contacted that breeder and after a few months, decided on a special girl that was really nice. I have never been disappointed. This girl is now has her US - AKC championship. I did not take the easy road out, nor not show. I am still doing everything by the books and it just happened the dog I liked was from abroad. That is it!

I later bought another girl from the same breeder (that I will have out in the year this next spring). I also bred her to a very nice Westminster participant US champion male and I had two great pups from this breeding. I kept one of these boys and he is Very special! I am hoping he will turn a lot of heads!

Just like anywhere - there are going to be great and not so great breeders anywhere you go. Just do your research and be sure you are careful. I would rather buy a dog I liked and had the quality I liked, instead of settleing for something - just because it is in the US.
T.

Becki, I am assuming that you are talking about Camparis when you speak of your German lines? If you are wondering where your size is coming from I can help you... Beaus grandsire is an 8lb dog, the Europeans like a bigger dog, Danny bred the right way can and will produce some lovely puppies, ie Rebel, BUT again, Rebels dam is a cobby girl and produced small which is why I knew bred to Danny I should get some nice puppies.
As per Rothbys Rockafella he too is a TALL boy I know, I have his dauther here in my home( I was the only person in Canada beside the owner to breed to this dog) his problum was his front so had to sure to breed him to a long line of good fronts the result was my beautiful Summer she is a tall/big girl (which is why I never showed her) but I knew what was back there and so I took her back to Pilot ( litter brother to Fury's mother) knowing I should get some nice pups. She has never dissapointed me. So you see, it is all about knowing not just your dogs, but what is behind the lines as well.

Donna
Groveshire..well I guess you can give him and Aeros the credit LOL, everyone knows the truth. NicNak's MaMa Mia, NicNak's Ginger Spice and NicNak's Mia Rock think those dogs were born of my decisions on whom would be bred to whom
Regardless, however the story goes I do wish you luck at the Garden Donna.

Laurie Hunter and the NicNak Yorkies

My toplines on my Hungarian girls are fantastic and even better than some I have seen in the ring here in the US. Like I said before - you just have to be careful and research and watch.
Here is a photo of one of my girls when she was a pup - she is now a champion.

The only problem I have personally with buying dogs overseas is because they can't sell on limited registrations and control their breeding program like we can here in North America. That means anyone can misrepresent themselves and breed to just anything they want. That is how you get the messed up top lines, health issues ect...
Yes, you have to do your research and know what you want in a yorkie but at least here in North America we have somewhat control on breeding rights. I'm not saying yorkies overseas aren't some VERY nice representation of the breed because I've seen some gorgeous yorkies overseas I just personally couldn't bring myself to have a baby shipped in cargo that long, I think it's cruel but of course that is just my personal opinion :)

To the orginal poster Thank You on the compliment on Radar and this is in no way dishing you at all :) It's just all my personal beliefs and the way I do things. Radar is from Canada and not the US because personally I loved his lines after watching his breeders dog in the ring and loved what those lines were producing. But of course I do show my dogs and breed very selectively and very little so I have gained the trust of the breeder. When I do sell I sell as a pet on limited registration, spayed or neutered and as a pet and on a pet contract. I won't sell a yorkie just for breeding only way is YOU have to show and finish the yorkie "PERIOD"! :) And even then I have to approve breedings. Of course this is how I personally do things and in the end I can live with myself :)

Donna Bird
Brooklynn's Yorkshire Terriers

Hi Laurie, thanks for responding. Actually believe it or not, Beaux has never given me anything larger than 6 lbs, and that's even with having a 9 lb mother. I have gotten a whopping grandson out of him, however.. but his father and mother also went back to some bigger dogs, so it wasn't a surprise. I have spent many many many hours and done my very very best in finding as much info about what's behind Beaux, and his 2 half sisters as I possibly could, pictures, stories, information.. but I haven't been able to gather near as much as I'd like to.. It would be so much more beneficial to just pick up the phone, and go to the source..but that hasn't been an option unfortunately. :( Maybe someday it will be. In the meantime I do the best I can with the knowledge I do have, and try to gather more every day.

The big puppies, however were from an outside stud.. 3 litters, 3 mostly unrelated bitches...nothing worth keeping. I feel like I wasted a year. :( Oh well, live and learn...and learn...and learn some more..and keep on reaching for that next rung.

Becki

:)Hi Miss Topknot, Your Hungarian girl has that "showgirl" look to me! It's just a look you can't put your finger on.
Now my daughter has a small 3# yorkie that was purchased from a lady who breeds just her two dogs who are from Canada. Registered but we never bothered to
get her papers, she was just a sweet, cute pet and not to be bred, just spoiled and loved. She has a COMPLETELY different look than my Gia and your hungarian girl. Her facial features are almost pom like . She is still cute as a button and we adore her but her entire bone structure is different, from her head shape down. Gia ( my dog) has an almost rounded skull in the frontal area, not as much as an appleheaded chiwawa but not elongated like my daughters pet either. It is really interesting to see her wet as I do have to bath every 4th day or so. I am sure you guys all know the technical terms for what I am describing, all I know is "topline' "furnishings" and "up on leg" ..... I just now what I like. Short , cobby, square, almond eyes , great hair, good color (I don't know what that is for sure). There are just soooo many variables in this interesting and wonderful breed.To get all of them in one dog is a miracle and is just what you strive for as breeders, right? Our two yorkies are very different in personality too. Mine is very sweet, loves everyone, holds herself very erect and proud in new situations.
Almost regal like.
Bella (daughters dog) gives new meaning to the term "ankle biter" She went to obedience school and flunked. the girl at Petsmart said she was "alpha". We try
to modify her but she is just bossy and intolerent of anyone other than her "pack".
She fights my dog too which is cause for concern but there are never any puncture marks or blood, just alot of terrifing
noise! She is very smart tho. can respond to commands . I have not tried to teach Gia any tricks, she is my princess, much like your little palm girl. I too put the crate up in the bed with me when I got Gia because she was soooo small and I was afraid. My daughters dogs sibling was smothered by her 16 yr old owner a few days after
Christmas by her sleeping with her. Mind you, when they were sent to their respective homes they were only one and one half lbs.
Well, I got off topic. Anyway, I find all discussion of yorkie
beauty of interest. and you guys have the most beautiful
yorkies on yorkie talk. keep posting pics, I will keep looking and admiring , and when the hubby retires, we will get serious about getting more yorkies. We love them and would never ever do a thing to deter from the advancement of the breeds beauty and health.
I wish the best for all of you!

Donna
Groveshire..well I guess you can give him and Aeros the credit LOL, everyone knows the truth. NicNak's MaMa Mia, NicNak's Ginger Spice and NicNak's Mia Rock think those dogs were born of my decisions on whom would be bred to whom
Regardless, however the story goes I do wish you luck at the Garden Donna.

Laurie Hunter and the NicNak Yorkies[/QUOTE]

Hi Laurie,

Of course I gave Aero's the credit in an earlier post in this thread :) LOL...but also you need to have credit as Radar does come from NicNak on the bottom half and you do have lovely lines :) I don't know the story behind what you are saying LOL because I choose to stay out of other's business :) That's my motto LOL! I do thank you for the wish of good luck! Great combination in Radar's pedigree :) Love both lines! I did fall in love with CC as to who is Radar's grandsire :) Hope to see you in NY and watch your beautiful yorkies show :)

Donna Bird
Brooklynn's Yorkshire Terriers