Best places to look for a puppy

[MrsStinkey]

DH and I are currently looking for a teacup Yorkie. I've grown up with dogs the latter being a Yorkie but she was bought a very long time ago from a breeder by my parents. I don't know where to start looking for one to be honest but I feel a bit uneasy looking and buying on gumtree. Anyone got any advice on how is best to go about purchasing a pedigree? We're central Scotland but would travel a little further for a pup if we needed to. It's just been so long since we looked at buying a pup and everything has changed so much!

I would highly recommend and advice you to go discover dogs.

You can see lots of different breeds you can see and talk to breeders.

You won't find a pedigree 'teacup' Yorkie because breeding for miniature status like that is not a practice approved of by the Kennel Club. I would have thought that you would struggle to find a responsible (non pedigree) breeder who advertised their dogs as teacup varieties because there is a real stigma attached to the term and the 'fashionable' desire for teacup dogs. That's not meant as a judgement on your preference, just a statement of how the dog world views teacup sized dogs.

Yorkies are pretty small dogs, anyway, with some variation in size so you might do better to just focus on Yorkie breeders and check out the mum/dad size of dog when making a selection.

I found using a combination of the KC assured breeders list, champdogs.co.uk and plenty of independent internet research into the breeders listed on them was the best way to look for my own dog.

I cross referenced the KC and champdogs breeder lists to come up with those that appeared on both as active, then contacted everyone on the shorter list to enquire whether or not they were planning litters later in the year.

For those that replied to say they were I started looking them up on the internet. Basically, I was looking for good, solid, reliable history of their breeding lines. The breeder I chose had multiple news articles about her and her mum's dogs so I could trace her dogs back several generations. I could use the KC and champdogs sites to look up all parent, grand parent etc health checks. I could find online pictures for all those dogs that matched her own website to verify they all existed. I could see on her Facebook page a convincing history of responsible dog people she knew, plus an occasional update from people who'd had previous puppies from her.

Ultimately, though, I spent 90 mins or so face to face with her chatting about her dogs, her experience and the way she chose how and who to breed and when and why she had a litter. She let me see the contract up front before I made any kind of commitment. She was clear about what she expected from me as an owner and what I could expect from her - e.g. she expected me to contact her if I could not longer keep the dog for whatever reason, at any point during his life and she would take him back and keep him or find him a new home; in return, I could call her at any point during his lifetime for help or advice about the dog. During that visit she was open and allowed me to spend plenty of time with mum, dad, plus some other dogs she had from the same lineage so I could get a good sense of the temperaments of multiple dogs that would be related to my puppy. he did not push me to commit to a dog and just allowed the process to progress slowly and steadily.

Out of 6 dogs I've had, he is the only puppy I have bought from a breeder and, at seven months old, I am very glad I spent all the time doing the research because he is the picture of mental and physical health. Well worth it.

You’ll not find a decent breeder for teacup yorkies, ethical breeders breed dogs to be healthy and within breed standards, teacup versions of dogs are neither.

We've owned a teacup for many years and she was kennel club approved had all her papers etc. Thank you for the advice on where to go to look and ask. There's so many puppy farms and unethical breeders out there and I don't want to encourage that. It seems that you could easily buy a puppy from someone that hasn't got the dogs best interests at heart.

Anyone breeding teacup versions of dogs does not have the best interest of dogs at heart...

The kennel club do not approve dogs, they’re just a registration list. It’s like saying a car is DVLA approved because you have the registration papers.

There’s no such thing as a “teacup” dog.

It’s a dog. And deliberately breeding them small is not good practice. You say you want to avoid unethical breeders and breeders without the dogs best interests at heart- anyone breeding teacup dogs is both.

Buy buying one you are encouraging breeding of these very small dogs. They will be bred for size, with no consideration for general health etc.

Why do you want a “teacup” yorkie anyway? Your average yorkie isn’t very big, and smaller ones have no advantages, except to be fashionable and cute, but many negatives. I’m sure you know yorkies and other small dogs are prone to patellar luxation, and the smaller the dog the bigger the risk.

If you’re going to a breeder, buy a yorkie which is bred to breed standard with the health, not the size of the dog in mind.

I actually have a very small yorkie. I have been asked if he is “teacup”. He isn’t, his mum, dad, and siblings are all normal sized, from a show line that are all breed standard (2kg minimum). He is healthy so far, except his patellas may need surgery as they are showing signs of slipping. However the breeder and i had fully discussed this, i knew he wasn’t bred small on purpose, and i had to promise to neuter and not breed from him as he was not up to her high standards for breeding.

Forget the whole teacup idea and look for a healthy dog, and healthy breeding lines first.

Holy shit- i have just googled and “teacup” yorkies are about 2 pounds!! Mine is a tiny thing and he’s nearly twice that!

I can’t find anything positive about them except “theyre cute and make you friends on instagram”. Lots of negatives like injure easily, have to feed them constantly so their blood sugar doesn’t drop, get stood on, digestive issues.....the list goes on.

You may want to look at many tears rescue. They rescue from puppy farms and have unethical puppies like teacups and poos. The last “teacup”’yorkie puppy they had i think it took them several weeks just to stabilise his blood sugar as he was so small he couldn’t eat enough.

Breed standards are there for a reason. Anyone not breeding to those standards isn’t an ethical breeder.

We want a teacup as that's what we owned previously. I think though @reallyanotherone it was possibly same situation as your dog as her parents were from a show line that was breed standard as well. She was very small though. I've seen some very large yorkies and just don't want a dog that size! Unfortunately I don't know much with regards to purchasing a dog as I was in my early teens when we bought the last Yorkie and wasn't involved in the research that was my parents. I was involved in the toilet training, walking and other general care though so know what having a dog involves.

Yep she didn't weigh 2lbs. I think we just had a small Yorkie going by what I'm seeing and hearing. I don't want a tiny little handbag dog just for the sake of it!

Breed standard is up to 3.2kg... my very small cat weighs that, so if you look for a good breeder you wouldn’t be looking at oversized ones either.

Start with the breed club, that’s always the best place to get started with any breed.

Perfect thank you for the advice. Teacup to me is obviously not what actually passes as a teacup and is in fact just a small Yorkie.

Great. Get a puppy from a long line of runts. Good idea.

The Yorkie we had was small but pick of the litter so definitely not a runt. I just want a small dog. not a micro handbag sized one but one about the same size as our last Yorkie.

My does your dog need to be so small?

Why?

The Yorkie we had was small but pick of the litter so definitely not a runt. I just want a small dog. not a micro handbag sized one but one about the same size as our last Yorkie

This makes no sense at all^ The runt is the smallest, weakest pup of the litter, regardless of whether somebody chose him first.

Also you say you don't want a micro handbag size dog. Are there any breeds smaller than a teacup yorkie???

I don't want a ridiculously small dog which is what i take it teacup actually means. The Yorkie we had for years we called a teacup and she was small but weighed just under 4kg. I just like dogs that are on the smaller side. We had a cavalier king Charles spaniel as well and he was as big as I'd go for a dog. Just a preference I guess. DSis has huge dogs that are lovely but I'm just not up for taking on a dog of that size that needs a massive amount of walking, feeding etc. A smaller dog I can take a couple of shorter walks a day and isn't going to eat more than me would be better!

@TattyTshirt you obviously haven't read all my posts. I honestly only thought that it was AIBU everyone was up.for giving the OP a kicking no matter what. Wow some of you people just love an argument on here don't you? Teacup was an incorrect term for me to use going by what people are saying. I didn't even have any idea you could get dogs apart from the exception that were that small! Our last dog clearly wasn't a teacup but just a small Yorkie. They vary in size quite a bit.

www.yorkieinfocenter.com/teacup-miniature-yorkies

Something for you to have a look at

I don’t think there will be any variation in walking requirements between a small and large yorkie, just forget the size and look for a well bred, health tested breed standard dog.

I would go to a reputable breeder who has the relevant health tests for the breed. I would ask the breed club first if they can recommend anyone and go from there.
I wouldn’t go for the smallest puppy in the litter but rather the one with the most rounded personality.

Good luck finding what your looking for!

I agree OP - you're taking a bit of an unwarranted kicking here. I think you have been very clear that you mistakenly used the term teacup thinking it meant one thing and have since realised it means something very different. The reactions seem to still be about teacup varieties when that's not what you are looking for.

Wanting a small dog is also not a crime - especially when the size you have quoted is exactly within the breed standard for the breed you have chosen. In fact, 4kgs would make your last Yorkie a tiny bit bigger than is usual for that breed.

I think people are just reading the word 'teacup' and having a knee jerk reaction to that term because of all the baggage that comes with it - rather than understand that just under 4kgs is a healthy-sized Yorkie and you should have no problems at all finding a well-bred dog of that size from a responsible breeder.

Thanks @missbattenburg. I definitely want to reiterate that I do NOT want a tiny little handbag dog that has been badly bred to be that way. I think that's cruel. I'm just looking for a specific breed of dog and a smaller sized one rather than the bigger ones I've seen and I came here to ask advice as I want to buy one responsibly. The term 'teacup' that I have used was a mistake. I thought the smaller standard yorkies fell under that term. The other reason it would need to be a Yorkie is that I'm actually allergic to dog hair but, like many others, am not allergic to non casting breeds like yorkies and Maltese. Thank you for all the advice on where to start looking. Looks like a good few months of researching breeders is ahead of me.

Contact the breed club(s). They will know who is a good breeder and who is going to have litters in the near future. I think that is the best possible way to find a good breeder who wants healthy puppies.

You want a breeder who puts lots of effort into socialisation of the puppies (which includes things like getting them used to being handled, used to different surfaces, seeing different things, etc).

A good breeder will have a contract that insists you must return dog to them, if for whatever reason you can't keep them. Really exceptional ones may even have a refund period for the first few weeks or months, where they will give a part or full refund, if it doesn't work out for any reason whatsoever, just to make sure you take puppy back to them and don't try to recoup costs by selling on via Gumtree, preloved, etc.

They should have fully health tested parents and health should be top of their priorities (along with temperament). You can double check health test results of any individual dog on "MyKC" on the Kennel Club website (you have to sign up but it's free). You can also check inbreeding coefficient isn't too high on there.

Your “small” yorkie is quite big for breed standard then if it’s just under 4kg! I am now wondering what sort of giant versions you have come across...

I was the same as you, had an utterly fab yorkie as a child, and have always loved the breed. It was the character i was after though, not size, although the fact they are a small breed was a contributory factor.

I think you’ll be fine with any healthy breed standard. Ring around and go visit, even if there are no puppies, the dogs will give you a feel for their personalities.

The litter i got mine from had 2 bitches and 2 dogs- one of each had already been reserved for show homes. I saw them running around like nutters, (while the grand old pack matriarch sat on my knee drooling everywhere!). with this tiny little boy giving as good as he got, but also the first to back down. I knew from experience i wanted the slightly less full on dog who wasn’t very strong willed. And he suits us fine. He just happens to be very (less than 2kg) small, i’d have picked him even if he’d been a bigger sibling.