Mijoy Yorkies and Mijoy Biewers

 Hi Mijoy

My interest lies with the smaller sized Yorkies, although having spent a lot of time researching the breed, and contacting the various breeders, there seems to be a rather dramatic opinion variation. Some breeders are very polite, while others totally obnoxious, rude, outspoken and arrogant.   IF I as a member of the public, show interest in something surely it is the duty of these breeders to show respect, irrespective how they feel about my inquiry. I was however referred to you by another Breeder who advised me, you would give me all the advice I needed. 

I have been on your website on a number of occasions, the decision I have made of purchasing a smaller sized  yorkie, has been one I have taken over many months. I just did not decide yesterday that I wanted a small yorkie.  I have had some people warning me that they are normally ill from day one, and cause the owner much heartache, and not to mention the vet bills as well.  I have also found out that a teacup according to some breeders is anything up to 1.8kg, and some say that all Yorkies smaller than the normal 2.5kg  are runts. 

I am now retired after many years working. I retired younger than necessary, but with the economic situation as it is, I chose to opt out. I have had dogs over the years, now I want one that is my full time companion.  I have properties in Johannesburg, South Coast and the Cape.  I intend from now on to live my life to the full. Relaxing my top priority. I am officially out of the rat race. What better companion could I wish for than a small yorkie?

Please advise me on your opinion. You have a considerable amount of information on your site, but I would appreciate you directing this at me.

Sincerely yours,

Ji

Hello and thank you for your mail.  There is a lot of different opinions on small Yorkies, and I wrote an article recently that I will put on my site with your letter. The reason being, I am phoned or mailed on a regular basis by members of the public, who have had problems, want to avoid problems etc, but all want that tiny yorkie……

The article I wrote will explain in detail my feelings on these tiny dogs. My feelings as well on how the public are abused in some instances by casual breeding of the Yorkies…….  My recommendation to protect oneself as much as possible when purchasing that really small dog and how to go about doing that.

The smaller yorkie can and does fill many peoples desires, and as mentioned repeatedly if bred correctly they will not be sickly little runts, but healthy little bundles of joy.

ONE thing I need to mention, the PUBLIC are under the impression these dogs are born either to teacup parents, or they are born by the half dozen, or they are born and the breeder immediately knows this is a teacup size dog.  I wish, trust me I wish they came with a label attached saying what size they were. The very small dog is RARE………. 

I again thank you for your mail, should you have any further questions or information you require, please do not hesitate in contacting me.

Alarming NEWS…………. 

The tinies as we call them, the really small Yorkies teacups and the small pockets, are often under the spotlight, and more often than not, it becomes somewhat of a controversial issue…………..

Are these dogs healthy?

Are they freaks?

How are they bred?

How do you stunt the growth?

How many pups do your teacups have in a litter?

JUST some of the questions I get asked on a pretty regular basis.  Recently a top publication of a pet magazine, discussed the Yorkies as a breed. SOME of the replies from the breeders themselves, were brilliant.

The tinies were mentioned in that publication, and I responded, as well as most of the other breeders concerned. Firstly I would like to put the record straight, that the teacup yorkie is not a premature pup or the runt of the litter at all.  I am not saying, runts do not exist.  My feelings on runts of the litter, my interpretation, if a litter has four pups and one of them is really tiny, is it a runt or a genuine tiny?? I do not expect some people to understand the logic behind this.  IF the pup concerned has major health issues, well then it is a runt. If it did not have those health conditions, it more than likely would not be a small puppy, but equally as big as the litter mates. However, IF the pup is perfectly healthy,  as fit and healthy as its litter mates, it can hardly be called a runt.

BEWARE the tiniest pup at birth, will not necessarily be the tiniest adult dog. Don’t get caught. I am fascinated, when I hear from the odd person, how they have just purchased a teacup yorkie that was born yesterday??? How on earth do they know that? How can they be sure it is a teacup?

WE class ourselves as pioneers in the field of the breeding of the teacup yorkie, NOT because we have gone out of our way for years and years to breed, tiny, little unhealthy, weak gened dogs. We have never done that. We have bred these tinies, of which there are a good few, from the normal breeding sized Yorkies. Some of the tiniest I have ever bred at 550 and 600gms as adults, were born from a stud of 1.8kg and mothers of around 2.8kg and 3kg. These can hardly be called abnormally small sized sire and dam.  These pups were born perfectly healthy.  I have also had three in a litter, the largest of them weighing 1.2kgs as a 4 year old dog.   Do you get three runts in a litter??????

Over the years we have become fairly well known Breeders of the smaller sized Yorkies, and as a result our dogs are very much in demand.  Recently I have had loads of calls. Two calls from people who had tinies and have lost them. I asked why not return to the breeder you bought them from? The one breeder only ever had one litter. So presumably it was someone who bred their pet dog and then spayed it. The other breeder, had only ever had the one really small dog, and this lady had bought it. They never expected it to be so small.

If you purchase a pup and have any concerns, get an agreement from the breeder concerned and also mention you will have the dog checked by your vet. Often we – myself included over the years, have seen a pup and bought it knowing full well, the pup was not 100% or possibly had a problem. I even mentioned to the breeder the once, that I felt the pup was ill. It was the heat of the day …………….her reason. This pup turned out to be ill. I would never ever have returned it, but it became a regular occurrence for this pup to see the vet, every other week, until he eventually passed away at 10 months of age. The autopsy revealed, liver and kidney disease.  The Breeder had been advised from day one of the ill health this pups had suffered with, she repeatedly had said, I will replace him, if he dies. Easy to say, but did she, has she???? NO…..  Amazing how often her name comes up in conversation…..  not from my side, from people who have purchased from her and hit problems………………….  I hear loads and loads of stories, and I cannot believe everything that is told to me. People exaggerate, bend the truth, add a bit here and there, but when some names are mentioned time and time again, as producing problem Yorkies, you have to wonder ………….. 

There are Breeders who do sell top quality healthy Yorkies and there have to be breeders who breed the tinies as well, correctly, but to date, I am not aware of any as such. Over the years, I have bought from different breeders, because at MIJOY we do not interbreed our dogs at all. Yes, Line breeding can have its advantages, and I am not saying it is wrong to do it on occasion, by someone with knowledge, who knows their breed and their genes, and takes two almost perfect specimens and mates them. However, I do have a serious problem, with people who continue to interbreed, mother to son, daughter to father, and repeatedly do so.  This may result in the odd tiny here or there, but is it really worth it, when the pups sold end up with serious health problems.  The unsuspecting purchaser of that pup, ends up with huge vets bills, the pup becomes a massive responsibility overnight. Some people just cannot cope with all the attention needed for the pup/dog concerned. Some folk will do it for a while and then it becomes just too much to cope with.  Some owners lives get taken over by their seriously ill dog.

IF the Breeder you intend purchasing from, has any problem in signing an agreement with you, covering the pups health, till the dog is a year of age and guaranteeing the heart and liver, you  must question why??? If a pup is bred correctly, is healthy, been checked over by a vet. Clean bill of health why would they not offer you an agreement of sale? In some cases it is quite safe to buy from Breeders without this, but will you ever know who you can really trust, unless you have been referred to them and they have been in yorkie breeding for a good while. In the past I thought I could trust the odd Breeder and found to my dismay, they were not at all trustworthy…. Once or twice over many years I have purchased a yorkie and it turned out to have a problem, the Breeders concerned did come to the party – these again are Breeders that have been Breeding YORKIES for many years.  It is a labour of love.  If you buy a pup you expect it to be a pleasure and not a burden.

IF we were to sell our dogs as is, no guarantees – then a prospective future owner could be suspicious and with every reason to be so. HOWEVER, we sell our pups with sales contracts, they carry health guarantees and they are all micro chipped. They are all checked out health wise to the best of our ability. We go to great lengths to ensure, the pup we pass on is a healthy one.  IF at any stage we are concerned over a pup, we would not let it leave our care.

On occasion the pup may turn out slightly bigger or smaller than anticipated. IT is very difficult to be able to interpret a future mass of any pup at a very early age. People buying these pups as well do not want to wait till the pup is months and months older, to be certain of the adult weight.  If the pup should be slightly larger, is it really a train smash?????  Considering you could have bought a dog, which is happening to a lot of the public, paid a good price, and the dog dies, one week, one month, 10 months from the date of purchase, and you have zero , no puppy, a good amount of money lost that you have paid for that pup, vets bills in some cases, and a Breeder that does not want to know your problem…….

I myself have been there, I know what it is like.  The Breeder offers you the sun, moon and the stars, and all you get in return is the hail storm.  Very easy to talk, how do you go about protecting yourself?

EASY insist on a written sales agreement. If the pup has any defect, that is life threatening, and diagnosed within the first year of the dog’s life, or the dog should die. What is the breeder prepared to do about it????  Yorkies as a breed are known for certain problems health wise. Liver shunts, patella problems, dry eye etc, but to name a few

OUR GUARANTEES COVER THE HEART AND THE LIVER – our pups are all vet checked prior to leaving us, and are given a clean bill of health.  A lot of Yorkies can live quite normal lives with a liver shunt depending on the severity of it. Some dogs I believe get diagnosed only in old age with a liver shunt, something they have lived with all their lives.   Information which I obtained from my vet – regarding liver shunt.  On the correct medication and diet, a lot of dogs with this problem, can live with this problem, it is not necessarily a death sentence.

Over the years – many years, I have been contacted by the public, be it via the phone or email, and told of their plight with owning at some or other stage a tiny, the problems they had, the problems they still have, the response received from the breeder concerned when things went wrong or are going wrong……  

There is hardly ever a week that goes past but I hear from someone with a problem with a Yorkies health. Very depressing, and demotivating for the owner concerned. 

The majority of the cases the Yorkies all seem to have problem hearts – diagnosed at a pretty young age.  The second highest on the list is liver problems – also diagnosed at a pretty young age. IF these owners had bought from a Breeder who guaranteed their pups, at least not all would have been lost.

All pups or dogs at some or other stage are going to have problems or could have problems.  A breeder cannot be expected to replace a pup or pay vet bills for everything that could go wrong.  If any claims were to be made, a vets report and the necessary autopsy and pathology, histology report would be needed to substantiate the necessary claim.

IS it safe to buy a tiny? Another question I am asked repeatedly.  It is not a problem to purchase a tiny, PROVIDED  you have the lifestyle for such a dog. You cannot leave a tiny at home from 6 till 6. Go on leave and leave the pup with the maid.  I am pretty different to the run of the mill breeder, in a lot of cases I will discourage somebody from buying a really small dog, rather than encourage them, if I feel they or their family or situation is not acceptable for a tiny dog.  I also get a good few people discussing their situation with me, and if I feel they will cope. I have no problem with that at all.  I would far rather advise someone, who is eager to do the right thing, than not have them contact me and rush out and buy a tiny only to find, they cannot cope with such a responsibility.

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