Hi everyone.

I want to ask everyone to post a thread in the review forum about the breeder from whom you got your babies. Good or bad, let us know.

Thanks for your co-operation.

Hi

I bought a supposed teacup from Mijoy yorkies which cost me R10 000 he is anything but a teacup!!! I then got a female "teacup" from her the day I went to fetch her she was ill and I was advised not to take her. I took one look at her and knew if I didn't take her she would die!!! Previously other puppies that could have been potential teacups had died so I just knew I needed to take her at my own risk. She was infested with worms and was very anaemic I managed to get her healthy but she is no teacup. I have a problem with people who tell you what your puppy will weigh as an adult. There is no real full proof way of estimating adult weight. However there are factors that can indicate if a puppy will be large or on the smaller side but to sell puppies at 6 weeks for R10 000 ea and say they will be teacups is taking the public for a ride. Reputable breeders sell their tiny puppies at 12 weeks when one can see if the puppy will be a small puppy or not. To sell a tiny puppy at 6 weeks is not fair on the puppy as it needs that extra mothers milk to ensure it will be healthy.

I by chance bred a teacup male the other day which was a surprise to me as his brother is a normal pocket and he drank on his mommy till he was 4 months old!!! He is definitely not leaving and is a tiny but healthy little chap going on 6 months. Do your homework when purchasing a puppy people demanding deposits on puppies not born should be avoided.
People selling small yorkies at 6 weeks old should also be avoided. Some people are really just in it for the money breeders with constant litters should be frowned upon.

You are right, it is impossible to say at 6 weeks of age what a puppy will weight when fully grown and no puppy should be sold small or otherwise at 6 weeks of age as they are only then starting to learn their puppy manners from their mommies and siblings. We as dog lovers have a responsibility towards the public to inform them when we have had a bad experience. My daughter bought a little Dachshund which died 7 days later of Parvo. Please people be very careful who you buy from. I would also advise people to talk to the breeders vet and make sure that all their shots were given on time and that a PROPER vet check were done.

Unfortunately so many people think breeding is a way to make money. The more puppies the better and of course more money. The quicker they can get them sold and get their money the better. I'm just sick of dishonest breeders who think they are an authority when it comes to breeding. Years and years of breeding does not mean you know more or are a better breeder than the breeder who has only being breeding for a short time. I agree experience does help but sometimes breeders who have been at it for years become complacent.

Not to be argumentative, but I prefer getting my puppies very young. Puppies are most open to learning during the 8-12 week period, and I want to be the one training them, not a breeder whose methods I might find objectionable.

As far as "puppy manners," I also disagree. Puddin' came to me at 6 weeks and now, at nearly 8 months, is just fine. She knows how to play, what is allowed, and how to interact with the other dogs. I have 2 Maltese...they were very clear on what kind of behaviours they would tolerate from her! She now plays with the younger Maltese and knows proper deference to the old man.

In the US it is recommended that a pup stay with its mother until 12 weeks, but I absolutely disagree. I used to breed Collies and I know from experience that no breeder has the time and energy to properly train an entire litter of puppies the way a single individual with only one puppy can. Also, I don't want my puppy bonding with the breeder or mourning the loss of its littermates...the longer the litter is together, the more bonded to each other the pups become. Most importantly, I want the puppy's entire learning experience to be at my hands...I already have rescue dogs that cringe at the sound of newspapers or flinch when someone's hands move too quickly near them...I want my puppies socialized and trained with love and gentleness and I cannot guarantee that unless I get them very young and malleable.

One of our Maltese, Candy, is a beautiful, intelligent, and neurotic dog. She suffers from anxiety. She was obviously not reared with gentleness and at some point in her life, she ran away from her original owners. The SPCA picked her up and she was quite a handful when we got her. After four years, she is a sweet, loving, gentle dog, but still suffers from anxiety and gets clingy easily. She is a spunky, high energy dog and loves to play...but we are saddened by the permanent scars her early life has left her with. My husband once wondered what she would be like if we had had her since she was a little baby...now, he looks at Puddin', little miss cheeky, loving confidence, and we know just what Candy would be like if we had raised her from a tiny pup.

I will take my puppies young, thank you, and ensure that they have a loving, nurturing, gentle upbringing from as early as possible.

I do agree with you but when you are dealing with a dog of 200g + at 6 weeks then I think they should stay with their mothers a bit longer. Many people have had tiny yorkies die on them because of low blood sugar due to their small size.

I think that is more an issue of size than age, and the care given to the pup.

I have hand-raised orphaned kittens and runt puppies from birth, turning out healthy little creatures in the end. I lost only one puppy, and that was because she had a congenital heart defect and I had to have her put down.

But I recognize that the kind of round-the-clock care the little ones need is not for everyone, so tiny ones are, in most cases, better off with their mothers until they are more robust. Puddin' was 831g at 6 weeks...no frail little creature there!

I don't think age is the best criterion for determining when a puppy can go to its new home. There are a multitude of factors, from size and robustness in the pup to the situation in the new house: if the puppy is going to be left home alone for hours every day, then I don't think that is the ideal situation for an undersized pup. But a household with an experienced "dog mama" who is home all day to care for the puppy is a whole other situation.

I agree with you I have raised many small animals out of necessity and they have survived but it isn't for everyone. It just concerns me when breeders sell to the general public without batting an eyelid as to whether they will cope with a small one or not. I'm quite happy to accept my puppy young but then I'm prepared to go the extra mile. I had to get up in the night to feed these 2 pups and make sure they were ok. I just wouldn't as a small breeder get it over my heart to sell a very small puppy at 6 weeks. I think breeders need to do what is in the best interest of the puppy in question. I know of a breeder who sold one of her puppies at 4 weeks of age to a friend of mine the little thing was just a bit bigger than a mouse. That is just wrong in my opinion.

Sweet Violet, I think that like you say these little ones should go to an "Experienced Dog Mama". They should not be left unattended. You are also right that age should not be the deciding factor but the health and robustness of the puppy. The problem as I understand it from Roxanne's post, is that there are so many breeders who do not care who they sell their little ones to as long as they get their money, and unfortunately few people who buy these little ones are great "dog Mama's" like yourself and do not understand the devotion it takes to raise them.

Well, I pretty much agree with you, although, unfortunately, the phrase "what is good for the puppy" is open to broad interpretation...some will take it to mean that the puppy stays with its mum until it is 12 to 16 weeks old.

I also will get up every 2 hours to feed a pup, I know how to make an incubator box and have spent many a night with one next to my bed. I can tube feed, know about stimulating the elimination of the youngest ones...and would probably do very well with a 200g pup, regardless of its age.

But I agree that most people have neither the skill set nor the temperament for this and breeders should be responsible when selling their pups. It's not enough that the buyer has the money, the buyer should have the ability to see to the dog's needs, not matter what those needs are. And tiny puppies are "special needs" puppies that need owners willing and able to provide those needs.

You have likely never seen a Yorkie so spoiled as my Puddin'---my husband adores her as well, and has bought her velour tracksuits, a diamante collar with her name on it, and even a pram! But she is well-mannered, good natured, and sweet tempered for all that! We got her at 6 weeks, but it quite obviously did not have a detrimental effect on the kind of dog she is becoming.

We are getting another one soon and will be taking her at 6 weeks as well...and I am sure she will be just as fine as Puddin' is.

I would love to see a picture of Puddin in her tracksuit. I'm sure she must look adorable. I will be honest I also prefer a puppy to come to me before it learns things from someone else but if I know that the breeder is an excellent owner and goes the extra mile then I don't mind them staying a little longer.

OH! How I wish there were more people like you Sweetviolet who understand and do go that extra mile. I took a little rescue Yorkie Bee-Bob in on the brink of death. He was a standard size but were so abused that he could not walk and I had to spoon feed him, he would hide in the corner and shiver. He still had all his baby and grown up teeth and looked like a shark. My vet said that he was so weak and would not survive if we tried to fix his teeth. He weighed only 710gr when I took him and because he could not walk took him to a specialist in JHB who found that he was shaken so badly as a little pup that he had in chipped vertebrae (Hope that is spelled correctly) He was to tiny to operate on the area where the damage was and I was told that it would be best to put him down because his injuries were so bad that he could live for 5 minutes or 10 years. All it would take was a bump at the wrong place or time and the damaged vertebrae would snap. Well I had him 5 days short of a year his weight went up to 1.7kg and he could even walk a little and get around on his own. Then one day he was in to much of a hurry and tripped on the floor rug AND THAT WAS IT, He could not move and I had no option to send him over the rainbow bridge. I don't think I will ever get over that sight.

Sorry for the long story.

I would also love to see pictures of you baby.

Stories like this make me so sad and angry that people can do things like this to innocent animals!!! I'm just glad he met up with you and at least was shown love and kindness instead of the abuse he first suffered.

Sometimes there are happier endings...my male Maltese, Nash, was 7 when we got him. He was abandoned to a rescue when his family emigrated. He was emaciated and depressed and he howled nonstop when left alone, and cowered if you rattled a newspaper.

My husband knew nothing of dogs...Nash was his first one...and the first night (I put Nash to sleeping with us because he was so fearful) Hubby wanted to know why his breath was so foul. I took him to the vet in the morning and found his mouth was so infected he was on the verge of sepsis. So, two days after we got him, Nash underwent R800 worth of surgery and had all but 7 of his teeth extracted, then spent six weeks on antibiotics. The vet said he was just a few days short of death when we got him...he was so thin because he couldn't eat with his sore mouth.

The howling continued until we got a second dog for him for a friend...the aforementioned Candy. Years later we learned that Nash had lived with his littermate, Sasha, until he was six, and when the family moved away the dogs were separated. We eventually got Sasha, whom Nash recognized instantly! I cried when they were reunited, it was so touching.

Sasha had also been abused, and neglected by her second family. She was timid and beaten down and sickly. We had her two years when she died of liver failure, but in those two years she had love and care...and Nash. She actually started coming out of her shell a few months before she died...she began wagging her tail when she saw me and liked to sleep on my pillows (where Puddin' now sleeps).

Nash is now 12, chubby and arthritic, but he is still with us, frolicking in the back garden with Candy and sleeping on fat cushions in front of his own private heater. He's a sweet little old man and we hope he is with us for some time to come.

How sad that poor innocent animals have to endure things like this because of disgusting humans that don't deserve to live in my opinion!!!!!!!!!! I detest with a passion animal abusers!!!!!!! They deserve to be fed to a pack of hungry hyaenas!!!!!!!!

When I was a little girl, all I really wanted was to be a mom. I got married right out of high school and had my first child just 9 months later (no kidding!). I had 3 kids, but because I have to have Caesars, I quit with that. Now my kids (and my grandkids) are all grown and I have my dog babies.

They really are my substitute children. My husband, who is great with kids (he even carries babies around like he was born to it!) doesn't think he should have any because of the genetically transmitted medical conditions he has...he is only 37 and his doctor predicts his life span to be less than another 20 years because of his health. So, for him, the dogs are his babies, too.

Personally, having had both dogs and kids, I don't see a lot of difference in the early years! And I see no reason why dogs...especially toy breeds like Maltese and Yorkies, should be treated with any less love, care and nurturing than our young children. Hence my very spoiled...but very lovely...little four-legged babies!

Sorry to hear about your hubby's medical condition really not nice. Well my family have accused me of giving my animals more attention than them!!!! I'm animal mad I have yorkies, horses, donkeys, sheep, a cow, marmoset monkeys, rabbits, chinchillas, the latest baby is a potbelly pig that is being bottle fed!!! So from the time I get up in the morning till the time I go to bed I'm on the go with some or other pet. Today it's rabbit cage cleaning and that's in between feeding a very demanding little piglet. When it's very cold I lie awake at night thinking about the animals that have to be outside who might be cold. My bird cages outside have blankets over them in the winter in case the birds get cold. I think my staff think I'm crazy but who cares. My maid said the other day to me that other people have their dogs living outside!!! Well I'm not other people and my dogs live inside!!! My rabbits come inside as well when they have babies so the babies don't get cold. My chinchillas and guinea pigs have their own room inside the house as well. My son said to me yesterday that we should register as a private zoo!!!

I had more animals when I lived in the States, including 5 horses. But as I get older my allergies get worse and now I am just doing dogs that don't make me sneeze! (I would LOVE to have one of those little marmoset monkeys, though! They are SO adorable!)

My house was modified by a previous owner to have a room that is part of the garage. It is carpeted and was originally designed to be a study...and we have furnished it thus...but it actually belongs to the Maltese. They like being outdoors and they love having the freedom to come and go on their own. We have a huge covered patio with a dog bed on it, and from there they can go into their room where there are cushions and blankets and a heater in a sheltered corner. We have stopped calling it "the study" and started calling it "the kids' room"!

My one female marmoset is about to pop within the next few days. The babies are adorable it's like having a baby in the house if you raise one of them. I know all about the cushions and blankets I'm forever washing blankets. I embroider blankets for dogs with different designs and sell them on my online shop and they sell very well. You can go check out my web site if you like [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] it's a work in progress!!

This is an older post but I am new and would like to add my 2 cents worth!

I got my puppy at 6 weeks old and she weighed a mere 600g. The breeder was going overseas the next week and did not want to keep the puppies longer than she had to and assured me she would be fine. When I picked her up from this woman she had a HUGE grey tick on her back and the fleas were sitting around her eyes and she stank to high heaven. There was no puppy breath there!

a few hours later she was vomiting and my firned who had purchased her sister phoned me to tell me hers was also the same. When I called my emergency vet he said I must get her to drink and eat within an hour or else I must bring her in immediately. I didn't want to be the paranoid owner but eventually i wrapped her up and took her in. After paying R3000 for my puppy I did not want to lose her the first night. the vet suspected parvo too but luckily that was a negative.

She had reacted badly to her innoculations and the vet said 8 weeks is the youngest they should have their first one. Her white blood cell count was so sky high that the vet had to try and find a vein and get a drip into her to save her life. mainly due to the stress of the vets visit for her injections and being taken away from her mommy and siblings. But the worst thing for me was that when we looked at her she had not a SINGLE tooth in her mouth.

so yes I agree that it depends on the puppy 100% - but a baby that doesnt even have any teeth is definitely not weaned. She could not eat solids. her teeth only started coming through after 8 or 9 weeks.

Im sure this breeder had good intentions and her dogs are beautiful and she has bred for many years. Her daughter in law now does the breeding while she is overseas. I have decided to get a companion for my little girl and I have gone through the same breeder. and this is why - a few weeks ago i was approached by a person under the email address [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and he was a HUGE scam artist. Im going with someone I know even exists and who's dogs I have seen first hand and who i believe takes super care of them. Im completely happy with the daughter in laws breeding - much better ethics! her puppies are inside in a beautiful basket and warm whereas my baby was born outside and lived outside until i got her - In a cold mountainous area. I have watched the new puppy regularly and she takes very good care of him. He will be with her until he is 8 weeks and she has said if I am not happy with his size and progress he can stay longer which I am happy with.

On a different note - I agree with wanting my dog to only know me and my training methods. Through all of Taylor's baby problems we are very close They do need to learn some socialisation from their brothers and sisters tho.