Teacup Yorkshire Terriers – Do they exist
There is no such thing as a ‘Teacup’ Yorkie. This is not a special breed of the well-known Yorkshire Terrier breed. In fact it is just a name given to the tiniest of pups born to make the buyer feel that by purchasing a ‘Teacup’ Yorkie that they are getting something very unique and special. They are not!
Any breeder that advertises they have ‘Teacup’ Yorkies for sale are attempting to employ a cruel and sly marketing method to fool the purchasers and play on the emotions of a potential buyer. Other names used instead of ‘Teacup’ for the tiniest of pups is ‘Micro’ or ‘Toy’ Yorkshire Terriers. Do not be fooled. Buyers need to be aware and do their homework prior to purchasing any breed of puppy.
You will never hear an ethical breeder who knows and loves the breed refer to a very small Yorkie as a ‘Teacup’ Yorkie. They are just a very small Yorkie and more likely to be called the ‘runt of the litter’, if anything.
Very small pups can be born amongst a litter of normal sized healthy Yorkshire Terrier pups. It can happen naturally, for a variety of unknown reasons.
More often than not an ethical breeder will keep the smallest puppy as there is potential health problems in its future and they require extra care throughout their lives to keep them safe and well.
A ‘Teacup’ Yorkie can occur naturally in amongst a healthy normal sized litter as already mentioned. However, there are unscrupulous breeders out there that will deliberately breed these so called ‘Teacup’ Yorkies and research indicates they will select and purchase the smallest Yorkie of a litter and use these little tiny dogs to breed. A pregnancy for these tiny wee dogs comes with very high risk to her as well as any pups. Methods these breeders can use to ensure the litter is very tiny is malnourishing the mother that helps stunt the puppies growth. Reading on the internet will give you other practises that can be used as well.
Advice from this writer is that should you see anyone advertising a ‘Teacup’ Yorkshire Terrier (or any breed actually) for sale it would be in your best interests to avoid them at all costs. This breeder will not be practising ethical breeding and has only one thing in mind and that is to how much money they can get out of each buyer.
The term ‘Teacup’ is quite a controversial word in dog breeding circles. You will likely get quite a negative response from the multitude of people who know and love this breed when this term is used.
As lovers of this gorgeous breed we need to do what we can to stamp out unethical practices and flatly refuse to purchase any pups that fall into this category. If no one will buy them there is no market for them and therefore this cruel practise will stop.
