1. Never look for your new puppy in a pet store. Read my puppy mills page to understand why. ( coming soon) .

2. Realize there are many scams out there . There are NO free yorkies puppies.......EVER.

3. Understand that good quality yorkies are not cheep. If you don't want a puppy that is full of health issues that will drain your bank account and break your heart then you need to plan on paying more for your puppy. I have bought cheep yorkies myself and paid more in vet bills then I did on the purchase price of the puppy.

5. When visiting the home take a look around. Are the dogs happy and friendly do they run up to you to be petted and loved or do they , snarl, and bite at you? Temperament is acquired from the parents. They should be happy well socialized and thrilled to see you.

6. Is the area where the puppys and dogs are kept clean? Can the surfaces be washed and sanitized? Or are they using some sort of bedding such as straw, wood chips, wood pellets ? This is not good practice disease, insects, and fungus flourish in type of environment. Some breeders use this as a way to keep odor back and cut back on daily cleanings ,but a good healthy cleaning should be what keeps the odor back. If , ring worm, Coccidia , Giardia or many other contagious diseases were to breakout there would be no Sanitation and the whole kennel would come down with it.

7. If you are going to spend a fair amount of money on your Yorkie then you may as well buy one that is registered with the AKC ( American Kennel Club). Many people do not realize that you can cross Yorkies with many other breeds of small dogs and get puppies that still resemble a Yorkie. The best way to make sure you are getting a purebreed Yorkshire terrier is to get an AKC registered puppy who's father has been DNA'ed through the AKC. There are many knock off registry's out there and you can learn more about the registration process on my AKC page. (coming soon)

8. Never take a puppy unless you have the AKC paperwork IN YOUR HAND. I have heard all the excuses. The bottom line is it only take a week or two at the most to get the paper work from the AKC since you will not be taking the puppy home until at least 8 weeks old that was two months the breeder had to get the paper work . If you go to the AKC website it says right on there that paper work disputes are the #1 problem and they do not get in involved in such disputes. If you leave the breeders without the paper work you will more than likely NEVER see it. Also many breeders advertise there pups as AKC but when you get there they give you CKC (continental kennel club ) paperwork this is a common scam. Leave the breeders and do not return they are dishonest and will be a nightmare to deal with .Keep looking ,you will find a good breeder you can work with.

9. Remember nice pretty dogs come from nice looking parents. If the parents are ugly there puppy's will grow up ugly too. Its genetics there is no way to escape it. As for size your puppy will grow up most likely to be around the parents size. I have read add's were the breeder says the father is 3 pounds and the mother is 5 pounds and when I get there the mother is more like 15 pounds and the father 10 pounds do not trust advertisements. Take the time to see the parents.

10. The number of dogs a breeder has should play a roll in your decision to work with the breeder. While I'm not going to give you a set number for how many dogs is too many because every situation is different . For example I knew some breeders who had 26 dogs when I met them their whole house was devoted to the dogs and the dogs let them live there the dogs were all clean, groomed, happy, and they had big yards and lots of room. They hired help to handle parts of there cleaning and bathing schedule.These people while having a lot of dogs they were able to care for them all well. I have met other breeders who only have 5 in a small area everyone stinks there hair is matted and poop is from one end to the other these people had too many dogs. They couldn't take care of them well.

11. Breeders whom have more than one breed of dog. Well this is going to ruffle a lot of feathers but it should be made clear that I have known several breeders whom breed more than one breed of dogs and ALL of them without exception have had "ACCIDENTS" one of their breeds has crossed with another. So it leads me to wonder how many "ACCIDENTS" have happened that they didn't know about. And that should be a concern to you a buyer that you are getting a purebreed Yorkie.

12. Shots, and micro chips can be done buy the breeder saving you hundreds buy not needing to seek out a vet for such things.

13. A health guarantee is a must. Never buy a puppy with out a written health guarantee for genetic defects. A breeder who breeds genetically clean healthy dogs will not hesitate to offer you a guarantee. One trend I'm finding is many breeders are refusing to offer cash refunds instead they will give you a new puppy. My problem with this idea personally is when I pick out a puppy I picked out the puppy I wanted not just any puppy so why would I want to be forced to accept what every puppy they feel like replacing a sick puppy with? Also if I already got one genetically sick puppy why would I want another puppy from the same breeder, I wouldn't want another puppy from their lines at that point. I personally will only buy dogs from people who back there dogs up with a FULL cash refund.

14.DO not rely on fancy websites to guarantee the puppy you get will be in good health . One must understand that websites are created by the breeders themselves or they hire a web designer to make it for them either way its the breeder who is putting the information on the website. Many breeders use a place on there website for testimonials or previous buyer comments or something similar. This is a tactic to make you as the buyer feel warm and cozy about getting your puppy from them. Many people do not realize that in some cases such testimonials are completely fabricated and created buy the breeder and some web designers even offer as a service to "create" testimonials. I know of one breeder in particular who has fake testimonials and none of the people even exist. You would do much better asking the breeder for references from some of there past buyers. People YOU can communicate with. I know of a puppy mill in Tennessee who has a nice website however she has had multiple runin's with the law and is USDA licensed for a commercial kennel . She has a nice website that is pleasing to the eye. Don't buy your puppy based on the quality of the website.