Saturday, December 27, 2008

HEARTFELT STORY.......PLEASE READ


I found your website tonight while looking for Yorkie Breeders in Maine. I live in Buxton and I had no idea that there was a breeder so close to me. I wish I had known that you were so close a few years ago! I have a 2.5 year old Yorkie named Delilah Belle who I adore! I somehow failed to find a breeder in Maine at the time that I was looking for a Yorkie so I bought her at a local pet store in Windham. I never quite understood why people would tell me never to buy a puppy from a pet store but I very quickly found out why after I brought Delilah home. She was a very sick little puppy and after several tests we found out that she had a liver shunt and would die if she did not have surgery. Needless to say, we decided to have the surgery and she has been a healthy girl ever since.


It is so important that people are aware of some of the issues with purchasing a small breed dog especially when you do not know exactly where they are coming from. I would like to note that I did months of research on Yorkies before purchasing; which is why I noticed that there was a problem so quickly. I actually diagnosed her before the vet did. The symptoms are similar to hypoglycemia until you realize that everything that you are doing to treat the hypoglycemia just doesn’t work.

I think it is also important to mention that the store owner gave me a complete refund for Delilah; which I think is extremely uncommon and was certainly not required of him by Maine State law. The cost of the testing and the surgery was more than $3,000.00 when all was said and done. This is what I think people should truly understand and take into serious consideration before purchasing any dog let alone a small breed dog where these issues tend to be common in puppies that come from puppy mills or other irresponsible breeders! If you look at any Yorkie Rescue site, you will see that many of the dogs that were given up by their owners had liver shunts. Not only is it an expensive issue to remedy; it is a lot of work that involves a strict schedule of medications and feedings to keep your puppy as healthy as possible before and after the surgery.

That being said; if someone was to find themselves in this situation after purchasing a Yorkie Pup and they love the breed as much as I do, they won’t give any of this a second thought when deciding what to do!
We at TMY are looking forward to meeting Delilah's mom at some point in the future. Her story is just another in the saga of puppy mills. If everyone out there would just STOP buying puppies from pet stores, then there would be no demand for puppy mill pups and then it would put them out of business. My heart goes out to all of you who have had your heart broken or have been taken by the rise in mass produced dogs of any breed. As a lover of yorkshire terriers and a person who cares, we do try to do the right thing here at TMY, improving our program and producing healthy puppies.

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