teacup dogs

has anyone had a tea cup puppy, do they live as long as reg dogs and is there a lot of health problems with them beeing breed so little. thanks

[Ghilly]

The dogs that are being sold as "teacup" dogs are, for the most part, simply the runts of litters of normal-sized representatives of their breeds.  There are always unscrupulous people who will try to make a buck off something just because they can, and the "teacup" dog scam is probably one of the most profitable.

Many teacup dogs have heart defects or other problems, and the worst problems come when money hungry people try to use teacup dogs to produce litters of puppies.  A small male and a normal sized female isn't too bad, since the normal sized female should have no problem whelping puppies.  However, a normal sized male and a teacup female can literally mean death for the female or, at the very least, a very expensive c-section.

Take, for example, the chihuahua.  According to the AKC breed standard, chihuahuas are not to exceed 6 pounds in weight.  Six pounds.  That's a little more than a sack of sugar.  That's TINY!!  Now we have people who are trying to make them even tinier by breeding them so that they will top out at one, two or three pounds, and it's impossible for the health of the dog to not suffer in the process.

If someone wants to adopt one of these very tiny individuals, go for it.  But I just hate the thought of purchasing one from someone because the people who breed them take advantage of the situation and charge double and even triple what the dog should cost just because it's undersized and, most likely, somewhat unhealthy as well due to the undersizing.

I mentioned chihuahuas specifically because they were the smallest breed I could think of at the moment, but the same thing is happening with most of the toy breeds today.  People are charging in excess of $1000 in some cases for a puppy that is so tiny that it's a health risk.

Ghilly

[Kande]

Hi Gilly, I agree with you completely! But I want everyone to know I did go ahead and buy one of those tiny chihuahuas, (felt sorry for the little thing), it looked like a mouse at 6 weeks, really. He did weigh 4 lbs. when he was full grown, anyway he lived 10 years with no health problems. The reason I am telling everyone this is I don't want anyone to be afraid to adopt one of the little things. But Gilly you are so right about everything you said!!! Now I do feel guilty about helping the breeder by paying that much for a dog. At the time I knew it was a horrible price to pay, but wanted to give the dog a good home. I didn't stop to think about keeping the breeder in business. However Gilly you have done a lot of good today in posting this as I have been looking at the tiny chihuahuas again. This has made up my mind, I will not buy the puppy I found. This may break my heart, but I won't after reading this. Thank you so much.  ~Kande~

[heartfluttersflyawayplz]

but the sad thing is they need a home to , they cant help how they was breed. yes they ask a lot for thembut why not buy them because you diagree withthe price and how they were breed. am not buying one right now , but if i ever get another baby it will be a tea cup. i just wanted to know if they have a long life like reg sizes. the ones i have looked at are money back if they fet over there tea cup size 3-5 pds. regs with akc to so whats the harm. i think its sad that people wont buy them because of the breeder, what if we the good owners dont buy them and they go to a bad home, at least we can give them a great home with love and lots care. so plz rethink about getting that baby, you could make a differernce in how its took care of.

[Kande]

Hi, I think what Gilly was trying to tell us is if there are no buyers, then they won't breed them. I agreed with him when he explained what the females go thru in the birth process. I just can't stand the thought of a mother dog suffering like that. And I feel the puppies will get a good home, most people will not spend $1,000 on a dog if they don't really want it. But thanks for the concern :o)  ~Kande~

[rootietootie]

The pound has GREAT dogs!