The Teacup Puppy Phenomenon
As a rescue, we are amazed at so many people wanting to buy a so-called "Teacup" puppy. Thus the reason we are writing this piece concerning our views about the phenomenon of so many people wanting a "so-called teacup" puppy.
Puppies aren't toys; they are living breathing babies that need love and attention, not to spend half of their life in someone's HOT purse!
Please take the time to read this and educate yourself! The lives of many little dogs depend on you educating yourself, and others, not to buy into this phase.
This is a topic that most assuredly needs to be brought to the attention of perspective puppy buyers.
Let's start out by saying "THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A "TEACUP" PUPPY".
With that in mind, let me say this; It seems as though there is a plethora of people who are insistent on buying tiny puppies in the 2 to 4 pound range. Also commonly referred to as a "Teacup puppy".
The word "Teacup" has been used to merely describe the size of a puppy, meaning it is very small and will probably be under the standard size which is 4 to 7 pounds for the Toy Group, sush as Yorkshire Terriers. We cannot imagine anyone wanting anything smaller than that! Their bones are VERY fragile and can be broken by jumping off of a coach, falling off of a bed,etc. Being stepped on can be fatal.
Many breeders, while tacking a whooping price on a puppy, "claim" to breed so called "teacups" as if they were a breed all their own. Don't be fooled! They are NOT a breed of their own.
If a breeder says they specialize in "teacups" RUN, RUN, RUN for the hills! Most "TEACUP" puppies are in reality, a premature puppy.
Most females are bred on the ninth through the fifteenth day of their heat cycles. Eggs can be fertilized for up to 72 hours after any of these breeding's. Therefore, it is possible to have puppies conceived up to a week or so younger than the puppies first conceived in a litter. However, when the first puppies conceived are mature and ready to be born, labor starts and all the puppies will be born, no matter when they were fertilized.
Some of the problems that may be encountered are both genetic and congenital in these tiny babies and the list is a long one.
The risk of open fontanels (soft spot from the cranial bone not forming), portosystemic shunts (PSS- abnormal vessel that allows blood to bypass the liver. As a result the blood is not cleansed by one of the bodies filters: the liver.), hypoglycemia, cardiac problems, collapsing trachea, luxating patellas, Leggs Calves Perthes disease, seizures, hydroencephaly, blindness and digestive problems can be increased in these tiny babies.
Problems such as respiratory problems can remain or worsen throughout their lives. These babies frequently are so fragile that they do not live more than a few years. There have been several tiny Yorkies as adults who still had open fontanels and their owners had to carry nourishment with them all the time. Their vets have felt it unsafe to give a full dose of vaccine so the puppies had to get several injections to be on the safe side.
There is no such thing as a "tea cup" Yorkshire Terrier, Maltese, Poodle, or any other breed for that matter. They simply do not exist. "Tea-cup" is just a marketing ploy given by unethical and unscrupulous breeders to drive up the price of their puppies!
So called "Teacups" fetch anything from $1000 to $10,000! This is ridiculous and shameful! There are a lot of chronically, unhealthy puppies because unscrupulous breeders and puppy mills are inbreeding. Some poor darlings only live for a very, very short time!
They take the little teeny, tiny Yorkies and they breed 2 1/2 pounders with 3 pounders ... well, they’re playing with genetics. You should NEVER breed a female of any breed less than 5 pounds.
PLEASE educate yourselves before buying a tiny puppy whether it is a Yorkie or any other breed. You could be in for months or years of heartbreak not to mention staggering veterinarian bills!
DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!! IF YOU WANT A HEALTHY PUPPY, DON'T FALL FOR THE TEACUP ACT!
| What is a puppy mill? Complete Article @ http://www.canismajor.com/dog/puppymil.htlm
Twenty years ago, people knew that a "puppy mill" was a substandard kennel where unhealthy, overbred dogs were kept in horrendous conditions.
Today it's not so easy. In the last decade of the 20th Century, activist groups began to broaden the term to cover just about any kennel that they didn't like. As a result, commercial kennels and hobby breeders with more than an arbitrary number of dogs or litters have become targets for anti-breeding groups that lobby for laws to restrict these law-abiding operations. These organizations stir up public support for breeding restrictions and high license fees by deliberately blurring the lines between responsible breeding operations and real puppy mills. They use emotional rhetoric and pictures of dirty kennels and sickly dogs to imply that most or all breeders will subject their dogs to abusive lives unless they are regulated. So, how do we evaluate those bills and make sure that substandard kennels are cleaned up? First we have to define "puppy mill." Is it . . .
A dirty, trashy place where one or several breeds of dogs are kept in deplorable conditions with little or no medical care and puppies are always available?
Any high-volume kennel?
A clean place where several breeds of dogs are raised in adequate conditions and the breeder usually or always has puppies for sale?
A place where a single breed of dog is raised in acceptable conditions and puppies are usually or often available?
A place where lots of dogs are raised, where breeding is done solely for financial gain rather than protection of breed integrity, and where puppies are sold to brokers or to pet stores?
The answer depends on who you ask. . . .
A hobby breeder dedicated to promoting and protecting a particular breed or two might consider all of the above kennels to be puppy mills. Animal shelter and rescue workers who deal daily with abandoned, neglected, or abused dogs might agree. Operators of clean commercial kennels, licensed by the US Department of Agriculture or by state law, will strongly disagree, for the very mention of "puppy mill" damages their business and that of the pet stores they deal with.
John Q Dog Owner probably thinks of puppy mills as those places exposed on 20/20, Dateline, or Geraldo or pictured on fundraising pamphlets by the Humane Society of the US and other animal rights charities. He has seen the cameras pan back and forth over trash, piles of feces, dogs with runny noses and oozing sores, dogs crammed into shopping carts and tiny coops, rats sharing dirty food bowls and dry dishes. He has seen the kennel owner captured on tape, dirty, barely articulate, and ignorant of dog care, temperament, genetic health, or proper nutrition. But is the television crew simply seeking the sensational and applying these appalling conditions to the entire dog producing industry? Are the photos on the fundraising appeals accurate depictions of the majority of high volume kennels or are they used to generate disgust for breeders and dollars for treasuries?
To be clear, we at Dog Owner's Guide believe that kennel conditions and dog health, not numbers or profit motive, determine whether a kennel should be called a puppy mill.
Cats-Indoors or out? Can indoor cats really be happy? Cat lovers can -- and do -- maintain vehemently opposed opinions on this issue. But you can't disagree with the fact that the free-roaming life can be dangerous for a cat. My friends who let their cats roam free have had their pets run over by cars (too many times to count), pulled apart by dogs (once), by coyotes (twice) and poisoned (a half-dozen times, most times accidentally but at least once suspiciously). And those are just the deaths they know about. Mostly, my friends' cats just disappear, with sad and frequent regularity.Such tragedies don't happen to indoor cats, who are statistically likely to outlive free-roaming cats by about a decade. Compared to an existence filled with cars, coyotes, traps, poisons and cat-hating neighbors, the life of an indoor cat is relatively risk-free. Still, keeping a cat inside is more difficult, both in terms of the time spent maintaining the animal, and the effort and imagination required to keep the animal mentally and physically happy. But I've seen enough indoor cats to know that they seem perfectly content, especially if they've never been allowed to roam.Since you've taken away a large part of the cat's natural world when you keep them inside, you need to put in "environmental enrichments" to make up for the loss. If you're going to have an indoor cat, you need to think about ways to make your home more entertaining to your cat, engaging as many senses as possible.Your first investment should be a cat tree, a place for your pet to scratch, climb, perch and generally feel superior to the beings below. Cats love to scratch -- it keeps their claws sharp, gives them a good stretch and allows them to mark their territory with scent. With patience, most cats can be trained to use a cat tree or post instead of furniture.Next up: toys. You'll need an interactive toy you can use to play with your cat, such as a "fishing" pole. Add some toys for batting around, such as small stuffed animals or balls with bells in them. You don't even need to spend money: Cats can be kept entertained with empty boxes or shopping bags, corks from wine bottles or the tops of milk containers. Don't forget to jazz up the scent of toys with catnip or valeria, both of which you can grow yourself, so you'll always have a fresh supply. And while you're planting, be sure to keep fresh grasses growing for your cat's nibbling pleasure. You can also work on ways to give your cat safe access to the outdoors, such as with a cat door into a screened-in porch. You can also buy kits for portable outdoor pens, completed with tunnels for connecting to the house. I know of several people who have put together some grand outdoor spaces, including a two-story enclosure clinging to the side of the house with areas for climbing, sunbathing and hiding. These needn't be expensive, especially if you're a capable do-it-yourselfer. Yes, it's hard to convert a free-roaming cat to a life indoors. If your cat is used to coming and going when he pleases, conversion is best done when you move, rather than suddenly restricting your cat's territory -- a change no self-respecting cat will quietly accept. But if you're patient and firm, even the most stubborn of cats will eventually adapt. When my friends tell me they simply cannot keep their cats inside, I say this: The next time one of your free-roaming cats disappears, promise me that the next one will be kept safe inside. Just try it, and see how it works. Whatever a cat loses by not roaming free he'll gain from the pleasures you can pack in your home. And he'll really benefit from the long, healthy life enjoyed by so many indoor cats.
| Kennel Cough In Dogs
...also called Canine Cough, Bordetellosis and Infectious Tracheobronchitis Kennel Cough in dogs will stimulate a coarse, dry, hacking cough about three to seven days after the dog is initially infected. It sounds as if the dog needs to "clear it's throat" and the cough will be triggered by any
extra activity or exercise. Many dogs that acquire Kennel Cough will cough every few minutes, all day long. Their general state of health and alertness will be unaffected, they usually have no rise in temperature, and do not lose their appetite. The signs of Canine Cough usually will last from 7 to 21 days and can be very annoying for the dog and the dog's owners. Life threatening cases of Kennel Cough are extremely rare and a vast majority of dogs that acquire the infection will recover on their own with no medication. Cough suppressants and occasionally antibiotics are the usual treatment selections.
WHAT IS KENNEL COUGH?
Actually, clinical cases of Kennel Cough are usually caused by several infectious agents working together to damage and irritate the lining of the dog's trachea and upper bronchii. The damage to the tracheal lining is fairly superficial, but exposes nerve endings that become irritated simply by the passage of air over the damaged tracheal lining. Once the organisms are eliminated the tracheal lining will heal rapidly. The most common organisms associated with Canine Cough are the bacteria called Bordetella bronchiseptica and two viruses called Parainfluenza virus and Adenovirus and even an organism called Mycoplasma.
HOW IS IT TRANSMITTED?
The causative organisms can be present in the expired air of an infected dog, much the same way that human "colds" are transmitted. The airborne organisms will be carried in the air in microscopically tiny water vapor or dust particles. The airborne organisms, if inhaled by a susceptible dog, can attach to the lining of the trachea and upper airway passages, find a warm, moist surface on which to reside and replicate, and eventually damage the cells they infect.
The reason this disease seems so common, and is even named "Kennel" cough, is that wherever there are numbers of dogs confined together in an enclosed environment such as a kennel, animal shelter, or indoor dog show, the disease is much more likely to be spread. The same is true with the "colds" spread from human to human... they are much more likely to occur in a populated, enclosed environment such as an airplane, elevator, or office. All it takes for contagion to occur is a single source (infected dog), an enclosed environment, and susceptible individuals in close proximity to the source of the infection. Infected dogs can spread the organisms for days to weeks even after seeming to have fully recovered!
NOTE: Even in the most hygienic, well ventilated, spacious kennels the possibility of a dog acquiring Kennel Cough exists. Kennel Cough can be acquired from
your neighbor's dog, from a Champion show dog at a dog show, from the animal hospital where your dog just came in for treatment of a cut paw... Try not to blame the kennel operator if your dog develops Kennel Cough shortly after that weekend stay at the kennel! There may have been an infected dog, unknown to anyone, that acted as a source for other dogs in the kennel.
Many dogs will have protective levels of immunity to Kennel Cough via minor exposures to the infective organisms and simply will not acquire the disease even if exposed. Other dogs that may never have had immunizing subtle exposures will be susceptible to the Bordetella bacteria and associated viruses and develop the signs of coughing and hacking.
HOW IS IT TREATED?
Many dogs that contract Kennel Cough will display only minor signs of coughing that may last seven to ten days and will not require any happens to acquire Kennel Cough, it will then have some immunity to subsequent exposures. The lenmedication at all. The majority of dogs with the disease continue to eat, sleep, play and act normally... except for that annoying, dry, non-productive coughing that seems so persistent. It is always a good idea, though, to have any dog examined if coughing is noticed because some very serious respiratory diseases such as Blastomycosis, Valley Fever, Heartworms and even cardiac disease might display similar sounding coughing. Your veterinarian, through a careful physical exam and questioning regarding the dog's recent environment, will be able to establish if the dog's respiratory signs are from kennel Cough or some other respiratory insult.
Treatment is generally limited to symptomatic relief of the coughing with non-prescription, and occasionally prescription, cough suppressants. If the dog is running a fever or there seems to be a persistent and severe cough, antibiotics are occasionally utilized to assist the dog in recovering from Kennel Cough. It can happen
that secondary bacterial invaders will complicate a case of Kennel Cough and prolong the recovery and severely affect the upper airway. Therefore the use of antibiotics is determined on an individual basis.
HOW IS IT PREVENTED?
Many dogs, exposed to all sorts and numbers of other dogs, will never experience the effects of Canine Cough. Some dog owners, though, prefer to take advantage of the current vaccines available that are quite effective in preventing the disease. Usually these dog owners will have to board, show, field trial, or otherwise expose their dog to populations of other canines. Since the chances of exposure and subsequent infection rise as the dog comes in close proximity with other dogs, the decision to vaccinate or not to vaccinate varies with each individual circumstance. Generally, if your dog is not boarded or going to field trials or dog shows, you may not have a high level of need for vaccinating your dog against Kennel Cough. If your dog gth of time these natural exposures and the vaccinations will produce protective immunity will vary greatly. How often to vaccinate seems to have a subjective and elusive answer.
Be aware that vaccinating with just the commercial Kennel Cough vaccine alone (contains only the Bordetella agent) may not be fully protective because of the other infectious agents that are involved with producing the disease. Some of the other agents such as Parainfluenza and Adenovirus are part of the routine vaccinations generally given yearly to dogs. The intra-nasal Bordetella vaccine may produce immunity slightly faster than the injectable vaccine.
NOTE: Any vaccine takes days to weeks to stimulate the dog's protective immunity to the disease. Vaccinating a dog the day it is exposed to disease may not be protective. If you plan to board your dog, or protect it from exposure, remember to vaccinate a few weeks prior to potential exposure to allow full protective immunity to build up.
|