Yorkshire terriers are a toy breed. Over the years they were bred to be small. The AKC's weight breed standard for the Yorkshire terrier is 3 to 7 pounds.Teacup yorkie is a term that refers to yorkies that fall on the smaller end of this weight range.

Teacup is getting a bad wrap

Irresponsible breeders often will breed two runts of the litter, hoping for an entire family of very small dogs. This can lead to several dogs with many health problems.

However, teacup yorkies can occur naturally when breeding two star yorkies. These true teacup yorkies will be much healthier and live longer lives. Yorkies are the second most popular dog in America, tailing behind the ever popular Labrador.

Unfortunately yorkies' popularity has become a craze or fad. Very small yorkies can be very fun pets. Irresponsible breeders are making the term teacup synonymous with unhealthy, sickly, and a rip off. These breeders know that healthy teacup yorkies are very rare and thus very valuable. People are willing to pay high prices for such dogs.

I have read many comments online lately by people who say that tea cup yorkies do not exist. Many of these people are very angry and say that teacup is a marketing tactic, a ploy. I am sure that many of these people are unhappy customers.

It is true that when breeders are irresponsible dogs end up with many health problems. In fact, any yorkie that does not fall within the weight standards of 3 to 7 pounds, smaller or larger, may be the result of a bad and greedy breeder. I am shocked at the number of unhappy customers. I find it so sad that so many people must have very sickly and fragile yorkies, or worse, yorkies that have passed away prematurely.

Teacup is not unethical

Teacup yorkies are not always the result of bad breeding. However, when an entire litter of puppies is advertised as teacup, it is advisable to start asking questions about the health of the parents. It is possible that the term is being used to attract customers when the dogs were bred for health. It is also possible that the term is being used to advertise potentially unhealthy puppies that were bred merely for size.