hi,a posted the message about the chihuahua puppies being long or smooth coated.  The woman is a proper breeder  but the pups indeed are not kc registerd.As i only want one for a pet i dont need this and i think she is asking a good price for the pups at £500. i havnt owned a chihuahua before but have read up alot.What is the problem with mating a long coat and a smooth?i know this wouldnt make a pure pedigree puppy but for a pet i didnt thnk it would matter and i didint really want to spend any more than £600 and alot of chihuahuas are so expensive now,the only thing i am worried about is when i rang her asking about her dogs she thought i was ringing up about some yorkies.how do i know if she is a puppy farmer?what are the sighns?
thank you

1.   Go and see them BEFORE you commit yourself - see what sort of conditions that the mum is kept in - if you can't see Mum - then turn round and go home.   

2.    Maybe get someone else to phone her - enquiring about yorkies......just to see how her story runs.

SHe may be genuine, but this would ring alarm bells with me, too.    

I can understand why you feel that you don't need KC registration, but ask why the puppies aren't beig registered.   After all, the cost of registering a litter with the KC is £12 per puppy - not really megabucks!    It may be that the mum is too young to have puppies registered, or too old, or this might be a 2nd litter within a year for the mum.    

I do wish you success in your quest for a chihuahua.

Margot

Margot, I think the reason these pups aren't registered as they are long-coat/smooth-coat crosses, so either an accidental mating or bred purely for the pet trade. :(

I would be concerned, though, that she had yorkie pups at the same time.
:)

Possible signs....... breeding unregistered dogs (probably without the KC/BVA tests carried out), charging either rather less or lots more that the usual price, having more than one breed, having more than one litter available........

The fact that she would cross breewd her chi's (and if registered ones are more expensive why would she do this) would make me very suspicious. 

Why did she not simply mate them to the appropriate breed? 

It could even be that she has not even got a smooth and long coat but has used one of the Yorkies (far more available and easier to breed with larger litters) mated to a Chi male (easier to get than a bitch when with litters of ones and two chi females are like Gold dust).

Of course a breeder, especially in a toy breed where the dogs take up less space may be specialising in more than one breed, but most people find one or two breeds the most they can devote themselves to.

hi, I'd check it out if I were you. I think there is no interbreeding due to both types having different breed standards. The longcoat is recessive, I think it could be something due to weakening the gene pools if the types are crossed but not 100% sure, any chi breeders want to help me out here. I personally wouldn't buy one, it is also said long and smooth have different temperiments with the smooth being more terrier like and the long being more laid back. If she has yorkie puppies as well I would be very suspicious. Remeber the KC registration is there to protect you and proove the puppy is purebred but also that there was no interbreeding and that the parents dont have any genetic problems. Also it is not recommended to breed a chi under a certain size. Ask if she owns both the parents that could sometimes be a worrying sign if she isn't a registered breeder.

I'd ask a lot of questions as a chi is very small and last thing you want is a puppy with problems,

Sarah

Also the top chi breeders aren't selling for stupid prices you may need to go on a list but it's more like £500 male £600 female. If you are willing to wait you will get the right price, afterall my Nemo who is 15 weeks was £450 (but thats because he is small) and I went via the right channels