Is $325 a good deal for a unregistered female Morkie?

First, of course she's unregistered. You can only register a purebred. Secondly, I think that's way too much money to spend on a mixed breed dog. You can go to any shelter and rescue one instead of paying that kind of money.

A "morkie" (jeez, what a name) cannot be registered because it is NOT a breed. It is a mutt. A fancy mutt perhaps (for argument's sake only), but still a mutt. A cross between any two or more breeds of dogs is a mutt. Would you pay $325 for a mutt?

Better yet though -- perhaps you could look for a dog or puppy with a rescue group or pound where you'd be saving a life as well as getting a new pet. I'd much rather pay the $325 to a deserving rescue group for a fully vetted puppy (shots, spayed/neutered, etc.) than to some disreputable and/or amateur breeder advertising "morkies."

**ADD**

In reply to your added comments. The group you've listed is a MIXED BREED GROUP. If you're happy with registering your dog with a mixed breed group -- that's great. They are not AKC or UKC. Basically the group you list is a "fun", "get together" kind of group for people who own mutts or mixed breeds. They emphasize obedience and agility training because they cannot emphasize or even address breed standards. Mutts do not have standards. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, it's probably a very good thing for its members. But it's a meaningless group as far as showing, breeding, etc. goes. The titles the dogs win through the group are pertinent only to the group -- not elsewhere.

From your comments, I don't think you've given rescue even half a chance. Which is a true shame. You could find the love of your life through a rescue group. But you won't give it the time you need to find an appropriate match. There has to be more than just the pound/shelter in your area. There must be other private rescue groups as well -- they are literally everywhere.

Have you looked through www.petfinder.com? You can search by location as well as breeds and you may find the breed mix you're looking for. You could also google search yorkie rescue groups or maltese rescue groups in your area. But I wouldn't limit yourself to those breeds (maltese and yorkie) if I were you when looking at rescue groups -- you may find a little guy who's personality just blows you away and yet the lineage may be completely unknown. Please rethink rescue.

Go to: http://www.petfinder.com/

You can search available dogs by location, breed (or leave that blank for a better search), gender, size and age.

OR to find a rescue in your area go to this page and put in your zip code:

http://www.petfinder.com/shelters.html

Here are just a very few of the listings that came up when doing a search on Petfinder for animal: dog, size: small, age: baby, location: Dallas, TX -- and they're all precious:

http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?pe...

http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?pe...

http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?pe...

http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?pe...

http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?pe...

So as you can see -- there are plenty of rescue puppies available in your area if you take the time to research. And this is just through Petfinder. I have no doubt there are others. Another idea: talk with local vets -- find out if they know of rescue groups and such they can put you in contact with. It would be so much better to do this than to simply line the pockets of a disreputable breeder.

Any "designer dog" breeder will charge a lot more than they deserve. There's no reason to spend many hundreds of dollars on the initial price of a mutt when you could easily go to a shelter and find the same kind of mix with the same kind of unsatisfactory-for-breeding genetics for much less. Why? Because buying a mutt from a breeder is encouraging the breeder to keep making more puppies to sell to the kind of people who fall for the "designer" thing (not the kind of people I'd want to trust with a live animal, honestly; when I think of designer things like clothes and jewelry, I think of pretty things that are cool one moment but later go out of style, and that's never how a dog should be thought of). Adopting from a shelter is saving a life, and when you pay the adoption fee and free up a cage, you help make it possible for the shelter workers to care for the other animals during their time there and take in another animal who has nowhere else to go.

If this was a litter that can from a dog that was rescued, the puppies are altered, all vaccinations, and come with an extensive contract, has had an extensive vet check (not just a wellness check, but a patella, heart, liver, etc check), and the parents are now fixed, then I have no problem with it.

Anything else is supporting a small scale puppy mill/backyard breeder and I cannot condone that.

For the health problems that this puppy will be prone to due to the bad breeding, $325 is nowhere near a good deal. My puppy mill/BYB dog had $2500 in problems her first year. My friend's Lhasa mix from a BYB has had $5000 in liver surgeries (complications that are COMMON in BYB dogs).

If you like small dogs, why wouldn't you buy a purebred from a good breeder? What's more important, health or price?

"supposedly reputable breeders....they too have the mixed breed dogs" No RESPONSIBLE breeder sells mutts. Reputable does not = responsible. Michael Vick was reputable in certain circles.

This ad also states that the puppy is 7 weeks old! Yorkies and Maltese need to be 12 weeks old before they leave mom. That should be a HUGE clue that this isn't someone who has even a clue of what they are doing.

I understand the desire for a puppy, but rescue groups do not always list ALL their dogs online. Have you turned in applications? Have you spoken with numerous rescue groups? No puppies in the Dallas area?

How bout the litter of Westies here: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?pe...

And what looks like a Yorkie x Poodle puppy here: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?pe...

Another potential Yorkie mix puppy: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?pe...

A baby chihuahua: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?pe...

A Shih Tzu x Pug puppy: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?pe...

A Shih Tzu puppy that suffers from the Liver Shunt I mentioned earlier is up for adoption: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?pe...

I guess what it comes dow to is the type of person you are. The type who waits for the perfect mutt puppy from a shelter/rescue, or the type who gives money to someone who fills up the shelters by breeding recklessly. I know which type I am.

http://www.petfinder.com/ (shelter/rescue animals)

http://www.ytca.org/ Yorkie Rescue

http://www.pbrc.net/breeding3.html to learn about what responsible breeders ACTUALLY look like

http://www.americanmaltese.org/ Maltese Rescue

Any mixed breed is not worth more than the price of shots - $30 - $50.

Just because a registry was made in order to cater to the ignorant people of the world does not make it legitimate nor does it make the papers "real". Only purebred dogs should be registered and only then by reputable kennel clubs.

There is no such thing as a reputable breeder that intentionally mixes breeds. Any that do this are puppymills or back yard breeders trying to make quick money with no care for their dogs.

you are getting ripped off on a fancily named mutt because that is all a mixed breed is and NO it's a joke that you are willing to pay that much money for a dog that can NEVER be titled and isn't and will never be recognized as a "breed" by the American Kennel Club! You can get one for a lot less than that from a rescue or humane society. If you want a mutt that badly go rescue one because there are tons of them being destroyed everyday due to over population.

Mixed breed dogs can't be registered with any LEGITIMATE registry-you are correct that there are registries for them-but those registries have NO standards. The MBDCA is a joke. So is the ACHC. If a breeder won't even admit that their dogs are unregisterable with a legit registry, I wouldn't trust them. I'd be more likely to buy from one who admits that those kinds of registration papers are worthless, as they would be telling the truth to me. You don't need a fake dog show to evaluate physical soundness, health, and personality-a good vet can do that-dog shows are for comparing a dog to it's standard-showing that he meets the criteria for his breed...mixed breeds have no criteria other than that they can bring in $325 or $1000 to the breeders wallet.

Your dog is worth whatever you are willing to pay for it. Personally, I never have and never will pay an irresponsible breeder for a mutt. My mixed breeds have all come from rescue. Anything more than the adoption fee from a shelter is too much to pay someone to purposely continue irresponsible breeding practices.

Of course its unregistered.. its a mutt.. you cant register mutts.

Depends on what that "$325" includes.

If its just shots and worming, no, thats too much. The dog itself is only worth what vet care was put into it.

If its had shots, worming, heartworm test, spay and microchip, thats a good price for all that vet care.

Or if it comes with a lot of supplies.. like crate, bed, food, toys, leash, collar, bowls, etc it may be worth that

There's no such thing as a "responsible" breeder of mutts..

Any "registry" that registeres mixes is a crappy scam puppy mill registry.

Way too much. No reputable kennel club registers mixed breeds anyways.

She should be no more than 100 dollars. If you are paying more for a mutt from a BYB than you would at the shelter you are paying too much.

Even if she was utd on shots, spayed and microchiped, it would still be too much.

ADD: Reputable breeders don't breed mixes. If they have mixed breeds they aren't reputable. Secondly no registry worth its salt does not accept mixed breeds. These registries mean nothing in the long run because mixed breeds don't have standards, hence why they don't have "conformation."

Look at Maltese or Yorkie rescues they will have mixes as well.

That's entirely too much, considering shelters will have that same mix for much cheaper (my city's animal control only charges a $25 adoption fee.) Plus consider that greedy breeders may produce sick (especially if it is abnormally small one,) animals that will require TONS in vet bills. And you are right, there is no such thing as a "morkie" or a teacup dog. It's a mixed breed/mutt.

A mixed breed has no monetary value. The fact that they attach a "cutesy" name is the only reason people have been suckered into thinking they "ARE" a breed, and therefore worth something. Try to imagine it being called what it is...and then imagine what you would pay for it. For instance, some BYB is offering: Unregistered "runt, mixed breed, long haired, gonna cost you a fortune in grooming, will never be housebroke and will probably drive you nuts barking at the wind" puppies....$325.00! Do ya think you'd even call them or want to look at their puppies???