I despise the term "teacup." I own a grooming shop, and I have hundreds of customers who are soooo sure they own "teacup" poodles, chihuahuas, yorkies, shih tzus, shelties ... you name it.
Just because the term isn't "standardized" doesn't make it wrong to state...Would it be wrong if I had a small sheltie, and I called it a "small" sheltie? It's a term isn't it? I'd just be stating that it's small. That's all that teacup is doing.
Yes, it does make it wrong to state. It makes it irresponsible to state. "Teacup" is a marketing ploy first used by backyard breeders and puppy mills, just trying to find a way to sell the runts of the litter, the undersized puppies. No responsible breeder ever uses the term "teacup", just like no responsible breeder ever claims to breed "purebred cockapoos" or "miniature dalmatians." Using the term "teacup" is validating the mess that BYB's and puppymills are making of the dog fancy, and making their corruption of real breeds a little more mainstream and credible. Please don't help them by using their marketing slang as if it were a legitimate term.
A "throwback" sheltie is a term that has been used way back when shelties were first being made, and is still used today. It is used to describe a sheltie that is large, and still shows some of that collie heritage. Way back they weren't considered appropriate and they were usually culled.
Culling generally refers to newborn puppies. Puppies are generally culled if they show obvious birth defects or health issues, albeit some breeders do cull for deafness or mismarks. It would therefore not be possible the "cull" a sheltie pup for being too large, as the breeder wouldn't really know the dog's full size until it is over six months old.
ALL breeds have some puppies that end up too small, too big, the wrong color, the wrong coat, etc. Nature is not perfect, in any species or breed. The difference between a responsible breeder and a BYB/puppy mill is how they treat those puppies that are too small/too big/wrong color, etc. A responsible breeder calls them "pet quality" and sells them on a spay/neuter contract, and then does genetic research to determine if there is something in his breeding lines that might have caused the out-of-standard puppy, so it isn't as likely to occur again. A backyard breeder or puppymill intentionally breeds FOR too small puppies, calls them "teacup" and sells them intact at a premium to unsuspecting and ignorant customers, who more than likely breed more "teacups" with their friend's BYB "teacup" dog. And the cycle of poor breeding practices, health issues and misinformation continues and grows.
Last edited by Twisterdog; 10-11-2003 at 12:20 AM.
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