Having taken care to select a reputable breeder and completed purchase, it is a cheap insurance to let your veterinarian run the rule over the teacup yorkie puppy.

It is wise to let the breeder know that you intend doing this. We have heard of instances when this intention was announced, the breeder immediately refusing to sell the puppy – a clear indication he has something to hide as to the health of his animals.

If the veterinarian is satisfied, there is not much to worry about.

But if, as happens too often, he finds signs of incipient disease, obtain a certificate to that effect, go straight back to the breeder and either demand your money back, agree to repurchase as soon as the teacup yorkie puppy is certified as cured, or make some mutually agreeable arrangement that safeguards you from total loss by disease.

Many kennels will take back the sick animal and offer another in exchange. This may be fair in some circumstances, but in others – say, where disease exists obviously on the premises – it would be unwise to assent without safeguards.

And when after purchase you do fine something wrong, do not delay getting professional advice in the mistaken belief that it maybe nothing serious and the teacup yorkie puppy may be all right tomorrow.

Far too often, because of this delay in getting veterinary advice and a certificate, the breeder is able to plead that the illness must have started after purchase; and owing to the lapse of time, it becomes impossible for veterinary evidence to carry the weight it should in settling disputes.

Always, if possible, have a look around the place where the intended teacup yorkie puppy comes from. See the animals on the premises, if it is a breeding of boarding establishment.

Are they well looked after? Are the beds that the dogs rest on clean? Look around the food shed and make enquiries about the diet.

Watch the teacup yorkies in the runs – are they happy and active, in good condition; or do they look wretched, hungry, even cowed? A lot of scratching and evidence of bare patches on the skin indicate parasites – a sure sign of bad hygiene and faulty management.

Anyone who offers a teacup yorkie puppy for sale under such circumstances can only be doing so for one reason: in the hope of selling off apparently healthy puppies while the going is still good, before signs of disease spread further among his stock.