Teacup Yorkie, Teacup Poodle, Teacup Maltese, Teacup Chihuahua - you hear the term all the time these days, but surprise - there is no such thing as a Teacup Dog of any kind! Every dog breed standard has different guidelines for the size of that breed. Some specify height and/or length, some specify a weight range, while others only set a maximum or minimum weight. If a particular dog should fall outside what is specified in the breed standard, it is still a dog of that breed, however he or she would likely be disqualified in the show (conformation) ring. In the poodle breed standard, any poodle 10" or under at the withers (top of the shoulder) is considered a Toy Poodle. There is no such thing as a teacup poodle, yet the term was coined many years ago when the breed first became popular and a magazine featuring an article about the top breeder of the time featured a front cover photo of a tiny toy poodle puppy sitting in a teacup. In recent years, with the growing popularity of smaller versions of all dog breeds, the term "Teacup", indicating a smaller than usual version of a known dog breed has been linked to a wide variety of toy dog breeds. And while I personally don't think that using the word teacup is any different from small, tiny, little, tiny toy, or itty bitty, the fact is that when somebody is speaking of a teacup dog, you must ask them to clarify what their personal definition is. I've had people call me about their "teacup dog", only to find out that their "teacup" is 15 pounds. Now, to me a 15 pounder is one of those giant sized hot chocolate mugs that you get as a gift at the office Christmas party, but to each his own! Funny story about teacup dogs - a while back I was waiting in a green room with one of my girls who was about to be on a morning news show. My girl was the only tiny dog in the room, but there was also a rescue group there who had brought several pit bull type dogs who were up for adoption with them. Speaking to the gentleman from the agency that was accompanying them I commented how the smallest one, at about 25 pounds was the tiniest pitbull that I had ever seen. He replied that that he was also a very sweet dog, but he had been with the agency for a very long time and they just could not understand why nobody had adopted him yet. To which I joked "Hey, maybe you could advertise him as a teacup pitbull - that might get him adopted!" And sure enough, just as I said that, one of the young production assistants happened to walk by and overhear, and as her eyes excited darted back and fourth between the pitbull dogs before her, she exclaimed "which one is a teacup, oh tell me, which one of the dogs for adoption is a teacup!!" When I explained to her that what she overheard was a joke, she looked dejected and said "oh, I knew they were pitbulls, but I thought that one of them might have some teacup in them..." So, if we had told her that a 50 pounder was a teacup, she would have adopted it and carried it around in a designer dog bag ala Paris Hilton?! And that really is why some people have a problem with the word "teacup" - the word has taken on such status that unethical backyard breeders and greedy pet shops selling puppymill puppies use the word to manipulate uninformed perspective dog owners into paying big prices for ill-bred, sickly puppies that were born out of suffering. So Yes, when it comes to people who sell puppies, find the ones who use the word teacup highly suspect, but whatever you want to call your own puppy, as long as they are beloved and pampered, is fine with me!