The Story of Murphy the Chorkie

When I first met the neighbors I'll call Bonnie and Jim, they had a beautiful Great Dane named Zeb. He was three or four years old, which is middle-aged for a giant breed. He died when he was 8, with many health problems related to old age. It broke their hearts, and they vowed not to get another dog, not wanting to go through the loss again.

Then Bonnie saw a newspaper ad for "Chorkie" puppies - half Yorkshire Terrier, half Chihuahua. The ad had a photo of a tiny pup sitting in a coffee cup. She fell in love. She told me about it, and that she'd called the advertiser and asked if she could see the dogs. I begged her to consider looking at our town's shelter before buying a mixed breed, but she had her heart set on the puppy in the cup.

The first red flag is the woman who placed the ad refusing to give them her address, and insisting on meeting them in town, where she would show them one of the puppies. To people in animal rescue, this is a clue that the seller might run a puppy mill rather than a legitimate kennel. Legitimate kennels look as long and hard at who they place their puppies with as the buyers look at the puppies, and they welcome potential buyers to visit. Puppy mills don't want buyers to see the horrible and filthy conditions that their dogs are in, or how many dogs they may have.

But Bonnie and Jim met the breeder in a parking lot, and bought the puppy they named "Murphy" for $450. (That's more than AKC-registered Akitas and AKC-registered poodles were selling for in the same newspaper.) He was tiny when they brought him home, with the head and face of a Chihuahua, and the coloring of a Yorkie. In time his short coat started to grow, and while it had the coloring of the Yorkie parent, it was coarse and rough.

Before he was 6 months old, Murphy started limping badly and having trouble eliminating. They took him to a veterinarian, and found that he had luxating patellas in both rear legs. This is a condition seen in small dogs, including both Yorkies and Chihuahuas. The patella, or kneecap, should move in the groove made by patellar ridges; when the patella luxates, that means it jumps out of the groove. It causes the dog a jolt of severe pain, and the leg may straighten out behind him. The patella will slip back into place, but the dog may end up limping, and if the luxation occurs frequently, the dog may change his gait. He'll lower his hindquarters and keep his legs further out from his body than a healthy dog would.

Over the course of many visits to many different vets over the next three years, they've also learned that Murphy has many food allergies, arthritis in his lower back which causes him pain when he's making bowel movements, gastric reflux, and Legg-Calve-Perthes disease. That last one is a hip joint disease that results in gradual deformity of the ball of the hip joint (it's a ball-and-socket joint). L-C-P causes lameness in the affected leg, and can be treated with rest and physical therapy if it's diagnosed before the ball is deformed; if the ball is too deformed, it must be treated surgically. Surgery is nearly always effective, but some pain may linger, and is affected by weather and age. It contributes to Murphy's pain when defecating, although he hasn't required surgery yet. One of the breeds in which L-C-P is common is the Yorkshire Terrier.

As if all of this weren't enough, Murphy has a metabolic problem. Although he shouldn't weigh more than about 10 pounds, he weighs 20, putting even more stress on his hip and knees, and adding to the gastric reflux. He's on a special diet, a variety of medications, and probiotics. He can no longer walk farther than a block. When not in pain, Murphy's a happy little dog who likes to play tug-of-war with his favorite toys, and snuggle with his favorite people under a fleecy blanket in cold weather. But his playtime doesn't last long before he gives a little whimper and retreats to one of his beds.

Murphy will probably not live as long as a typical Chihuahua (avg. 15; 11 to as long as 20) or a Yorkie (also an average of 15 years, longer if healthy). He might not make it to five. The veterinary costs of keeping him comfortable have already exceeded $5000, and if he needs hip or knee surgery, will be even more.

Are Murphy's problems caused by the fact that he is a "designer dog?" While it's true that he seems to have inherited the worst problems of both breeds, that says more about his specific parents, and his breeder, than it does about Chorkies in general. Pure-bred Chihuahuas and Yorkies can have the same problems he does; some of them are genetic, though the cause of his hip problem isn't known. It's the responsibility of a breeder not to breed dogs that carry genetic diseases or that are inbred. Breeding such a dog to a dog of a different breed with the same problems is less than ethical, and Murphy's breeder is still selling Chorkies with that cute photo of the pup in the cup.

If you buy a dog, make sure you "meet the parents," and make sure the breeder takes care of his or her dogs and ensures that they're placed in good homes. If you're considering buying a dog, visit a shelter first; many purebred dogs end up in shelters through no fault of their own, and most mixed breed dogs make wonderful companions. Make sure you know the personality of the breed or mix that you've chosen, and that it fits with your home and lifestyle. And please, never buy a puppy or kitten from a pet store, as they are almost without exception from puppy mills, and those adorable little furballs may grow up to cost you a fortune in vet bills.