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SET Yorkies · 08-02-2008, 02:18 PM

You are very correct that no matter what any given sire or dam's size may be, the genetic work up is the sole determining factor in what qualities offspring will obtain. Since several, as the above poster noted, genes control multiple characteristics, not every offspring will inherit the same traits. This is why litter mates can often vary in size and color regardless of the breed. With that said, a precise knowledge of exactly what characteristics any given offspring will be is impossible to really know other than the dominate genes that basically define a breed.... you might be able to use geneology, DNA, ect to help, however, a particular genotype my show up in one puppy and never show again.... it just isn't a perfect science by no means....
But, to shed some light on the original poster's question... Each dog has the exact same chance to throw equally sized offspring. Will they... that depends largely on the second pair of genes introduced.... IMO, it has a lot to do with buyer perception. Most clients are looking for that teeny tiny Yorkie they've seen somewhere.... Take for instance two identical pairs: They see a 4lb female and 2lb male along side another pair whose dam is 7 lbs and the same sire is used. Most automatically want a puppy from the 1st pair, if size is the only factor......It takes a great deal of discussion to convince prospective buyers that paring one may have puppies much larger than pair two.... I've had several of these conversations and to tell you the truth so much is lost in translation, I often just give up. When I am asked to explain, I work with this genetic anomaly..... "If you know anyone who is left handed, most likely neither of their parents were. Generally, this is a trait that skips one or more generations....and is often present only on the maternal side.... It is the same as any other genetic trait, some show up in every offspring and some skip one or more generations (or litters), some show up only on the maternal side, some the paternal side... nature rules that show and we can only do our best to use the information we have to predict a particular outcome. We have one son who is a lefty, no one else in our family is with the exception of my grandmother. My grandmother had 10 children, 22 grandchildren, and 15 great grand children.... so far my son is the only lefty.... go figure... Thus I never give anything other than an educated guess when it comes to characteristics of a puppy leaving my care prior to 25 weeks..... and I leave it at that.....

08-02-2008, 02:18 PM	#17
SET Yorkies Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2007 Location: Beaumont Texas Posts: 285	thoughts on size You are very correct that no matter what any given sire or dam's size may be, the genetic work up is the sole determining factor in what qualities offspring will obtain. Since several, as the above poster noted, genes control multiple characteristics, not every offspring will inherit the same traits. This is why litter mates can often vary in size and color regardless of the breed. With that said, a precise knowledge of exactly what characteristics any given offspring will be is impossible to really know other than the dominate genes that basically define a breed.... you might be able to use geneology, DNA, ect to help, however, a particular genotype my show up in one puppy and never show again.... it just isn't a perfect science by no means.... But, to shed some light on the original poster's question... Each dog has the exact same chance to throw equally sized offspring. Will they... that depends largely on the second pair of genes introduced.... IMO, it has a lot to do with buyer perception. Most clients are looking for that teeny tiny Yorkie they've seen somewhere.... Take for instance two identical pairs: They see a 4lb female and 2lb male along side another pair whose dam is 7 lbs and the same sire is used. Most automatically want a puppy from the 1st pair, if size is the only factor......It takes a great deal of discussion to convince prospective buyers that paring one may have puppies much larger than pair two.... I've had several of these conversations and to tell you the truth so much is lost in translation, I often just give up. When I am asked to explain, I work with this genetic anomaly..... "If you know anyone who is left handed, most likely neither of their parents were. Generally, this is a trait that skips one or more generations....and is often present only on the maternal side.... It is the same as any other genetic trait, some show up in every offspring and some skip one or more generations (or litters), some show up only on the maternal side, some the paternal side... nature rules that show and we can only do our best to use the information we have to predict a particular outcome. We have one son who is a lefty, no one else in our family is with the exception of my grandmother. My grandmother had 10 children, 22 grandchildren, and 15 great grand children.... so far my son is the only lefty.... go figure... Thus I never give anything other than an educated guess when it comes to characteristics of a puppy leaving my care prior to 25 weeks..... and I leave it at that.....