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Originally Posted by dcypher  I have a male, 20 mo. old named Murphy and my cousin has a 3 yr. old female. They met last summer for the first and only time and got the idea they didn't really like each other...maybe it was because they just met, I don't know.
Anyway, my cousin called me yesterday and said her Yorkie was in heat and wanted to know if I'd want to get them together to breed.
Neither one us know anything about breeding per say...although it's obvious we just need to let them do what comes natural I guess? But is there anything else that isn't obvious that we should know?
Another question is how many puppies do Yorkies usually have in a litter, I'm sure it varies. |
OK, I will attempt to answer some of your questions.
First of all, you cannot just put your two dogs together and let them do what is natural. They need to be supervised and helped to achieve a successful breeding and so neither of them gets hurt. Both of them could be injured. The male has a bone in his penis and could be damaged if the female drags him around during the tie. The female could also have damage to her reproductive tract should this occur. Some females will really fight during the tie and there should be two people present to hold them in position.
I won't get into the cost of breeding, others have already answered this, other than to once again emphasize that you can not reasonable expect to make any money off of this venture. It is more likely that it will cost the owner of the female a fair sum of money.
Litter size does vary, one and up. The largest litter I have ever had is 5 pups. The smallest litter I have had is 2. Singleton puppies have an even higher rate of c-sections due to the pup growing larger and uterine inertia.
I have lost puppies, it hurts really badly. You put your heart and soul into this and puppies die. I have had 7 litters of yorkie pups over the last few years and all the puppies lived in only two of these litters.
I have never lost a mom. I pray that will never happen to me but I know it does happen. I have no idea how I will react to that. It may be the last litter of pups I ever have.
I work part time so when I have a mom due to whelp, I take 3 weeks holidays so I can be home night and day. I don't know if this is what vacation from work is supposed to be all about but it is one of the things that I give up for breeding. Once again, you cannot let nature take its course. Very, very few yorkie mom's can deliver a litter without some human assistance so a responsible person has to be home when the girl is about to deliver. After the litter is born, they sleep in my room so I can hear what is going on. You don't get much sleep for quite a while after a litter is born. If you have to help one of the pups along with bottle feeding or tube feeding you have to be prepared to get up during the night as they need to be fed every two hours night and day.
Most of this pertains more to the female than the male, so I guess you will have to ask your cousin if she is prepared for all this. However, as the owner of the dad, you have to be prepared to make sure that the owner of the mom has the financial and emotional means to deal with the litter. As well, you have a responsibility to make sure that the pups end up with good responsible "forever" homes. Are you both prepared to take a pup back, if new owners find themselves unable to care for it? The world can do with a few less dogs ending up in shelters or euthanized. Hope this answers a few of your questions.
Audrey