This was a column in the Toronto Sun Newspaper this morning and thought I would share with you all .
When breeding goes badly | Life | Toronto Sun
Dear John: We have three Yorkshire Terriers and we are having a combination behaviour/health problem. Abby is now seven years old old, and has always been timid. She suffers from separation anxiety. We had her sister, younger by one year, and they were both were bred at three. Each had a litter, which were sold. Immediately after, we received a male who is now four.
When he was one, we bred him to the then four-year-old Abby, who had a female pup that we kept and named Tasha. The first year went well, however, Abby got pregnant by accident. Abby continues to go into heat regularly every six months.
Tasha showed no evidence of going into heat. Tasha had her first heat at two. She has never been bred. Following this, Abby was very aggressive towards her, while Tasha was slightly submissive. Growling and baring of teeth between the two females became a daily occurrence, eventually tapering off to submission by Tasha. We have just finished the next heat with the same pattern but upping the moodiness, irritability, and aggressiveness by both females. Tasha is also possessive of her mistress and anyone else, adult to infant who she fancies. We cannot afford to neuter the females and really don't want to.- R.
Dear R.: I'm sorry if this is going to seem harsh, but after over 20 years working with dogs, I've come to learn people like you contribute - albeit innocently - untold misery into the dog world, and frankly, you need to stop breeding. I know it's ignorance and not malice, but how much common sense does it take to realize that breeding good dogs is more than just knowing the difference between a male and a female dog? It's unlikely you're doing the breed any favours and from what you're describing the dogs are miserable. What's the upside?
I know if you can't afford to neuter it seems unlikely you'd have the money to do the proper testing to make sure the breeding pair are passing on good genes, let alone handle pregnancy complications. Breeders that care about the Yorkshire Terrier breed would get the bare minimum CERF eye test and OFA X-rays (knees/elbows) prior to considering breeding. You even admit to breeding a dog only a year old! How could you know what sort of strengths and weaknesses his progeny might have when he was a year from adulthood himself? To top it off, by your own admission, you're even breeding dogs of questionable temperament.
When I refer to misery, I'm talking about what happens when the pups you breed get out of your sight and mind. Do you think it's right to pass on genes that may be contributing to suffering greatly from timidity and separation anxiety? Careful breeding is what will contribute to the reduction of genetically passed frailties, resulting in less suffering by the dogs and those people who innocently buy potential train wrecks - which without proper breeding protocols in place is what you may be producing.
Don't just take my word for it. Have a candid talk with professionals in the veterinary, rescue and breeding world about what you're doing. Any rational person who truly loves dogs could do nothing other then leave the breeding to those people that understand breeding good dogs is a major labour of love and sacrifice.
John Wade helps pet owners through his books, workshops and telephone consultations. If you have a question email him at
johnwade@johnwade.ca.