[yorkietalkjilly]

Unless you are a longtime, experienced breeder who is ready for any and every emergency from the breeding, through pregnancy, whelping and then nursing and have had both the female and male health certified for the genetic clearances for assurance of betterment of the breed, I would not breed my female and take the chance. I was an inexperienced young person who bred my beautiful female Dobie girl her second heat with the help of her breeder and my mentor and on the 2nd day after whelping, her milk became septic and she died, as did two of her puppies. I was left to handraise a remaining litter of 4, while mourning losing my beautiful and wonderful Doberman girl. She was literally my best friend and she died because my husband and I chose to breed her in order to have puppies! I have always wished I could undo that decision and had allowed her to just live out her life without getting so sick so suddenly and having to suffer and then die, despite all the vets valiant efforts. The work involved in raising puppies without their mother and taking over all of her responsibilities and feeling so guilty all the while, sitting by their crate nights and getting so little sleep, worried they, too, might sicken and die those first few days, was horrible! They did make it but I almost didn't. Jimmy & I were so sorry we had decided that our beautiful Doberman pet should be bred and later we thought - for what? Why? Why was it necessary to take that chance? We could go out and buy another puppy - we didn't need to risk Cobra. We thought we would enjoy breeding Dobermans as a hobby. Well, let me tell you, unless you are quite wealthy and have a great deal of spare time around the clock, it is a money/labor-intensive project that only the experienced are probably better doing. I would ask you to ask yourself why you want to breed and whether or not it is really worth the risk of losing your bitch before you proceed. And really - think over the answer long and hard. Last but not least is the money that a complicated whelping can cost you. It was frightfully expensive, even all those years ago. I thought I would share my experiences if you are new to breeding, because things don't always go wrong, but when they do, it can be utterly tragic.