When to put male with female
 

I am new to breeding and I have a CKC yorkie. She has already had her 1st heat and I'm waiting on her second one. I have found a male who is also CKC and wanting any tips on breeding her and also have heard different suggestions as when to put the male with the female. Thanks:aimeeyork

This is a very loaded question...becareful what you ask for, you just may get honest answers...often times not the ones you want to hear. :)

Welcome to YT!

I only "put the male with the female" after I have had the opportunity to assure myself that the dog is a good representative of its breed, meaning that it fits within the absolute requirements of the breed standard and that it has features and characteristics that add to my breeding program, but more importantly either add to or at the very least do not take away from, the well-being, type and health of the breed as a whole. This is normally done via the use of conformation dog shows, where a third person trained to evaluate structure, type and movement of a breed or breeds can provide me with their opinions (in the form of earning points that accumulate in a breed championship, or in international competition a written evaluation). I have bred dogs that are not champions because I am not apt to throw the baby out with the bathwater, but I do take a lot of stock in the opinions of these third persons. Because I also do obedience and agility with my dogs, I want to be sure that any dog I breed is suitable for those pursuits in their structure, health and temperment.

Once I have decided that a certain dog is worthy of being bred (and certainly not all of the dogs I have owned or now own are worthy of being bred) I need to assure myself that it is healthy so as to try to limit any potential health problems in puppies, or puppies of puppies, or those puppies' puppies etc. So my dogs undergo annual eye, and heart exams by veternarians that specialize in those fields, and they have patellas checked by my own veterinarian on an regular basis, usually more than once a year. I also do my best to familiarize myself with the health of their ancestors, and I keep track of the health and condition of any previous progeny of a dog so I can avoid causing health problems in my lines whenever possible.

If I do decide to move forward with breeding one of my girls, or if I want to lease a girl for the one boy I have used, I need to do as much to educate myself as to the history and health of the potential mate, and the results of their health tests. Of course also going into this analysis is my own evaluation of pedigrees, as well as an evaluation of what I think the potential mate can add or subtract from my breeding program. I try to bring into any breeding a balance of the two dogs, hopefully I can make an attempt to compensate for where I think my dog is lacking and certainly I try to avoide doubling up on things I don't like.

Once I have made the decision about who to breed to whom, I do other tests such as brucellosis (a positive test would mean no breeding period) and possibly a vaginal swab so that I can deal with any minor reproductive health conditions prior to breeding. I make sure the female is up to date on vaccinations and heart worm meds, etc because I don't like to introduce any of that stuff after she is bred for fear of effects on the puppies. When I see the first signs of heat I wait a few days and then begin blood draws (at my vet) for progestorone testing so I can know the optimal days to breed as I want to eliminate missed breedings once I have done all these hours and hours of work and spent hundreds or thousands of dollars on showing and doing health testing. When the tests indicate we are at a good time for a breeding I never just "put the male with the female" because (1) many dogs have difficulty breeding bitches without human assistance, esp. where you have a smaller dog and a larger female and (2) I don't want either of the dogs to get injured in case the female is snappy or in case one of them decides to make a break for it during the tie (ouch) so I assist in the actual breeding by holding the female and possibly positioning the male or even helping him penetrate if that is necessary, and I hold both dogs during the tie.

I am sure I have left things out of this and I am sure there are other breeders who can add much more to my post, but as you can see, responsible breeding is a lot more complicated that just getting two dogs together and seeing what nature might make of it...