Breeding Age? Recommendations
 

Hello Everyone,

I have a 6 year old female yorkie, never had puppies, full AKC pedigree, etc.

I have been seriously considering breeding her since she was a pup, but just got too scared. I have been thinking that I'm ready, but concerned about her age. Her breeder said that she is not too old, but would not provide a stud after this next heat because of her age. The breeder, and I, want her to have her have pups because she is so pretty, and just an exemplary example of a yorkie, but, while I would LOVE more than anything for puppies, I am concerned first and foremost with her health and complications. Would it be highly unadvisable to breed her this late? What sort of complications are likely/potential to arise? Are dogs similar to humans where after 40 the incidence of c-section is imminent and complications are likely? Would it still be safe to breed her?

My question is, is she already too old to even consider? She is in perfect health other than being slightly overweight, which we would work on before her next heat (in March). She is perfect breed standard, and just the most beautiful yorkie that I, and many others have ever seen.

I would love her to have puppies but I am a nervous-nelly and don't want to do anything that would be unfair to her.

Thank yoU in advance for your advice/commentary.

Welcome to Yorkie Talk. My advise would be to not breed her. It is much harder on the female when they have a litter for the first time at that age. Most people retire their females at age 5 or 6. I know you love your girl and would not want to risk doing anything that could harm her. Her being overweight would also make the delivery more difficult.

Six is too old to breed her. Seven is considered "senior" on dogs year, so you are talking about breeding a middle aged dog. The risk to her and her puppies is too great. Even dogs who have had puppies before are usually retired at that age.

I know you love her, but what makes you think she is the perfect breed standard? Unless she has been shown and judged by experts in the ring, she is probably just a pretty pet.

I would spay her & keep her as a pet. She is To old.
Adorable but far from the standard.

someone mentioned her weight, but, I looked and didn't see where she put a weight down..:rolleyes:
but, I'm a "spay" person all the way. I want to keep my dogs as my pets as long as I can, and the longer they go without being spayed and neutered, the higher their chances are of getting certain cancers

I appreciate your comments, I was concerned but the reassurances from her breeder were only slightly making me feel better. Does this make her breeder a bad breeder?? Opinions on this?!?!

Some clarifying things:

She is 7.5lbs. Her parents were champions and her breeder was planning on keeping her for show purposes but suffered a tragedy in her family and stopped showing.

And, yes, Im sure it is just my opinion that she is perfect!! :D But her teeth and eyes, weight, coat (although looks slightly gray in the photo but is not), ears, posture (except not quite level back line) are all nice. I did not mean to say that she is am absolute perfect yorkie (despite my thoughts on her) what I really meant to express through that statement was that she is not just some "mutt," nor am I just some "backyard breeder" who does not care about ensuring the quality of the yorkie breed. Because I do care about the yorkie breed and wouldn't even consider, despite her age, breeding her if she had health defects or things that would outright disqualify her from the akc stds. But, yes, I personally think she is perfect! Haha!! I would not be breeding her to produce show dogs because I know that the standard for champions is very, very high.

But in any event, I just wanted to clarify because I did not want to read a backlash about how horrible she is.

I appreciate your comments, I was concerned but the reassurances from her breeder were only slightly making me feel better. Does this make her breeder a bad breeder, being willing to breed her at this age?? Opinions on this?!?!

Some clarifying things:

She is 7.5lbs. Her parents were champions and her breeder was planning on keeping her for show purposes but suffered a tragedy in her family and stopped showing (why she is not spayed in the first place). I was going to spay her but her breeder and I discussed breeding her when she was younger and then I kept saying I'll breed her next year, I'll breed her next year, and here we are.

And, yes, Im sure it is just my opinion that she is perfect!! :D But her teeth and eyes, weight, coat (although looks slightly gray in the photo but is not), ears, posture (except not quite level back line) are all nice. I did not mean to say that she is am absolute perfect yorkie (despite my thoughts on her) what I really meant to express through that statement was that she is not just some "mutt," nor am I just some "backyard breeder" who does not care about ensuring the quality of the yorkie breed. Because I do care about the yorkie breed and wouldn't even consider, even if she was still a puppy, breeding her if she had health defects or things that would outright disqualify her from the akc stds. But, yes, I personally think she is perfect! :) I would not be breeding her to produce show dogs because I know that the standard for champions is very, very high, but again, do appreciate the thoughts on her age.

But in any event, I just wanted to clarify because I did not want to read a backlash about how horrible she is, I was just again, trying to clarify what I said above because I know some people who have *giant* yorkies, or "teacup" yorkies and post about wanting to breed them for money or whatever, and that is not my goal.

your yorkie is adorable.. :)

She's adorable and I can tell how much you love her. I'm sorry but based on what I have read, I think she is a little too old to have her first litter. I'm not actually a breeder though but I hope to be some day and have been doing a lot of research so I'm telling you my personal opinion if I were in your shoes....

Hi, your yorkie is very cute, first of all. :)

However, she is really too old to be bred, as others have said. I retire my girls between 5 and 6 years of age, unless they have not been bred very often and then I MAY do a 6 year breeding and retire at the beginning of the 7th year.

By the time a yorkie reaches the age of 6 and she has not had pups by then, she is most likely not equipped or able to handle a breeding at that age. Whelping is scary enough as it is, trust me I have had some horrible ones. You would not want to breed a female that is reaching mid-age. You face the risk that she won't know how to be a mom, or many other health complications that could happen with a female already 6 years of age. You face so many risks. In my opinion I would say absolutely not. I don't know any show breeders, or any reputable breeders, that would say to breed a female at that age for the first time.

Also, you mentioned that her topline is off. A topline that is off is SOOO very hard to ever fix. It is one of the most difficult faults in a yorkie to improve. A slightly off bite can be worked with, legs a little short or long probably, earset or tailset very possibly can be improved, but a topline is much more complicated. Even if you breed a male with a perfect topline to a female with a roached back (or even a slight arch), you will probably never completely eliminate it...and even if you did it would take years of work. Possibly the show breeders can back me up on this as well...:)

Honestly I would not attempt it...would it be worth it to risk your females life? At this older age they are already facing the risk of other health problems, I just wouldn't chance adding another one just to have a litter of pups.

Please don't take any of this as rude or mean, I am just trying to give you advice about your beloved baby. :D;)

I would not breed her given her age. Females should not be bred for the first time at 6 and most females are being retired from breeding at that age. I would spay her and let her live her life as a spoiled little princess. :)