Breeding Size
 

I have found that depending on who you talk to the ratio of the size of the male to the size of your female can give you very different answers, so I am hoping some of you experts can gieve me your thoughts. (This is assuming the dog is the correct weight for thier bidy structure, not fat, not skinny)

Most people seem to want to breed a small male 3-4 lbs to a bigger female 4-5 lbs. This all seems well in theory but you still can not guarantee what size pups will result from a litter. On the other hand when peoples breed a bigger male to a smaller female, they seem to get a lot of guf about it. But still my thought is that does not determine the size of the pups.

For the beginner what is your recommendation?
Also what is the best way of going about finding a mentor?

Like you have already stated, your will get a variety of opinions on this subject. I know show breeders that breed larger males to smaller females with no problems. The most important thing is that the female comes from a line of free whelpers and that she has the right structure to have puppies. I just don't feel comfortable breeding small females (under 5 lbs). I love my females to be closer to 7 lbs. Ideally, for me, the males should be 4 to 7 lbs. You have to know so much more than just size in breeding. You need to have a good understanding of yorkie conformation, if you don't you could end up doubling up on certain faults and traits that might be undesirable.

You ask what is my recommendation, then I would have to ask you what is your goal and objective with breeding yorkies? My goal is to hopefully one day breed and finish my own bred-by champion.

You ask about finding a mentor then again, that would depend on what your goal is. There are good mentors and bad mentors, you have to decide what you want to accomplish with your breeding program and then find someone that has already accomplished what you are trying to do and go from there. I hope I am making sense.

My goal would be the same, to some day breed a champion. However that is a goal that is many years out and at this point my goal is just to learn everything I can so I can make informed decisions.

Well, that is good to know that you are wanting to start off on the right foot. My advise would be to get your breeding dogs from show lines. Take your time and start with Yorkies that are good representatives of the breed. Start going to some shows, join a local breed club or yorkie club if there are any in your area. If you can find a show breeder near you that would allow you to come over and see their dogs that would be very educational.

There is no reason you could not produce a CH in your first litter IF (big if) you start in the right place. Get to shows, introduce yourself, watch the judging (watch both what the judges like and what you like as well), and try to find a breeder with whom you are comfortable and who is comfortable with you. Generally a good way to get started in showing is with a show quality male--if you do the training, coat care, handling (or pay for the handling!) etc to finish a boy you should be developing your relationship with a breeder/mentor along the way. Your chances of being able to obtain a show quality female are far, far higher this way. Once you finish her, you *might* be ready to do a breeding-- to the best available stud for her, not necessarily yours-- and there is no reason you could not produce your own CH that way.

A lot of people don't really understand and that is why they give the guff.
You could breed a 2 1/2 lb male to a female, but that doesn't mean he will produce small at all. It depends on what they come from too. He might be a runt and all behind him could be 5-6 or larger. That said our vet told us that it is actually the female is who determines the birth size of the puppy. Sort of like the saying that the fish only grows as large as their tank. Although he is talking more like a 1-2 lbs diffence in a toy breed and NOT like a large dog to a tiny dog - that is totally different.