Breeding?
 

I want Ella to bless us w/ puppies. Right now she's a year and a half old and 9lbs (perfect to me). Possibly before the end of the year or early next year i'd like to have a liter of puppies. And yes, i do have some experience w/ the whelp process. I've assisted w/ 4 successful deliveries. So i'm not clueless. I know she needs a vet exam to make sure she's healthy to birth them. I was just wanting some breeders advice. If i get the vet's go ahead is it okay? Oh and btw, the puppies will by no means be sold. If she does have a liter i will keep one myself and give the other(s) to my yorkie bearing family. Also, i don't want my post to cause any drama. I am just questioning. I'm not even sure if this is something we'd like for Ella. =]

Opinions please?

Alright, I'll go first...I would probably have serious thoughts if at the age of 19, I would be able to dedicate the time & finances into the breeding.

I say find a mentor and learn EVERYTHING beyond whelping before you make that decision. Also, check out ALL the Yorkies who are looking to be adopted in ALL the rescues and then tell me if you really think you need to add to this population?

I think you'll get many more responses in the morning, but I can give my opinion for what it's worth. I'm not a breeder by the way.

You asked if it was okay. Yes, it is in that she is yours and if this is what you want to do, it's your right and everything "should" go just fine.

However, whether you plan to breed her one time or four times and whether you plan to keep the pups or sell them doesn't make a bit of difference when talking about health testing. It all applies no matter the purpose for breeding. So blood panels, bile acids testing, thyroid testing, knee and hip checks, eye checks, etc. really still should be done for both the male and female. You'll be out $100s over this. Yorkie c-section rate is higher than a lot of other breeds. Depending on where you live, that can be a couple grand if done on an emergency basis. Then if mom gets eclampsia or whatever, you'll be handfeeding around the clock. And of course there is always the chance that you will lose her. Then the question becomes, are you willing to put her through all of this? It's fine if you are as long as it's done correctly, but it's a lot on her and you to go through it.

If we're talking about her best interest, then she should be spayed instead.

But if you have thousands set aside, a lot of time on your hands (I hear some breeders stay home for weeks after whelp), etc. and you can keep all the pups/give them to people close to you that are going to be able to care for them so that they don't end up in shelters, then go for it.

My opinion is above though. It would be better to skip it.

Sounds like you have made up your mind already, so why ask?

A basic vet exam is not much of any good if you are wanting to breed. I was a vet tech and just looking at your dog will really not let you know what you really need to know to breed her. Just being honest. You need to do the blood tests and screening, as mentioned above to see. You know you are breeding her above the weight exceed limit, so I guess size and standard does not matter to you. You think that is okay since you are keeping all the pups. Okay - then what will the pups you/family will be keeping be passing on in the future when you/your family breed them and their pups be passing on. See this is what many people do not realize how their actions can change the whole breed. This means then that some say our fabulous breed we love so much will not look like it does today. Yes, love your dog as she is, but remember how one simple breeding can effect our breed. You need to know for sure about her parents and grandparents, etc... What will they contribute to the pups gene pool - health wise and standard wise? Breeding is so much more than just letting your girl have pups.

And size does not always full proff for not having problems as far as her whelping naturally - she could still have problems.

Since you asked our opinions - I would spay her and love her and by spaying her you know that she will be healthier.

I am not sure what your question is?

You have got some great advice above.

Nobody can tell you to do it and it will be alright. It would be alot cheaper to buy another puppy if that is what you want. You said your family... are they willing to help with all the cost you will have raising a litter? An emergency csection can run you 1000+ and most vet's I am finding out now if you don't have it they send you home. A vet cannot look at her before hand and tell you it will not happen. Can you take off work a week or more before she whelps and possible 6 weeks after? If something happens that mom cannot care for the pups are you prepared to feed them every few hours. This means when you get the last one done the first one is ready to eat again. These things might never happen but it is a nightmare when it does. I am just trying to give you things to think about.

I am all for stopping puppy mills and people adopting., but adopting is NOT for me. I am not taking about why b/c that starts so much more than what i want to discuss. As for being able to dedicate my time and money to this, yes i can. I have a steady job at this time. I'm home all day and work at night. My boyfriend is working all day and home all night. Right now this is not something that i am even for sure about. Just thinking about it. I do though appreciate your input though.

Another though i have is that I AM A RESPONSIBLE PET OWNER. There are some who aren't and just produce these animals for the point of just selling them and aren't doing it out of love. There is a line between responsible and irresponsible pet breeding.

My mind is made up, i am not doing this. I can't risk loosing her. She will not be spayed though. No more discussion on this please. I've heard alot and i never should have asked for opinions on this topic. I've seen so many things here on YT that caused drama and i'm just setting myself up for it. I was only thinking about the cute little faces that she'll produce and nothing else. That's wrong of me.

I was going to stay out of this since A) I'm not a breeder B) mine is fixed and C) He's a boy, so my loss at a "one time breeding" wouldn't even come close to you in a worst case scenario. I think it's great that you're a responsible mommy and you take very good care of your baby girl. And if it's a puppy you want, I'm not going to tell you to rescue instead when I myself got mine from a breeder (not a pup mind you, he was "older"). But I have to point out something Topknot said in case you missed it. These pups will only be in your care for the first few months of their life. After that they are no longer yours to do as you please with them, they are someone else's. Let's assume that everything went wonderfully and you have your baby girl safe and happy and all her pups are safe and happy too. You give them away to whomever you please. Then they decide that they too want to breed just once or twice. Sure, ok, they are no longer yours right? Property wise no, responsible wise YES. You are responsible. So they breed, have puppies, give them away to their friends and family. And again and again. This is why I choose to have him neutered. It was my right as his new owner to do with him as I please, but it was my moral obligation to really do what's best for Kaji and the Yorkshire Terrier breed.

I'm a firm believer of teaching by example. I wanted my relatives to spay/neuter their pets and preached till I was blue but it did me no good since I didn't own a dog and never had. Now I do, he was neutered his first week home. He is trained, happy, and the best dog in the world and now they seek me for advice in dog care even though they are the ones with "experience." I in no way intended this to be a lecture it's merely food for thought.

OOPS! Sorry, I just noticed you made up your mind. Don't feel bad about asking a question about breeding. It is your right to. May I ask why you wouldn't have her spayed? You don't have to answer if you don't want.

I am proud of you for making such a tough decision! You made the right call as you love your little girl too much too lose her!:)

I'm glad you made the wise decision to not breed your sweet baby :) However, since your not having her spayed just watch for pyrometria that she can get with not being spayed and if she develops this she will have to be spayed and you could still end up losing her in an emergency situtation if you do not catch it in time. So please reconsider spaying her ;)

Donna Bird
Brooklynn's Yorkshire Terriers

Don't feel bad, I'll bet 90% of us thought the same thing until we learned more about breeding. I'm glad you asked the question, others will learn from the comments posted. I think if you really want to protect you're little girl, you will get her spayed, I've read about so many accidental pregnancies, and all it takes is a few seconds. There are several health advantages in spaying too.

I am just not sure why you would not have her spayed. It is to prevent her from getting certain cancers! Yes, cancer! The big C! Female dogs have a higher rate of developing cancer if not spayed. My sister in-law did not get her dog spayed and her dog (Penny) came down with mammory cancer. I was working as a vet tech when she got it and was there and assisted with her operation. It is so hard to get all the skin around the tumors (very spidery like) and if you do not get all the cells it can come back and spread very quickly - Once the air gets to it it just seems to spread. We did our best and really tried to get it all. Well, we missed something and she was gone in 6 months. Here is a link Mammary Tumors (Cancer) in Dogs I am just not sure why you would not have her spayed. It is to prevent her form getting certain cancers! Yes, cancer! Female dogs have a higher rate of developing cancer if not spayed. My sister in-law did not get her dog spayed and she came down with mammory cancer.I was working as a vet tech when she got it and was there for her operation. It is so hard to get all the skin around the tumors and if you do not get all the cells - because you have her open up for surgery the air gets to it and spreads quickly. You hope in surgery you have gotten it all. Well, we missed some and she was gone in 6 months. Here is a link of information about mammory tumors: Mammary Tumors (Cancer) in Dogs . If you catch it really early recovery is so much better, but sometimes it happens so fast they have and they had it longer than you realize.
So do her a favor and protect her and get her spayed. :) Spaying will make her better - not change her or her value. Best of luck with her.

If you do not fix her and your sister does not have Elvis fixed then I expect you will have pups at some point. It happens.
At 9 pounds she is large enough to do ok in a spay with a good vet.

I just caught this post and glad you have changed your mind. I guess there are many questions one ask to ask themselves on why they want to breed. Here's a thread that is taken from the YT Library. You may have read it already, but thought I'd addess it anyway

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...-answered.html

On the fact of not wanting to spay your little girl. I'd like to address that too. Do you realize for every unbred season your girl experiences, you are putting her at risk of mammary cancer and even worse pyrometria. You are still risking her life. As a exhibitor/breeder as soon as my girls are retired from my breeding program (age 5) they are spayed. I don't want to risk their lives, even worse why put my boys through the agony.

Glad you changed your mind

Good choice on not breeding. I know it can seem exciting and fun to have little puppies but I don't think people realize how much work it truly is, as well as possible heartbreak, loss and money and time. I would never/could never be a breeder. I don't understand why you're not getting her spayed though, considering she has the potential to become pregnant still.

I am just not getting her spayed b/c she isn't around male dogs EVER so she can't get pregnant. Ella's actually terrified of other dogs. Mating would probably make her scarred for life. I'm not sure if there are health benefits to getting her spayed, if so i'd like to find out about them.

Tell me about those health advantages please. =]

I wanted to breed Ellie. Didn't end up doing it (in part thanks to YT).
Nobody ever explained the benefits of spaying to me. So at age 6 she was still unaltered. When I did learn about the benefits, I still didn't want to do it and I did have good reasons (fear of anesthesia and not wanting to remove her "parts"). It came down to the fact that her vet was very concerned to just leave her unaltered. With every heat cycle, the risk of pyometra (uterine infection) increases. Usually an emergency spay is needed if this happens (and hopefully it's diagnosed in time). But this spay would have had to be done while she was very sick. There would have also been a risk of spilling the pus out of the uterus and into her body causing massive problems (can be hard to maneuver in small dogs' abdomens and the uterus can rupture in this state). I decided to go ahead with it, but before we got to it, I found some lumps in Ellie's mammary chain. Very scary... They were small and the hope was that they were just do to hormonal issues and weren't cancerous. The plan was to spay and hope things straightened out. Thank God they did go away after spay and there haven't been any problems like that since. A dog who is spayed before her first heat has less than a 1% chance of developing mammary cancer. Spayed after the first heat but before the second it goes up to 8%. Anytime after the second heat it is about 26%. But even for the older females, hopefully the reduced hormonal issues after spay would benefit the their mammary glands.

Here are the benifits in an easy to read list:

Spaying elimanates the following -
* Spotting during the heat period
* False pregnancies (increasingly common with age)
* Mammary tumors (less than 1% incidence in animals spayed before their first heat, versus higher than 50% incidence in intact female dogs over 5 years of age)
* Uterine infections (increasingly common with age; often life-threatening)
* Tumors of the ovaries or uterus
* Stress, leading to increased susceptibility to disease

Also - By preventing pregnancy, spaying permanently eliminates a source of great physical stress for female animals, including complications such a ceasarian section delivery of the puppies.

Then it hepls to prevent the following:
Breast cancer
Cystic endometrial hyperplasia and pyometra
False pregnancies
Mastitis (can occur during false pregnancy)
Transmissible venereal sarcoma
Ovarian and uterine tumors
Cystic ovaries and hyperestrogenism
Chronic endometritis
Vaginal hyperplasia and prolapse
Uterine torsion or uterine prolapse

And any surgery during emergencies are a lot more difficult and sometimes the outcome is very gray - a lot worse!
I have not listed the beneifts of behavior, but there are some as well.

Link: Health Benefits of Spaying and Neutering

Oh that is just playing with fire. You do not know that she will never encounter a male while she is in heat. It happens all the time.

People come on here, my dog got out and now she is pregnant.

My friend came over with her un neutered male and I did not know my girl was in heat and they tied.

My neighbors 9, pound dog dug under the fence and tied with my 3 pound girl.

My neighbors dog tied through the fence with my girl. yes it can happen through the fence.

My dog was jumped by a male dog while we were out for a walk. I did not know she was in heat.

And the worst part is you do not know what kind of dog, or what diseases this dog might have, it is out of your control.

Why on earth would you not want to spay her?

no drama from me - I hear you. I, like many, 'entertained' the thought with Chanel - was pushed about it from some people even .....all that ran thru my mind was I've never done it and I will not lose her because I want to experience puppies. There's always the chance it can go wrong.

mating would make her scarred for life, yet in your first post you consider breeding her. :confused:

Oh, you would be surprised how a female can get when in heat. I had a new girl and she was more on the shyer side - but what a big difference in her attitude when she came into heat, a real little vixen! So do not be surprised when she scoots out the door while in heat and accidently gets with the neighbors dog or some other. It happens so fast and the female will often try and find the male too. I have one that will rub herself up against the door knowing my male is on the other side. So the females can be as bad as the boys! Just wanted to give you a heads up and warn you about the females attitudes.

I have one female that that is a real hussie She will back herself up to the gate.

And an experienced male will have them in matter of seconds.

I tend to not think of other before i speak. I know how my dog is while she's around other dogs. But of course i didn't even think about HER while i was considering what i wanted HER to do, bad dog mother.

This is one of the few things i've actually read on my post that didn't make me pissed. I know i asked for opinions, but people sure do try to push their views on others. Next time i will deff. think before posting on such a sensitive issue. Not saying i got bad advice, it was great to hear people's thoughts about the spaying. I thank everyone who took the time to research for me. It was nice of you all. And spaying is something that i am thinking very hard about doing, and most likely will do since she means so much to me, before her 2 year birthday in Oct. :)