Theriogenologist?
 

I don't know if I spelled that right.....Do any of you use a reproduction vet? I did some research and discovered this veterinary specialty. It seems like it would an invaluable tool for a breeder.

hi kim,
as a matter of fact i do. her name is dr. emily roberson and although i can't spell that word either, her cards and pamplets say "reproductive specialist". she offers a full line of reproductive services that i have found many vets in my area are not real experienced with.

wow. i've never heard of such an "animal". what type of services does she offer? would that be arificial insemination, birthing, etc..?

oh, she offers a little of everything the experienced breeder needs...
like i said her name is dr. emily roberson, 10 yr member of ICG/Synbiotics veterinay reproduction network/ animal hospital of east davie. i love her and she's wonderful with my yorkies. been going to her since the first week she opened her doors.

her services include:

Breeding Soundness Exams
Breeding Consults
Progesterone testing
Vaginal Cytology
Vaginoscopy
Semen evaluation/counts
Brucellosis testing
Fresh semen AI
Chilled semen AI
Frozen semen AI with surgical implantation
Shipment of chilled semen
Timing for birth/c-secs
Pregnancy testing
Collect male with teaser bitch
False pregnancies
Pyometra
SIPS
Preeclampsia
Mastitis
Cancer of uterus, vagina, teats
Low sperm count
Testicular torsion
Testicular cancer
Prostatitis
Prostatitis hyperplasia

Her prices are fair, but please keep in mind most reproductive services tend to be a bit pricey anyway. Lets just say she loves to see me coming in the door with my checkbook...ha ha (no really, she's a wonderful lady)
I may have left some things out, but this is what i can remember this early in the morning...LOL

and the thing i love about her most is that she is 1 mile from my home. this was a God-send to me when she came into practice. The vet that i used for years before her was a good 20 minute drive.

That is so lucky!! I had no idea there was such a specialist and with so many people who breed or want to get into breeding these vets would be a great source of advice. What a resource to have so close. Have you ever asked her about whether there is any truth to the thing we always hear about not breeding a female yorkie under 5 lbs? I was just curious about what a reprductive specialist would have to say on the subject.

Dr Kulkins in Tualatin Oregon has two board certified Theriogenologist.
They are about an hour away from me so I only use them when I need reproductive testing done. There are many yorkie breeders here that use him exclusive, I wish he was much closer, he knows yorkies better than any other vet in the city!

i haven't actually ever just come out and ask her if if there's any truth in not breeding females under 5 lbs. i would actually be embarressed for her to think i was interested in attempting that. i just think nature speaks for itself concerning that and i just wouldnt want to risk the life of a girl that was tiny. i know alot of people do it and i say to each their own although i would be to afraid to try anything so risky. i love little yorkies. i will admit that. but i've been able to produce a couple little tiny one's with a 5 1/2 lb girl bred to a 4 lb boy. the next time i'm in her office, i will make a point to mention the subject to her and assure her it's not something i'm going to attempt but just a general question that i have and i'll post what she says about it...thanks.

man! that's truly an incredble service. i'll have to check & see if we have someone like that around here.

Oh, I know...I would appreciate you phrasing the question in that manner. I came across the word, theriogenologist when I was trying to research scientifically what we have all heard about how bad it is to breed tiny females and I found this specialist who explained that even a small female can have puppies from a large breed do because nature has designed it so that the puppies will only fill the space available in the uterus of the mother.
I know a vet who breeds his 3 lb female and she free whelps and has no problem. He says the people who say it is wrong are just prejudiced against smaller dogs. I would like to see if the theriogenologists agree with him from a scientific point of view.

Thanks and let me know what she says or if you have her telephone number I wouldn't use your name but I could call and ask her myself maybe if they would let her come to the phone or make a phone appt w/me.

I am not getting into breeding but I want to know as a lover of the breed. Are these breeders who breed their tiny females successfully without health issues or c-sections really bad as we have all been lead to believe? Please don't jump all over me....I am just asking a question.....LOL

i too have a very good friend who breeds very small females w/no problem. i've heard both sides. some say it's just fine while other throw up a big NO-NO flag.

personally, i try and breed standard sized Yorkies.

We have one here in our town but I've never had to go to him. Besides, they charge and arm and a leg for their services! Seriously!

they do charge arm and leg for sure. but sometimes i really need the services that i couldnt get from a regular vet. my vet is a very sweet girl and she loves animals; it shows.! i love her to death. she also sees alot of animals not seen by other vets in my area. like rabbits, birds, exotic pets, you get the picture. it seems like over the last 2 yrs my city has become swamped with new vets. we have 2 new one's within a 10 mile radius to my home. i used one for years and years 10 or so miles away. when emily came into practice i felt like santa visited me, being that she is 1 mile from my driveway... i can count 6 vets within a 10 mile radius from my home. 2 in mocksville, nc. 3 in advance, nc (my town) and one in clemmons, nc. all within 10 miles of me. gosh! since i didnt ful fill my dream of becoming one myself...i am hoping my daughter will. she said she would like to be a vet or an aspca officer. lucky me!! LOL :p

because nature has designed it so that the puppies will only fill the space available in the uterus of the mother.
====================================
Kim=Sometimes the pups grow so large they will rupture the uterus:::: not a good thing.
Jerry

i'd like to think that was the way it is. but it is not reality. nature does not always design it so that mommy can comfortably house the pups in her uteris. my girl chelsea is the poster child to back up my statement. she was bred weighing in at 5 lbs. (5 yrs ago) she had one male puppy that was 7oz and the other three pups were 4 oz. she had an emergency c-sec that i told about in another thread a couple months back. i had her spayed during the c-sec for my sanity and her life.

Again we are talking breeding tinies. In case someone reads who is on the fence, here is MHO. Those who have their minds made up one way or the other can skip over it. ;)

Asking a 3 pound yorkie to pass a possible 6-8 oz pup is like a small framed 100 pound woman having a 15 to 20 pound child. I hate to use humans as examples for dogs but it seems the easiest way to explain.

Yorkies are not uniform in size and unless you know every dog ever in the line for at least 5 generations and their sizes you can't be sure what will be produced. Single pup litters can have a very large pup, and a large litter can lead to fatigue and uterine inertia. A dog with small reserves and a uterus overly stretched could really be at risk.

They also, as Jerry said can and do rupture. This will cost both Dam and pups their lives. This doesn't even speak to the possible lack of pelvic bone space.

Any vet who knows Yorkies are still a relatively young breed with still such varying sizes would never suggest this. If they do, specialist or not I would go elsewhere.

This is what I found and it does seem to suggest that c-sections are more likely in these situations, but the doctor doesn't seem to think that this is life endangering?:

Bill Sones and Rich Sones
Richmond.com
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Q. From a Spokane, Washington reader: Recently I have noticed a lot of media attention given to artificially inseminated mixed-breed dogs. If a very small dog like a teacup poodle is inseminated with a large breed dog like a St. Bernard, would the mother (1) abort (2) have one live birth puppy (3) have her life endangered?"

A. Generally not one and three, more likely two which may also include a litter of live births, says animal reproduction specialist Dr. Margaret V. Root Kustritz, University of Minnesota small animal theriogenologist (from the Greek therio = beast, gen = birth, ology = study of). "I get this question all the time. Dogs are plenty driven by urges to breed or be bred regardless of their mismatched sizes so artificial insemination might not even be necessary."

Once the female is pregnant, the puppies will grow to the size available to them, so even though it seems counterintuitive, a small female dog can carry pups from a giant breed male dog. Even where there is no size mismatch, says Kustritz, if a female dog has only one pup, it will grow to fill the space, thus becoming larger and more likely to cause dystocia (difficulty whelping) than would pups from a large litter.

male size
 

I may be one of the few here who has no problem using a larger male then female...I have used several 6 and 7 pound champions and not found the pups any larger at birth then using my tiny males. I have bred 5 pound females to 7 pound males with no problem..I have also bred 3 pound males to 7 pound females and needed a section due to oversized pup or pups.

You are going to be hard pressed to find a variety of tiny champion males at stud...I do not have to use a champion each time, but the pedigree does need to be bumped up on a regular basis. IMO

Why breed a tiny female in the first place? The world is full of wonderful pet owners who want pups at least 5 or more pounds.

Good point.