First Time Breeding. Advice and Help needed.
 

Hello there,
I have decided to plan on breeding my beautiful girl Tilly on her next heat. She is from one of the best lines of Yorkshire terriers and is of show quality.
Firstly I am not wanting to breed for finical gain, I simply would like to add to my family and also hopefully produce a lovely boy for show.
As this would be my first time there are alot of things I do not know. I have read two books that include big chapters about breeding, but still feel not 100% about how everything happens. I would really appreciate any help and advice anyone could pass my way.
My concerns are as follows.
1. The day when the dam should be bred. ( what if I do not notice her being on heat for a few days?)
2. Best foods for pregnant dams? Inc calcium and vitamins ?
3. Birthing stage, I asked the breeder of my dam if there was a history of any of his dams from this line of any birthing problems I.e c sections that were needed. He said he never had any problem with this line. Only with a past different line. Is there anything I could do with my vet to check if she is a good candidate for producing?
4. As a first time breeder should I let my dam give birth at home with just me or should I get a vet to come to the house?
5. What things will I need?

My best advise is to become close friends with the breeder and learn from them...nothing replaces hand on learning from a mentor.

I agree if you are going to breed find yourself a mentor!

Why not show you girl and after her championship, breed her? Putting her in the ring would be a great way to meet breeders and find a mentor if your breeder is not available.

I think you should defin find yourself a great show breeder to mentor with and take your time with breeding your dam until you are familiar with several whelps alongside your mentor. breeding isn't something for first timers unless they have previous assisted breeding experience.

The problem is the fact that I live in Spain and the breeder is spanish and I speak very little and plus the only show breeders are like 4 hours away from me so I'm kinda stuck.

I guess the only question left to ask is:
Are you willing to venture into breeding blindly and completely on your own? For your female's sake, I hope not. Besides, if you want a male to show, why not start showing with his mom? Everything you asked are good questions. It's really not an online forum's place to step in and act as your online mentor. YT is very limited and offers very little help in this sort of thing.

If you have these roadblocks relative to finding a mentor, then where and how will you find a worthy stud and get through the actual mating process?

I would find a translator and contact the breeder again. Going to the shows is also a great idea. There us so much more into breeding and you will need a mentor. There is so much that can go wrong and you do not want to lose your girl.

If you go to the library here on YT it is the second forum down, there are many good articles on breeding that will cover the answers to some of your questions. For example the article entitled: Dog Breeding your Questions answered.

I don't know the common practices in Spain on health testing and what health databases might be available for your research; but your bitch should be health tested to see if she is affected with the any of the common various health problems of Yorkies. To whit; PRA, hip dysplasia, Luxating Patella, Liver Shunt (BATS tested), thyroid, heart. I refer you to www.ytca.org, in specific look up their Health committe and see the recommendations there for testing. Plus any sire you may end up using should have all the aforementioned as well.
Plus prior breeding tested for STD's ie: brucellosis.

Unfortunately there are no shortcuts to responsible breeding. I understand from your post that your female is not yet a champion? This means that she has yet to be evaluated by judges and perhaps more importantly by experienced breeders of her breed worthiness. You and your breeder may think she is of show quality, but you will want several unbiased opinions about that; hence showing your girl. Apart from this; what quality of stud will you be able to attract with an unchampioned female?

You will want to find a vet experienced in reproductive practices (whelping, etc), not all vets are and are interested in this specific arena of practice. And yes beside some basic blood tests ie a CBC and BATS testing, your vet can do a structural exam to assess for pelvic structure and integrity. How-ever this is no guarantee that a C section won't be necessary for any other number of reasons.

Breeding and whelping are risky enterprises. The bulk of the risk resides with your female. You definitely put her life at risk. Are you prepared to lose her? You also need to be prepared financially to provide the best of medical care to your dam and the puppies.

I understand from a later post that your breeder only speaks Spanish and you english?. One solution would be to find a translator to help you question your breeder. Who knows maybe your breeder would be willing to mentor you, if you have a translator in place. While not perfect, communication via email, where you use a translator program might be of assist to you.

Should you elect to go forward with breeding your female, then yes I would highly recommend a vet be present at your home for the birth.

Hi thanks for replys. The breeder speaks only Spanish and my best friend who speaks fluent Spanish talks on my behalf for me. The stud dog is also from my breeder and is champion dog. The only problem is the fact he lives 5 hours drive away and would be very hard for me to keep going backwards and fourths every weekend for mentoring. Money is not an issue with my dam and I would not want to put her in a situation were her life is at great risk. Thats why I asked about getting her fully checked out.
Is there anyone on here willing to mentor me?

It is best to get a mentor near you. Not on line on a forum. Talk to some show breeders near you in Spain. That is great that you will be having her health tested and screened. You do not want to pass anything on to the pups. Breeding is very serious and not to be taken lightly.

The issue is not if someone is willing to mentor you, it's how will they help you? A mentor is more than a manual. They are someone who will help you hands on, and someone that can take over for you if complications arise that you are not ready for to handle on your own. How can someone do that from behind a computer screen thousands of miles away? How will they prepare you for the whelp? Traditionally, a mentor has you assist them in their whelps before you venture off and attempt this on your own. And when you do, they're sitting by your side the entire time, ready to spring into action the moment you can't handle it on your own.

Go to Dog Shows! Ask if you may sit and watch. Meet the breeders at the shows and you may meet your Mentor there. Good Luck to you