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I would like to breed my Yorkies but... I have an almost two year old female (Gracie) and a male (Bentley) about the same age and I would love to breed them but I'm nervous. I have never even seen puppies be born before. I have read everything I can get my hands on and our Vet gave us the go ahead but it still scares me. Does any one have any advise, or would you like to share your first time story? I am in no hurry, but I also know that it could happen even if I try to keep them apart. Especially once the heat cycle starts. I just want everything to be perfect! |
Why would you want to breed them? Are they Champions? Would you be bettering the breed? |
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and the effort they put |
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Several things need to be done before you even breed these two. The first is finding a good mentor. Breeding is scarey, and if you aren't fully prepared, it is even worse. Especially if you aren't prepared to lose your girl and possibly the litter. |
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A friend of mine had a CH. Titled Yorkie who was being prepaired for her first litter. Well that friend ended up spending about 10,ooo on any emergency c-section because of that one litter. You have to ask yourself is the female strong enough to carry and litter, and you have to make sure that your dog fits the breed standard and has passed all nessacary health test to make sure that the future owner of these pups won't have 1,ooo vet bills because you decided to breed just because you wanted too. There are millions of dogs in the shelter because of those types of breedings. |
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Yes, having pups is so scary with yorkies. I have mine tested and have Very nice yorkies, and breeding/whelping a litter is not my cup of tea. I get so scared, since I am very aware of the dangers with yorkies whelping a litter. They do not just birth these pups on their own. You have to help them, if you want the pups being born alive and increase the success rate of them being born alive without complications. Picture this: getting yucky, finger up in mom maybe to check if an elbow or shoulder is caught just to name one thing. Sorry to be so blunt, but you need to be to be fully aware. Most often yorkies pups are born breech, which means back feet first, which is then harder for the mom's body to open up wider to allow the head and shoulders to come out. You often have pups that get stuck halfway in/half out anot not moving further to come out and you have to help with the contractions to pull the pup out (very dangerous to do, if not done correctly). Infections can set up, you can have eclampsia, and other complications after the birth that can cause a mom to die. Then what if a c-section is needed - which is often with yorkies. This is costly, but honestly - very dangerous to the mom, since yorkies do not do well with anthesia. This is what really scares me!! :eek: C-sections are not easy for the moms to come out of. It takes hours for them and so scary to watch them, not being able to come out of it well and the look of their eyes and how they can go crazy on it. I had one mom that did not come out completly of the ansthesia until 24 hours later. She kept sleeping and I had to keep waking her up to make sure she did not go that far under and die on me. Then she did not want to eat afterwards. I had to spoon feed her around the clock and even put my finger in her water bowl and bring it up to her chin to make sure she ate. She also got an infection and had to be put on antibiotic. She was so sick and we just about lost her. (Her pup came out of its sack in utero and caused the infection to set in and of course we lost the pup). So much can go wrong. If you are not prepared - and the yorkies are not a good example of the breed and healthy (pass all tests) I would not breed. You do not want to loose your girl and upset your household. Too much can go wrong. If it was another breed that do not have as much problems as yorkies do - then maybe after testing and looking it compared to the standard, but with yorkies, too much can go wrong. Here is an x-ray of why my last girl that needed a c-section and she is a champion. As I stated - anything can go wrong - you have no idea. I never knew a pup could do this till now - folded its self in half and tried to come out stomach/back area first, so all four feet touching with head facing mom's head. A pup is not going to ever come out naturally this way. A c-section is the only way to resolve this problem. If a pup ever stayed in mom - you would loose the mom forsure. So you have to be sure if there is still a pup in mom or not. How do you know forsure, since x-rays can be wrong?? You have to know how to feel the mom to tell, since her contractions can stop and you would never know unless you know what to feel for. So yes, whelping a yorkie litter is very scary and dangerous. Plain and simple! Oh, on this x-ray - the pup did not make it, even though the section was done pretty fast. |
When you care about your dogs and puppies, breeding is the hardest most heartwrenching thing to do. Fine if all goes well, then theire is looking for the perfect home when they are older. But so much can and does go wrong even wtih a first litter. How will you deal with losing your girl if that should happen? How about those pups born dead or that have a problem and die in a couple of days or a few weeks or you have to have it put down because something is wrong that can't be fixed? What is their pedigree and what is their conformation etc saying that they should pass on their genes to the next generation. Breeding to just produce puppies is not a good reason to breed. Why not spay/neuter and enjoy them as the pets they are? |
Topknot, what you wrote was outstanding. I am not a breeder, never had any intenion. But if I did, after reading what you wrote, no way would I do that to my Yorkie. Never breed just because it would ne "nice" to, or because you would like to watch the birth.....if that is the reason, just rent a movie. Testing, vet check, standard, champions. socialization....Do not take it the wrong way. I support several local shelters, and most of the dogs are there because someone wants to breed.....or to make a fast buck. There are too many dogs. |
You are welcome to read through some of my recent posts to see what I have gone through with Livi's second litter. I think you have very good reason to be nervous about breeding....it should NOT be taken lightly!!! I don't want to be a downer for you, I really don't but please make sure that you can handle anything that can happen. Livi's first litter ended in with a c-section and losing 3 out of 4 puppies. Not all at one time, though....they were preemies so I helped them to get latched on all throughout the nights. We lost one during the c-section and one tiny (2oz.) girl later in the day. Just when I thought things were getting better, we had to have our precious Strawberry put to rest at 5 days old. We did everything to try to save her....nebulizer treatments, several vet visits. We were blessed to get to raise the one surviving puppy, but it hurt like you would not believe to sell him!!! Now, with her current litter.....*sigh*....... just please, please, please be prepared for ANYTHING that can go wrong! My husband and I helped her during the whelping process. I had to actually retrieve two placentas....like I said, be prepared for ANYTHING!!! When she had her first puppy, we saw part of the placenta but we started working with the puppy and just assumed that she had eaten the rest of what we did not see. No, she hadn't done this.....we almost lost our Livi 4 days later because of a retained placenta. I cannot even begin to get into all of the details of everything, but she ended up at the vet for 2 days (only allowed to come home at night). I was bottle feeding the three puppies at this point and they HATED it and were losing weight. Luckily, she was able to nurse them at night, but things went from bad to HORRIBLE!! They sent me home with a medication to give to her that then affected the puppies...causing them to be extremely bloated, gassy, constant diarrhea, lethargic. Our once healthy puppies started fading within 5 hours of that one pill. We then went from caring for a VERY ill momma to also caring for CRITICALLY ILL puppies. Rushing them to vet for sub-q fluids and glucose (twice...once for momma as well). Watching a puppy fade is not something that you will ever forget....we have gone through it with both litters. We had to wait more than 24hours for that pill to get out of Livi's system....between this and the stress of everything, she lost her milk. I was then faced with 3 puppies that were less than one week old that hated drinking from a puppy bottle....so guess what?! I was on my hands and knees feeding all three with an eye dropper every two hours. That meant that I was feeding every hour because it took this long to feed them in one sitting. You have to know how to diaper them, burp them, heat the milk, dropper it to them so that you don't aspirate them. There was one day that I literally sat on the tile floor, never leaving that room (NEVER!)....because I was crying too hard and so much that I had to stop feeding them and take breaks because I couldn't see straight. The other days, I would go to FINALLY take a break around 10ish pm....I would go to sit on the couch and eat something quickly, only to fall asleep sitting up on the couch (lost 3 and a half pounds in 3 days). But when I say fall asleep, it was actually a 2 minute nap. I know that some may read my words and think that I am maybe exaggerating....I'M NOT...NOT EVEN A LITTLE!!!!! This is what I did day in and day out, plus I have two small children that were sick during this time and I was still caring for Livi. She was not eating at all on her own so I was also spending 30 minutes at a time syringing food to her. Livi's milk did finally come back in (only because I was forcing her to eat and drink) but having to do this for those 5 days has changed my mind about breeding. Plus, I am not going to risk Livi's life ever again! I hope you do not think that I am trying to be mean to you....this is just so fresh to me right now and feel like I need to share this with people that are thinking about breeding. Please make sure that you are COMPLETELY ready to face the possibilities of losing puppies and/or your momma. If you think that my story sounds bad, trust me, it sounds soooooooooooo mild in comparison to what it actually felt like!!!!!! |
Not every litter is a nightmare. But, one needs to prepare oneself for the worst. I like Tina hate whelping a litter. A year and half ago I almost lost my 7 pound Champion girl. I will share. The whelping was very text book with one being born hind legs first (which is common and happens in about 40% of yorkie births). A week after the pups were born I noticed my girl was not acting like she usually did after a litter. It was late on a Sunday afternoon. I rushed her to ER. The diagnosed eclampsia and administered calcium (she was alergic to the treatment). Took her home and began hand raising pups. The next morning my girl began vomiting, gums cold (she was going into shock). Ran her to the vet (repro vet), All blood tests were normal, except a bit anemic and dehydrated but, definately in show. They kept her and administered IV fluids and massive doses of antibiotics. She began emitting a horrible odor (we had left no placenta and had administered a POP shot) so, there was an infection raging inside of her. She was kept 3 days with this treatment. She had finally stablized but, had to be kept on antibiotics for a month. They couldn't perform a spay because her coagulations levels were off and she'd have bled to death. Her pups had to be hand reared (now that wasn't fun, feeding round the clock and taking care of a female that was ill). When she was finally well enough we had her spayed. The repro vet was prepared for the worst, ran blood tests, sonograms, and cauterized every step of the way. What he found was she had a ripped horn and it had most likely had happened during the whelping process (if had happened prior, I could very well have had floating puppies and all would have died). She was 5 years old, so this was her last litter anyway. But, what if she had been younger and I had decided to breed her again (not that I would have because she was so ill), she and the puppies would have died. Let me add the books don't prepare you for this, but being experienced in recognizing danger signs does. |
A YT friend just sent me this link so that I could share what I saw Friday night at the emergency clinic. I had taken one of my pups in and was horrified at what came in right behind me. A lady came in with a yorkie wrapped up in a blanket. She put her on the counter, uncovered her and said, "she has a puppy stuck in her". I wish I had never looked. :( Yes, the puppy was stuck and the lady had waited too long and the poor puppy had died. Later, when I went out front to check out, there was the lady on the floor of the waiting room with this momma with another puppy coming out. I asked why she did not just leave her there and was told, "she will be fine". I know nothing about whelping, so asked how long this one had been out and I was told 10 minutes. I asked how long it normally takes and the tech said 20 minutes. Just made me sick to watch. There was nothing wonderful about watching this birth...nothing. Momma pup looked frightened and the owner had no idea what she was doing. She sat on the floor shaking. My assumption is that she did not want to pay a large bill to leave her at the EC. I stood there dumbfounded and wanting so much to save that poor pup from this clueless woman; but finally decided the best choice for me was to get OUT of that place. I will never get that image out of my brain............EVER. :( I know it is not always like that, but I have heard so many horror stories and seen so many on YT....scary stuff indeed. Forget what it can cost....just thinking about the lives that dangle so precariously is scary enough. |
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Oh....I hear you. I was just so horrified. And...she told me there were three more. :( If I had stayed any longer, I probably would have gotten myself in trouble. I just totally did not understand how that woman was even thinking about leaving with that poor pup. I have for two days now been thinking about calling to find out what happened as I know someone who works there during the day on weekends, but I just know it might make me more upset. Some things in life you are just better off not knowing about. |
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ladyjane - Sounds like this little girl was small and had an owner that had no clue what she got her dog into. This drives me so crazy - people breeding and having no clue. She should have been helping her mama yorkie to work with the contractions to get the pups out. If the mama quit contractions - a c-section is needed (puppies are way too large for the mom to birth normally). But the vet there would have to have this owner say okay - too many risks for a law suit - reason the vet propbably could not do anything without the owner giving permission. She probably was shocked when they gave her a quote on the cost of a c-section. So many people are breeding their yorkies because they think that it would be so "cute and fun" to have puppies! Yikes! :eek: I am sorry but this is no reason to have pups! Period! And there is so much to it than this - A Lot More! So many people too buying yorkies just because they want to breed them and thinking it would be so easy to sell the pups since they are popular. Wrong! It is sickening to me, no consideration for the dog. At least I am trained - I was a vet tech, but for the other people out there with no training, no mentor - they have no clue what risks they cause for their yorkies by breeding. This is one breed that this should be left to the pros. For the OP (I am so sorry of your loss of Gigi) and know how sad you would be if you lost another one of your yorkies. I would just have your girl now spayed and love her. I am glad that you asked our opinions and for advice on this topic instead of just going ahead and breeding your girl. At least you are informed now of the dangers and that testing should be done as well as having her evaluated (yorkshire terrier standard). |
I have gone through two births that were posteria breech - I hate these and usually most always require vet assistance. A posteria breech delivery is when the pup is not only born with back feet first, but also the stomach is facing the mama's tail (this is double backward). A pup should be born with its stomach facing the mama's stomach so the the spin can curve as it is being born - so much easier on the pup and mom and normal. By having the pup backwards with stomach of the pup facing the tail of the mom, it does not allow the spin to curve, causing complication. Also the cord was tightly wrapped around the pup twice and was around the neck of the pup. At first it took awhile for the feet to be presened, then I noticed it was posteria - I knew this would be hard. So I got ready and grabbed gently on the pup not to break the sack since the pup's head was still up inside past the pelvic bone. So then I had to twist the pup working with the mom's contractions to unwind the cord and also had to dislog an arm and then the head. I almost did not get the pup out this last time, but was lucky. I also had all short cords on the rest of the pup, so had to work at getting some length to the cords by reaching inside and then clamping the cords off and cutting. Time is of the essence in order to have a pup survive. I quickly had to make sure the sacks were off and pup rubbed down to get them going and lungs cleared of the mucus. You have to be so trained to help these yorkies deliver. That is just how it is with this breed in order to have live births and a live mom, but things can happen and you need to be prepared. I have lost pups before and have come very close to loosing a mom before and I am trained. I hate breeding and since I am aware of the dangers, I do not breed often. I cannot understand why people would be breeding, just to breed. I read about the person that had 6 litters in one month!! OMG :confused: :mad::thumbdown |
OK, now y'all have scared me! I know what you all say is true and I consider myself lucky overall. The only problem whelp I've had was once when the pup was stuck and had no sack. I consider it a near-miracle that he survived. Yorkies are a breed that you absolutely can't casually breed and let nature take its course. I can honestly say that, the more experienced I've become, the more scared I get, and rightly so. |
Topknot - you are very informative. Thank you for taking the time to share all of your valuable information. :thumbup: |
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I couldn't do it like others - I entertained the thought BRIEFLY ....once I researched only a tiny bit of what breeding small dogs entailed - it quickly left my head. |
Excellent thread, very informative, I'm adding it to my list of favorites! |
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You can also have a litter of 5 and 4 delivered just wonderfully......pop, pop, pop, pop.....then mom's strength goes out and her reproductive walls have no more muscle tone and can't contract any more. So on comes the surgical gloves, in goes the finger to test the vaginal walls to see if they bounce back when you gently press If they don't, you have 4 or 5 hours of delivering pups and off you off you go for a C-section for the last one. As Tina says.....you don't go into this without some kind of knowledge of what you're doing and preparing yourself for the worst. My husband thinks I'm nuts when he sees the meds coming in; Plasma, Dextrose, Dopram, antibiotics, antihistamines. Wait till he sees my next order, I'm ordering that Oxygen Tent. But, I'd rather be over prepared and not have to use anything, than not have it there if I need it. |
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Kind of reminds me of what I've been told about pilot training, learning to fly the plane is easy; it's learning what to do in all the emergency situations that makes flight training difficult. |
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kudos to all the breeders, I know I wouldnt be able to do this... one reason I got a male ... :) love all the wonderful breeders out there and those who truly care for their yorkie babies. :) |
in honesty i thought about breeding Gatsby and no one was going to change my mind until i thought my new rescue was pregnant and i thought about all the horrible things that can go wrong. and i prayed every night that she was not, i got lucky and she was not pregnant. but those 4 days helped me see how bad i did not want puppies just imagine your little girl in some of these stories as the mother pup who is scared and in pain i promise you will change your mind |
Wow Just when I think I'm almost ready (tests are done, have an emergency plan and a back up emergency plan B) I get this funny feeling. I am so grateful that you all replied. I have obviously lost one girl and am not ready to loose another. That is why I have done all the research. I just want to be informed before I decide to share in this life changing experience. I have helped with difficult kitten births and dropper fed too many to count but, I have never had puppies. To be a part of a birthing and nursing experience creates a special bond between both you, the mom and the baby. It creates a special relationship of trust and love. I would never have puppies just to sell them. I just know that I have enjoyed my babies and dream of having a furbaby with mommy's smarts and daddy's silky coat as well as the soulfull eyes that our Yorkies share. I want more love in my house and have all the time in the world to spend with them as I do not work. I guess I have to realise that there is no guarentee. For now I will wait until I feel reasonably sure that I can recognise and respond appropriately to any sign of trouble. Thank you all for being there! Tonya |
A special thank you for sharing at legnth! I truly appreciate it! Please feel free to continue to share your stories. |
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