To have puppies or not?
 

Hi there fellow Yorkie lovers.

I have a almost 4 month old adorable little Yorkie, Bella. Now my question is, in your opinion, is it better to have her 'fixed' before she's six months or to let her have a litter before having her 'fixed'. My mother always believed in the latter. We have found a gorgeous male, same age with whom she has no family ties what so ever IF we do decide to let her have pups. Opinions please...

How much does she weigh? They live longer if they get fixed before their first heat.

Breeding yorkies is a huge responsibility and it should never be taken lightly. I would recommend you do lots of research on breeding and whelping. Your girl is to young to know if she will end up being breeding quality or if the male will have the qualities needed to make them a good match. Personally I don't recommend early spaying. If you chose not to breed her then I recommend waiting until she is over 6 months old to get her spayed.

What if you should lose her due to septicemia or some other quirk of whelping as we did out Doberman bitch when we bred her. We'd gone through an apprenticeship with her breeder at her ranch on weekends and myself during the week, we'd studied all about genetics, pregnancy, whelping, helped in whelpings, used the breeder's highly-esteemed vet of choice and still everything went wrong as she whelped early, and we lost a pup stillborn, almost lost another she'd pushed aside & was cold in its sack but was revived, 3 died on the 3rd day of life as their momma also did from what the vet said was an infection/septicemia of her blood from her milk/mammary glands which had quickly flared into a full-body infection w/in 18 hours or so at the vet hospital and then my beautiful girl was was gone. I had to hand raise the rest of the litter 24/7 from Day 3 after my girl died and it was sheer hell. I got no sleep for 2 - 3 weeks except for a few cat naps. You have to stimulate the pups to poop, pee, feed them every 3-4 hours day and night, keep them warm enough, carry them back and forth to the vet for blood tests and check-ups if anything goes wrong with the litter, give them medicine during the day and night, deal with colic from the formula, nurture them and fill in in every way for mom right up through weaning, teaching them about all the things she normally imprints on their brains, should you lose her.

It cost us a fortune in money for all the ER fees, hospital costs for her & the pups and in exhaustion, constant work but that was nothing compared to the pain and tragedy of losing our beautiful Dobie girl, Cobra, who was gone forever. I'll always miss her. She was so smart and elegant.

Unless you are fully prepared to face a potential life-threatening emergency at home, know everything to do in a sudden pregnancy/whelping/puppy-crash emergency, have all the equipment, drugs & know how to use them until you can stabilize her/pups for safe transport to the vet, and fully understand genetics and she and her stud are cleared as free from all health defects going back generations so as not to pass any genetic medical or serious temperament issues along to the pups, I would not breed my girl, knowing what I know now.

Does she have any titles in her pedigree? Is the potential sire titled? I'd wait a year before you decide and perhaps a trusted veteran can help you decide. You may also want to consider taking her to local kennel club show and entering her in the puppy class to get some feedback from the judge. If she has potential to be finished, I would focus on that before breeding.

It is a HUGE responsibility and there are a lot of costs. There are also risks. My breeder has been doing it for 30+ years and recently lost a female after an emergency c-section. She seemed okay and was recuperating, but then they lost her. They bottle fed her four puppies and unfortunately lost two of them as well. Very, very sad.

I think spaying around 6-8 months is ideal so if any baby teeth have not fallen out yet they can be taken out during spay.

Also I don't think breeding any pet quality dog is a good idea. And at 4 months, it's much too soon to know if she has all the qualities to breed. Additionally, if she has no champions in her background, and worse yet from a broker or mill, or not AKC, she should def not be bred. Same goes for the male dog.

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If you just really want to enjoy her as a loviing pet then spay her. Breeding involve risks and breeders take them because breeding is a business to them but most pet owners dont want to take those risks with their loving pet

[QUOTE=yorkietalkjilly;4478570]What if you should lose her due to septicemia or some other quirk of whelping as we did out Doberman bitch when we bred her. We'd gone through an apprenticeship with her breeder at her ranch on weekends and myself during the week, we'd studied all about genetics, pregnancy, whelping, helped in whelpings, used the breeder's highly-esteemed vet of choice and still everything went wrong as she whelped early, and we lost a pup stillborn, almost lost another she'd pushed aside & was cold in its sack but was revived, 3 died on the 3rd day of life as their momma also did from what the vet said was an infection/septicemia of her blood from her milk/mammary glands which had quickly flared into a full-body infection w/in 18 hours or so at the vet hospital and then my beautiful girl was was gone. I had to hand raise the rest of the litter 24/7 from Day 3 after my girl died and it was sheer hell. I got no sleep for 2 - 3 weeks except for a few cat naps. You have to stimulate the pups to poop, pee, feed them every 3-4 hours day and night, keep them warm enough, carry them back and forth to the vet for blood tests and check-ups if anything goes wrong with the litter, give them medicine during the day and night, deal with colic from the formula, nurture them and fill in in every way for mom right up through weaning, teaching them about all the things she normally imprints on their brains, should you lose her.

It cost us a fortune in money for all the ER fees, hospital costs for her & the pups and in exhaustion, constant work but that was nothing compared to the pain and tragedy of losing our beautiful Dobie girl, Cobra, who was gone forever. I'll always miss her. She was so smart and elegant.

Unless you are fully prepared to face a potential life-threatening emergency at home, know everything to do in a sudden pregnancy/whelping/puppy-crash emergency, have all the equipment, drugs & know how to use them until you can stabilize her/pups for safe transport to the vet, and fully understand genetics and she and her stud are cleared as free from all health defects going back generations so as not to pass any genetic medical or serious temperament issues along to the pups, I would not breed my girl, knowing what I know now.[/QUOTE]
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Here we have someone that had gone through a mentorship with an experienced breeder, had done all the prep work, had an experienced breeder close at hand, and excellent vet on standby, and what should have been a wonderful, snuggle, loving experience, tuned into a horrific, tragic, heartbreaking mishap that ended up costing the life of puppies, the life of their beautiful momma, and and enormous amount of money. We breeders always ask ourselves before each breeding, "Is this the litter that is going to produce a spectacular, beautiful pup that could easily be paid for with the life of my bitch?" These are breeding pairs who's pedigrees have been researched for generations back, so you KNOW what the breeding of these two dogs is MOST likely to produce.....in MY opinion, it is never even a fleeting thought, to just blindly breed two dogs, and hope like hail everything turns out great.....end up with live babies, momma survives, no emergencies ....but you are just starting the game at that part. If you have managed to produce babies with genetic health issues, liver, heart, kidney, eyes, hips, weak or failing or compromised immune system, YOU are responsible for doing that. How you stand up to THAT, determines your worth as a breeder. You need to think very long and hard before you step off into the deep end of this pool......you may come out lucky and just sacrifice your momma's life, in order to.......???

Risking her life for a litter would not be worth it to me but that is just my opinion. :)

Thank you so much for all your input. From what I've read (and understand), I think it's best to let Bella just be Bella... She only weighs 1.5kg at nearly 4 months old. I don't think she'll be much bigger by the time she'll be ready to breed. Thank you for helping me to make a clear decision.
Much appreciated!

I don't think you'll ever regret not breeding her but should you mate her just once & it all go wrong, she'll be forever gone and you'll never forgive yourself.

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Exactly!

Can I also ask, seeing that there are no male dogs that would come near Bella, what would be the pro's and cons of having her spade (other than the usual 'girly mess' every now and again)? Would it still be necessary?

If she accidentally should ever get out or lost during her estrus and mate with say a 14 lb. male, her life could be at risk carrying/trying to whelp huge puppies or one whopper pup. Then, there is the reduction of cancer risk.

Here are ASPCA's other reasons:

Top 10 Reasons to Spay or Neuter Your Pet | ASPCA

Unspayed pets want to mate are desperate to mate. There are health reasons why its better but I also think its better for their personality and well being. I have had unspayed cats and I would never want to go through thAt again

Besides the mess of the heat cycle you also have to deal with the mood change that comes with every heat cycle. During the heat cycle and for two months following their heat cycle their mood changes. Females that are normally happy and playful will become more distant and not interested in playing. The biggest concern would be the risk of pyometra in unspayed females. Pyometra is an infection of the uterus and it can be deadly. The older a unspay female gets the greater the risk of her getting pyometra.

I had 2 females, each 3 years apart, I didn't spay brcause they were such wee babies I didn't want them to go under the knife. 13 years later my first one got Pyometra, her uterus erupted, puss went through her blood, the vet gave her a full hysterectomy and set her home, for 9 days I watched her die before my eyes. 6 months later my 2nd got Pyometra, I recognized the signs and rushed her to a new vet, she was also given a hysterectomy, she lived for 6 months. All my fault because I feared spaying. I wouldn't want anyone to go through what I did. I had no intentions of ever breeding, I had 2 more pups, my vet advised spay before 1st heat, 5 to 6 mos old, both (they were also 3 years apart) were spayed at 5 1/2 months old. One lived to be 13 y/o, the other lived to be 17 y/o. I advise everyone, if pup is purchased to be your pet SPAY for their health. You have read of the danger and pit falls of breeding. Ask your vet what is the right age to spay, most advise before their 1st heat, Spay don't breed.


is an infection of the uterus and it can be deadly.

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It looks like you've ended up deciding not to breed your precious kiddo - and I think that's a wonderful, positive way to go :)! Let Bella just be a happy, healthy pet who doesn't have to go thru a pregnancy and whelping. Plus, there are SO many homeless pets in this world....leave the breeding to the pros, and let's all work toward less inconspicuous breeding and more toward an increase in adopted homeless pets!

@Bella1978 - I'm glad you've decided not to breed. Sounds very responsible. As others have said above, spaying has many benefits and if she is a pet will make her a happier, healthier one.