Disagreement on spaying
 

Does anyone completely disagree with their spouse on the issue of spaying/neutering their yorkie?

Milli's spay appointment is set up for this Friday, and I'm already nervous enough about it. I was the same way when Emma got spayed-but I know it's the best thing for them.

My husband wants to breed Milli, and I'm totally against it. At first, we thought she'd be too small, but now she's caught up and weighs about 4.5 pounds at 7 months old (so I at least had a strong reason against it). Besides not wanting to deal with her being moody, whiny, & the mess of heats, personally, I believe I have NO BUSINESS breeding yorkies, at least right now. I know nothing about it, and I don't want to risk the health of my newest little furgirl. I first think about all the risks there are, and all the complications that can occur in breeding-when I told him that, he said I'm paranoid, that those things are always a risk when having any babies, even in humans! Though that's true, I don't agree that we should breed Milli, because I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to her.

I explained to him that not only do we not know what we're doing, financially and with our own free time, it's probably not a great idea now. We're thinking about having children in the next 1-2 years, we just bought a house 6 months ago, and both of our careers are demanding (I'm in commercial interior design, he's a new attorney), so with all that in mind, money and time can be tight at times.

He agrees with my points, but says that we should keep her intact to breed her later on, after we learn more about it. My feeling is that we bought her as a PET, and paid for her as a PET. She's not EXACTLY the perfect example of a yorkie, and I believe that yorkies should be bred from very good examples of the breed. I told him if he really wants to breed yorkies, we should invest in a breeding pair somewhere down the road, after doing our research and after (if) we decide this is something we really want to make a committment to do.

Someone PLEASE tell me I'm doing the right thing, and that I'm not being overprotective and paranoid! Has anyone else not spayed their furgirls in hopes of breeding someday?

I have spayed both my girls, but with Angel I had the ability to choose breeding rights. I chose not to as I do not believe I could deal with many of the horrors that breeders go through and then sell the pups. I do know that breeding doesn't necessarily make you money, especially if you only have one dog. Most breeders do it for the love of the breed. If your baby isn't a good example of the breed with champion lines, you are doing the right thing. You are doing the right thing even more if your heart and soul are not in it. I applaud your decision.

I think you are doing the right thing. Of course all yorkies are cute, but they are really getting overbred, and a lot of yorkies don't even look like yorkies anymore because of it. Breeding is a lot of work, and taking care of multiple puppies is so much harder than most people think it is. Just wait til they start pooping and peeing everywhere - it's a mess! Plus, breeding is not always a happy experience. Sometimes puppies are born dead or die after a few days. Your dog could develop a uterine infection that could kill her. I know another person on another forum who decided to breed her dog because she wanted a puppy from her. Her dog developed a uterine infection and died two days after giving birth - it happened so fast. Anyway - I think you are doing the right thing. If your husband really wants to breed yorkies, I think it's a great idea to do more research and find a show breeder that is willing to mentor you. Once you make some connections and learn more, you can buy a couple of great dogs to start off your breeding program.

That must be tough since it sounds like he has an answer to everything that you say ;) But I do think that you are making the right decision of having her spayed.
It's not just the possible complications that could occur, although those are a huge concern...It has to do with bettering the breed as well...If your girl is not a good representation of the breed and you're not familiar with her pedigree and so on, it's not a good idea to breed her.
I know everyone starts somewhere, but if you want to breed, start out the right way...Find a female that fits the standard and you know her history...Find an experienced reputable breeder to be a mentor. Go to shows, etc...
Also, it doesn't sound like you guys will have the time to devote to this right now, being that your careers are so demanding at this time...
Everyone has to make their own decisions though :) Good luck!!

i agree with all below as many yorkies have to have csections and costs close to $1000 and if you have one puppy between shots, and vet appts then there is the profit and it should not be a business. It should be for the love of the breed below. I could never give them up either ;( so i would have a house full of yorkies --

If you are not going to breed good to spay as they can get I believe breast cancer, etc so healthier to spay

I struggled with this as i have a boy and a girl yorkie but knew it would be tough as my parents had two litters of shih tzus and it was hard to give them up and on litter had a puppy born breach and we almost lost our girl abbey so it was very traumatic -

Good luck with your decision hope this helps