I like showing, the social aspect is my favorite part, but I love breeding. I am fascinated with the science and the art of breeding. I love taking mom through pregnancy, delivering pups, watching them grow, learn and see what they become. I am an avid student of genetics and structural anatomy. The goal is to someday develop a line that will make the breed proud. Hopefully I will see the fruits of my efforts before I die since I got a late start at 41.
I have yet to join my local club because politics annoy me but will do so and when the time is right I will join YTCA as well.

My dogs are bile acid tested before breeding and complete blood work is done and when I do get Radar back in December he will be in for his OFA certification on hip, knees, eyes ect....I couldn't do it when he was out on the show road but now he's coming home and all will be done concerning OFA. I have had him xrayed and from the film all is well and it was done on Cammie as well but she's only had one litter and is now spayed. But future breeding yorkies will have all tests done before being bred to insure I have healthy dogs! Both have been bile acid tested and cleared :) Of course Cammie is spayed and had only one litter of two and one is in a pet home spayed and Molly is fixing to be spayed and be in a loving pet home! I totally believe in health testing before breeding and health being of the utmost importance! I didn't get Radar until he was 18 months old and I got Cammie around the same age and I prefer showing them when they are older anyway.

I'd rather show than breed LOL...I don't like whelping at all! I love puppies when they are about 2 months old LOL...
Politics are always in the ring so I hope you join your local club soon :) You'll actually enjoy it :) As you put politics aside for the social aspect ringside you can also put aside politics within a club :) I know I do.. :)

Donna

I'm going to join, meanwhile Robert Franzoni has assured me that I don't have to be a member of the club to be a member of the family. There really are some great people showing around here. There are disagreement to be worked through even in families, I guess clubs are no different.

Of course you don't have to be a member to part of the family but at least if you join you can have a say and vote LOL :) You do have great show people in your area. You are lucky to have people in your area that are respected :)

Donna

You can get eyes and heart clearances at some shows if you happen to be at one of the shows that have those, it just never works out like that for us.
We us a cardiologist in KY, its easier for us to load up and drive two hours and get the heart clearances done, we need to make a trip for our Yorkies teens that are now 12 months or older.
I would like to use the Urine Bile Acid test instead of the blood draws, has anyone here used the Urine Bile Acid testing?

You're right about that...I was going to do that at one show for Radar and Molly but I ended up not going but Radar was there but I want to be there when it's done and not leave it up to the handler not her responsibilty and it's a lower cost. I will make sure I try and find one for the eyes and heart at a show. I don't mind the blood draw on yorkies 6 months but again that is my personal choice :) Never heard of the Urine Bile Acid testing actually.

Donna

Just curious.. now that you've spent a fortune in Radar's show career, what would you do if you brought him home did all these tests, and he did NOT clear them? Would you neuter him then?

Breeding good knees is so much more than just breeding good to good.. it's also breeding like type dogs to like type dogs of similar hock height and leg length as well as overall angulation, and over all amount of bone.

You can breed the two best knees in the world together, but if one is a tall smaller boned dog with straighter angulation, and the other is short heavy boned dog with great angulation, you still will very likely end up with not perfect knees.

Also, bile acid testing is AWESOME and it's right now the only tool we have to test our breeding animals for Liver Shunt.. but unfortunately it doesn't guarantee that they won't produce it...the gene for this can be handed down for as many as 10 or more generations...and where its' going to pop up next is like playing russian roulette...you just don't know. Its about being honest with yourself when and if it does happen to you on where it came from and what to do about that.

the reason I asked Donna about what she would do if Radar doesn't pass goes back to what Deana was just saying about not breeding a dog before it's finished. A good dog is one that is not only worthy of obtaining it's championship, but one who can also produce outstanding offspring. I have not always done this, but it makes sense to breed the dog BEFORE it's shown/finished (in the case of a male.. this is not possible in a female for most people due to coat) and see what kind of producer the dog is. It would be a real shame for someone to campaign a dog all over the country as a specials dog and pump ten thousand dollars into it's career for it to be a crappy producer.. and I'm sure it's happened more than once. :eek:

Donna..I am not singling out Radar here..this really is more hypothetical than having anything to do with Radar. :)

Becki

I've done both bile serum (blood) and urine Bile Acid Testing. My vet claims urine is more accurate.. I've heard otherwise from others.. I continue to do blood at this point...

On puppies I just do a kidney/liver pannel and wait until they are finished with vaccs and have all their perm. teeth in before I do an actual bile acid.

Becki

To answer your question....ABSOLUTELY! Would I want to pass on that to another person? NOPE! But you have to know what's behind your dog and what the lines have produced and hopefully studied the pedigree hard enough and what you put together in a breeding should help produce what you want or at least strive to what you want in a yorkie.
Of course BAT's are the only thing we have and of course it can pop up. BAT's aren't a garunatee but for now it's all we got until we get that genetic marker :)

Donna

P.S. I know you weren't singling out Radar :)

I'm with you, Donna I absolutely hate breeding. I do like the genetics of it all.. mixing all of my genetic ingredients into the pot and stirring.. lol But I hate whelping and caring for new babies.. I'm so anal about it, I obsess over them until they're up and walking.. lol I wont even leave the house for longer than half an hour in case something God forbid should happen.. sleep with a baby monitor next to my head and the base next to the babies... Why can't puppies be born a year old, in full coat.. and those that are not show quality have the phone number of their new family in their paw.. LOL Or better yet, maybe just all show quality.. and 90% FEMALE.. LOL Ohhh in a perfect world!

Good for you, Donna! :thumbup:

Donna
Here is the link for Urine Bile Acids,
Painless and more accurate is what it says. I love that!

Canine Epilepsy Resources

Dee, get to know people in your area. This doesn't mean try to talk to them minutes before they're going in the ring.. call them at home on a sunday afternoon, and just talk...or better yet, ask questions and listen! But REALLY listen. If you go into things defensively and thinking you already know it all, you'll waste your time and theirs. If you think peole have been snotty to you.. girl, you're going to have to grow a real thick skin real fast if you want to play in this playground! ;) If I threw in the towel every time someone was mean to me, I'd have a mountain of towels 10 feet high and would be into underwater basket weaving by now instead of yorkies.. LOL (a good use for all of those towels..lol)

Becki

the thing is becki that the people you mentioned last night were all standing around in a group talking to each other when my friend and I tried to join the conversation that about ten or twelve of them were having, they turned us a cold shoulder. The problem is not finding a good dog but finding someone to mentor me. One of the people you mentioned said he would come to my conformation class three weeks in a row to help me but he never showed after I drove an hour and a half each way to meet with him. I have researched and studied all kinds of things but when I decided to show, I just had to jump right in with my limited knowledge about showing and no one to help . But that's alright. I have learned to go to shows and keep to myself. Several people have mentioned those you did because they are in kentucky but they are not a friendly bunch at all and I don't even want to be like them and think I am so uppitidy that I can't help someone who is just learning. I am always willing to share what I know with new people.