Yorkie stud

Question
Hello I have a 8 lb akc yorkshire terrier that is a proven stud. My question is. who determines how many puppies the female will have is it the male or the female?

Answer
Angie,

This is a little out of my expertise but I will attempt an answer based on what I know.  Dogs differ from people in that they can produce puppies from multiple sperm donors in the same litter.  If you breed two males to the same female you can have puppies from both males.  An example of this would be if a female lab was bred with a German shepherd male, you would expect to see puppies that are a mix of German shepherd and lab.  When the puppies are born you have 5 that look like a lab, shepherd mix and one that looks like a lab, Australian shepherd mix.  When this happens what has usually occurred is that somehow a male Australian Shepherd got to the female without your knowledge.  

It is also true that each time you breed your female she can conceive again and again.  So if you breed her one time she may have 1 puppy and if you breed her over a period of several days multiple times she could have 1 to several puppies.  Do not misunderstand me, breeding her one time can still produce more than one puppy but your chances of having more than one are better if you breed her multiple times over a period of time.

Keeping all of that in mind you will have to draw your own conclusions.  Personally I don't think either decides how many puppies are in the litter.  It will depend on how fertile each one is and how many times they were mated.

While both parents provide genes to the puppies the male genes are dominant.  Dominant genes by themselves do not necessarily determine how many puppies are in a litter.  What genes usually determine are sex, hair color, size etc.  

One last thing.  You didn't ask about this but I feel it is important for you to know.  You said your male was eight pounds.  If you are planning on using him for a stud you should know that he cannot be bred with a female that is smaller than him.  The usual ratio is a 2.5 to 3 pound male bred to a 5 to 6 pound female.  If you have bred a female with a larger male you could loose your female, her puppies, or both during the birthing process.