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gestation period

20 11:39:11

Question
QUESTION: Can you tell me what the length of gestation period is for a yorkie?

ANSWER: Bob,

The gestation period for a yorkie is 9 weeks.  Think of it as compared to a human.  For every week a dog is pregnant it is comparable to a month for a human.

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QUESTION: Judging from your answer our yorkie should be due in about 2 weeks but she started spotting this morning. Is this cause for concern? Should we have her checked at the emergency facility in our town? She is our baby and we don't want to take any chaces with her.

ANSWER: Bob,

I don't think it is necessary to take her to the emergency facility unless you think it would make you feel better, you should be able to wait until the vet is open tomorrow.  What do you mean by spotting?  Was it just once or has it been continuous?  Could you be off on the due date?  You should keep an eye on her and how she is acting over the next 24 hours because she could go into premature labor.  If she stops eating and drinking then you may need to take her to the emergency center.  Yorkies usually stop eating and drinking about three hours before they start having puppies.  If she appears normal then I would just call the vet in the morning and ask if he feels it is necessary to bring her in.  I guess it really depends on how badly she is spotting.  As with humans spotting is not necessarily something to worry about unless it becomes heavier and more frequent.

If she were my female (mine are my children) I would keep an eye on her and call the vet in the morning.

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QUESTION: My wife wants to know if you think it would be alright to bathe her? She wouldn't eat last night but I took her into the kitchen a few minutes ago and she ate real good and drank some water also. The spotting has just been off and on and this woill be her first pups.

Answer
Bob,

I would advise against anything that could cause her stress right now.  What she needs is rest and you don't want to do anything that might cause her to miscarry.  Spotting off and on for any period of time is probably something you will need to call your vet about tomorrow morning.  Until then hold off on the bath and see what the vet says.

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