first heat

Question
I have a female Yorkie that is 6 months old. She has not come into her first heat yet. I was wondering how old she will be when she comes into heat?? Also if I do decide to breed her how long do I wait when she comes into heat?? Are Yorkies ready to breed on there first heat?? As you can tell this is my first Yorkie

Answer
Molly,

Yorkies like any small dog can go into heat from 6 months to a year.  It usually depends on their size.  The bigger they are usually the sooner the heat.  If you decide to breed her you will need to wait until the second heat or at least until she is at least a year old.  Her body is not fully developed until one year old and it will do damage to her bones etc. if you breed her before she is full grown.

When she comes into heat the usual rule of thumb is one week of bleeding then one week when she is bleeding less and one week where she is not bleeding but her pee pee is very swollen.  Their first heat is usually the worst for bleeding and each subsequent heat she will bleed less and less.  When they get a little older if you are still breeding her it will become more difficult to tell when her heat has begun because there is not as much bleeding.

When you breed her you will have a one week window of opportunity.  She will usually not allow the male to breed with her in the first week.  The second week is when you would breed her usually every other day for that week to be sure you will have puppies.  The last week she may still allow the male to breed but if she has not gotten pregnant already it will not work.

Some breeders will breed every other heat and some will breed two in a row and skip one.  There is a lot of discussion on the pro's and con's of this but if you have the best interest of your baby at heart you will not breed her two times in a row but every other heat.  I have seen many dogs that were over bred and it is a pitiful sight.

Since this is your first Yorkie and you have not had the breeding experience yet I suggest that before you make your decision you research it thoroughly.  Breeding Yorkies is not for the faint at heart.  It can be a wondrous experience but it can also be a horrible experience if something goes wrong.

If you would like a through examination of the breeding experience please feel free to ask me and I will try to point out all of the joys and pitfalls for you.

I hope this helps!  I would like to ask you to leave feedback on my answer so that I know if what I have told you has helped.  It helps me to answer peoples questions better in the future.  When you give feedback on my answer please let me know what you decided.

Good Luck,

Melinda