Dear Gender: These small toy dogs of less than seven pounds are very alert, love to play and investigate everything. They are truly little terriers as their names suggests. Whatever gender you decide on, remember having a puppy in the house will require lots of work, training and time.

It would help to know the age of the other Yorkie and if the two dogs are planning to live together in the same household or if your son’s pet is strictly on a visiting only basis. If they will be just visitors then whatever you want to get is the sex you should chose, but if they are living together then I would speak with the breeder of the Yorkie to get a breed expert’s opinion.

 

Welcoming a New Pet

How you socialize your new pet applies to all breeds of dogs. If you bring a new puppy into the household, there must be supervised introductions as well as letting the youngest know who ruled the roost before they arrived. Most puppies are very submissive and will follow the lead of the older, established dog. Be careful not to shower the pup with too much affection at the cost of the older dog or the long-time resident may act out with undesirable behavior like chewing or “marking” the house.

 In my experience I have owned many males and females together, but my personal favorite is to own one male and one female. Having one of each sex seems to compliment each other. Many times bitches don’t get along or dogs don’t get along and then again sometimes they do. But in my observations the one of each pairing seems to create the most harmony. At least in my house!

 

Dear Lisa: How many litters are too many for one dog? I met this lady yesterday who has her female on the 6th or 7th litter. Granted, the dog is old enough to have this many litters, but I am curious if there are any noticeable characteristics in a puppy from the 6th or 7th litter compared to one from the first litter. I want to purchase a stud dog from her and need to know if this is a problem. – Selecting a Stud

Dear Stud: Canine reproduction is a wonderful thing. If dogs weren’t mean to have multiple litters then Mother Nature would have not created the bitches that way. My first brood bitch had five litters in her lifetime. I bred her from the time she was two-years-old until she was six-years-old. She certainly could have had another litter at age 7 with no harm done.

As far as noticeable characteristics from different litters that would really depend on the stud dog. I planned various litters with different goals in mind for my bitch. I was trying to improve her bone structure, or lengthen her legs or increase the wedge-shape of her head in each of her litters.

Quality Over Quantity

I would be less worried about how many puppies a certain bitch had and more concerned with does the breeder conduct health screenings on her breeding stock before planning a litter. Certainly, the quality of the pups does not diminish with the number of litters a bitch has whelped. In fact, one of my top winning dogs came out of that fifth litter from my foundation bitch, and it was a repeat breeding of a really special stud dog.

 By doing your research ahead of time, you can find out what tests are routine for your breed and inquire if the breeder tests for these.

By working with a breeder, and making her your mentor, you will find yourself in good hands.

 

Lisa Peterson is the director of club communications at the American Kennel Club, 260 Madison Avenue, New York, New York, 10016. Send questions to lxp@akc.org.