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By Pam Edge

The Beginning
I’ve always loved helping my family on the ranch.  My favorite part was watching the cows deliver their calves.  There were several times we had to help with the delivery.  These experiences instilled in me a love for life and a respect for death.

Gathering Information
As an adult, I teach.  One day, one of my students brought in her yorkie.  The moment I held the dog, I was in love.  Several months later I bought my first yorke.  It was at that time I had an inkling of becoming a breeder.  Since I knew breeding was very involved, I asked a local breeder to allow me to work with her.  For almost two years, I learned and learned and learned.  Finally, I started my own program.  What a huge responsibility and blessing!  For anyone wanting to breed their dogs please be responsible.  Unless you have spent lots of time researching and experiencing the joys and pitfalls, please do not breed.  There is so much more involved than what is thought.

My Yorkie and Biewer Breeding Program
In my program, I demand a few things.  Every dam and sire must be part of my family.  They must be held, walked, and not caged.  The adult yorkies and Biewers are part of a family.  There are several families that are extensions of my program.  Meaning, some of the dams or sires live with them, so every dog, adult or newborn, receives daily love and attention.

What Happens When the Diamond Yorkies are Born?
I love watching my newborn yorkies and Biewers.  The care dams provide their pups reminds me of a human mom’s devotion.  Each mom, either two-legged or four-legged, tends to every need of the newborn. Since I started breeding yorkies and Biewers, I’ve noticed the same type of behavior and traits.  The following information is from my observations and experiences.

I know the puppies are coming when my dam begins organizing her bedding.  She wants a warm and safe area to place her puppies.  A chilled puppy is an almost certain death sentence. Knowing this, I like to help my dams by setting up a whelping box.  I make sure there is a warm area and plenty of bedding.   Instinctively, the newborns move towards their mom.  These blind creatures scoot around like little inch worms. 

In this fashion, the puppies migrate to the mother’s body for warmth and milk.  Sometimes the puppies scoot all over their mom until they finally discover the teat.  Once drinking, the puppy pushes their little paws into their mom.  This causes the milk to "come down" and flow faster. 

Since the mother provides the puppies their entire diet, I give her extra nutrients and care.  I sit with her and tell her she is good mommy.  I even play classical music in the nursery.  I want the nursery to be a happy place.

Typically, I weigh the yorkies and Biewers puppies daily.  If the puppy is gaining weight, they are getting enough food.  If not, I supplement with a bottle and puppy milk. 

The puppies eat, sleep, and poop which is just like human babies.  With yorkies newborns, what goes in ….comes out; however, with puppies, the mother must stimulate the puppies to use the restroom.  She does this by licking the puppy.  The licking does several things.  One – the puppy’s potty.  Two – the puppies move around and exercise.  Three – mom’s licking is like a little hug, and it calms the yorkie or Biewer puppy.

Within several weeks, the yorkies or Biewers open their eyes.  It’s about this time, one of the puppies may emit a little bark.  It is the tiniest little bark which makes me laugh.  The puppy tries to look tough, and it reminds me of Sylvester Stallon as a cartoon character.

Another week passes and the puppies walk like pros.  I add ground, water-softened dog food to their play area.  Primarily, the puppy’s intake will be mother’s milk, but I like them to taste the dog food.  To them, it’s a foreign substance.  The taste and food’s texture is something the yorkies and Biewers must learn to eat.

In addition to the food, I add a pee pad to the play area.  The pad has been scented with urine.  I can’t smell it, but my puppies sure can.  The yorkies and Biewers amble to the pad and take care of “business”.   This is the beginning of potty training.  

People who have never watched yorkies and Biewers play are missing a treat. The puppies jump, tumble, romp, flop, and run.  They growl, bark, and make alien noises.  My family and I watch the puppies instead of television. 

This is the point when I begin socializing the puppies.  They spend time in a variety of locations.  The interaction in different locations allows the puppies to become acclimated to a variety of sounds and smells.  Socializing does not necessarily mean only sounds and smells.  It’s also touch.  I don’t want the puppies to shake when they are held, so I massage their necks, backs and little paws.  My children take turns doing the same thing to them.  By the time, our yorkies and Biewers go to their forever home, they are ready to play and love their families.

This is only a small window into your puppy’s beginning at Diamond Yorkies - When you want to raise the very best.. 

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