Culling a litter? - Page 1

I have heard of some breeders who "cull" litters, but myself, have never done it. I was wondering, if one HAD to cull a litter, or "eliminate" a puppy, due to health problems, what would be the easiest way? I have heard some cruel-seeming methods, but then the humane one I had heard of, drowning the puppy in warm water, it still sounds bad! Is there a humane way to do this, if you absoulutly must? In my 6 years I have never had to do it (thank god, I'd cry my eyes out!) but if a puppy is born with a birth defect, that would not sort itself out, such as being deformed, and the pups life wouldn't be as enjoyable as the others, then it seems to be nessisary, so how, KEEPING HUMAIN IN MIND, would one cull a litter?

Krista, the most humane way would be the way that it is normally done-via injection. I have been fortunate to never have a puppy born with a serious deformity that would affect the quality of its life, and I never had to do this. Normally when the term "cull" is used to separate a litter, it essentially means to separate the good from those less than good, and ensure the latter are spayed or neutered so they cannot reproduce or be shown. Whether the life of the culled puppy is extinguished is a personal decision; but if the puppy is suitable for a pet home then this option should never be necessary. In my opinion a breeder must take responsibility for what he/she produces, and be willing to provide a lifetime of care for a puppy who may have minor deformities and/or conformation issues that prevent the puppy from being sold to even a pet home. Most of the good, and many of the best dogs still go to pet homes who will never work, show, or title the dog; but what is wrong with that? As long as people provide a good home for the dog then there should be no concern. I have produced an ugly puppy. His ears did not stand and his tail was crooked. His temperament was decent, and he had some drive. I kept him until he was past one (1) year of age as I could not sell him, but instead gave him to a farmer who needed a spirited dog to keep coyotes from his property. As far as I know this dog is still doing well. He was given away without any paperwork, and with the understanding that he should be neutered. One has to be careful about culling dogs, though. A handful of conformation champions appeared over the years after they were not deemed suitable by their new owners and returned. Perhaps the most famous of these dogs was VA-1 Zamb von der Wienerau. Bob-O

I also have never had to cull a puppy from a litter but have given it some thought as to how to do it. I can tell you ,I have seen drowning and I don't have the stomach to do that. They gurgle. Not pretty. If the bitch knows there is a health problem...and she will...she will take care of business,just let her. If it is something where the puppy is in obvious pain I would be tempted to just put it to sleep.

Culling a litter does not necessarily mean killing the puppies, Krista. Many breeders I know use that term for "grading" their litters and removing the obvious pets from their breeding programs. Those puppies are placed in pets homes, not killed unless they are suffering from some sort of horrible deformity or illness that would not allow them to lead normal lives. If there is a puppy that requires euthanasia, no matter what age, I would have it humanely put to sleep by a vet. Cull literally means "something picked out for rejection as not being up to standard". Somehow that word has been spun around to mean to kill rejected puppies and those breeders who say they cull their litters are misunderstood and it's asuumed they kill their rejects. I suppose some do, but no one I know does that unless there is a hopeless case and then they don't do it with their own hands, they take the whelp to the vet.

I have been enjoying the German Shepherd breed for a very long time now and have had a few litters...One of the very first litters had a pup in it that had no pallet in it's mouth and I had to put it down...Being new to it at the time I drowned it and cried the entire time I was doing it...I don't think there's ever a good time or a good feeling about doing this...The only thing that is satisfying about it is that it will put a poor little soul out of it's misery before it has a real chance to feel too much pain...I feel that doing this is the same feeling I get when I have to put down an ailing dog that has lived a long life...I haven't had to do this again but am willing if the need arises...

"Euthanasia" is the definition of "kind death" It is not painful the drug used is the same as used for us in surgery, just massive concentration and overdose is given the animal, They go to sleep all else follows, Death does not occur until after the animal is render unconcious. THEY DON'T KNOW.

I have noticed when a bitch rejects a newborn it's best to let it die. My wife intervened twice andboth times wish we had not. Anyone observed this?

I had a litter of 9 pups and the Mother actually ate one of the pups right after it was born. It freaked me out, but she didn't do it to any other pup in that litter or her second litter.I figure she new what she was doing. I didn't even have time to see if it was alive or not.

DesertRangers I have. We had a litter about 3-4 years ago now. My female is an excellent mother, but we as human think we know what is best and we step in. I saved this young puppy and a friend (at the time) bottle fed it and raised it as her own. This was her first shepherd and everyone got attached to him. Well around 6 months of age I get a call that they are at the vet and about a week later the puppy was put down Liver/kindney failure. We all took it hard but when one bottle feeds a puppy there is great bond. My husband and I offered to pay the vet bills but she was too proud.(sign) Sadly our friendship ended shortly after. Not only did I lose a puppy but a friend too... never again. So I vowed that if my females ever pushed one away it is her way of telling me there is something wrong that I do not see and to trust her.

I have seen it too, But could NEVER just let it die, If a mother in the shelter pushes a puppy or kitten away, I will try to get going again, But if in an hour it's away again, I remove them and Euthanize, Much kinder than "Just letting it die" who knows how painful, cold, and lonely that would be for them ? could never stand the thought of that, quick and painless Euthanasia ONLY way to go in those situations.