litter size - Page 1

If a females first litter is only 2 or 3 puupies, is this a good indicator of future litters? Or are their other factors? Thank you

It can depend on a lot of things, including if she was bred at the proper (fertile) time of her heat or not. Also, if the dog was shipped while pregnant, you can lose pups (and not all of them!) due to reabsorbption of the fetuses by the dam under stress. Age is another factor. (older dogs often have less pups) One other thing I can think of at the moment is sperm count in the male. Some males are bred to more than one female during the same time period. This gives small litters or no litters, often. I would try (if possible) breeding her every day or every other day (on the next heat that you decide to breed her on) as long as she is standing for the male. This will ensure that you get a good idea of whether she just has small litters or if there was something else that might have contributed. Be happy with 2-3 puppies so long as they are healthy! :) Good luck.

as what VomFelsenHof said... it all depends.. Personally I would rather have my future bitches produce small litters than big ones... that way the bitch doesn't have to be totally drained out and look as of she hasn't been eating for a while.

One of my bitches had 3 puppies in her first litter, 9 in the 2nd, 11 in the 3rd. Another had 3,3,1.

Brittany, please do share your wealth of experience on this with us?!? Details, please. Don't omit a single detail. *** Litter size can vary from litter to litter at any time. Lots of factors that influence litter size. Time the bitch was bred, how frequently she cycles and how much time between heats, how fertile was the male, did she have stress after breeding, was she in tiptop shape, were there any possible health concerns, age, previous c-sections, food, were there any still born pups, and a ton of other things... Litter size is not predictable. If it only was that easy :o).

All very excellent comments. You can also look at the perdigree and see how many were in the litter that she came from. Sometimes this can be a general indicator of the size litter that the bitch will produce.

D.H., you're nut's, I like it in you! ROFLMAO

GSK9, there are a lot of factors. A bitch has two (2) "horns" of her uterus, and each is capable of producing puppies. Were fertile ovum present in each horn? Did healthy sperm reach each horn at the proper time? Gee, how can any of us know what we cannot see. For example, one (1) older bitch of mine: First litter done at the age of three (3) years by A.I. due to her hostlity towards the stud=ten (10) puppies. Second litter done by one (1) natural breeding (same stud) at the age of four (4) years=eleven (11) puppies. Final attempt for a third litter before retirement=zero (0) puppies, even after a progesterone level test and four (4) successful ties over six (6) days with a male known to be fertile. I blamed the last failure to produce on stress, as she was away from our home for four (4) weeks but seemed to acclimate herself well at the other kennel and remained there for two (2) weeks after the breedings. It may have not been stress at all, as she may have failed to ovulate even though the progesterone test said otherwise. She may have aborted the litter shortly after conception. She is healthy, brucellosis-negative, and recieved the same type of nutrition that she always did. Who knows? Since I am retiring her from any further breeding and she will soon recieve a hysterectomy I am not concerned. I think that from two (2) to three (3) puppies is absolutely normal, whether it is a first litter or a fourth litter. There are so many variables other than the only one that we usually quantify-the sperm count of the stud. Bob-O