Pregnancy Care & Large Litter (10+ puppies) - Page 2

Contrary to what some may think, "real' GSD's aren't ready to kick the bucket at just 8 years of age. IMO, that's something that should NOT be happening.

One of my girls made it to 14 1/2. Though she was spayed, I'm sure she would have had no trouble mothering puppies at 8 years!   

 I have a friend who's into breeding Cardigans, and have learned a lot from her. With large litters, one of the most important things is to make sure each pup is developing properly, and not getting pushed away from the teats. The best way to do this is to record daily weights. If a pup is loosing ground, you'll need to supplement with formula. Some breeders even swap the puppies around every few hours to make sure each gets a fair share. Or, you could try to do what they often do in Germany: find a foster bitch to nurse some of the pups. 

Often a bitch will get tired whelping a large litter, and may need a shot of oxytocin to help her along. Many breeders give this as a matter of course, to clean the bitch out once she's finished. One of the biggest dangers with large litters is a retained pup. Often the pup dies, and this can result in infection. If you've any doubts she's finished, take her to the vet for an x-ray/examination.

I wish you the best of luck! 

My last GSD was going on 15 years when he gave it up as well.  In fact, he was running up a mountain with us, and my partner and I had to carry him back down.  His heart was in the hike, but his old legs just gave out. 

He was on the smaller size of GSD, always very lean, too - and I've often wondered if those physical characteristics helped him live healthier longer. 

delcruz

What on earth is wrong from breeding from an 8 year old female, if she is healthy and in good condition, For instance where does the age bit come into it, it is like saying that a woman getting on 38 to 40 should not have a child if she is able to if she is healthy there is no reason not too

Species does not come into it i have an old hen pigeon a true long distance champion racer, who is 15 years old she had a fertile egg this year, The young one grew healthy, to me i would not swap it for 20ozs of Gold, for me to keep the lines intact it is worth that much and it shows the longevity in the strain or family

Hens normally stop laying at about 8 to 9 years old on average

Plus the mother of my coming Pup is pregant and she is well into seventh year

k9 good luck to your  female and i am sure  the pups turn out great

Steve

To help answer to OP's question, I have had quite a few litters with 8-10 puppies. The only difference between a large litter and a smaller one is being diligent when it comes to watching them and making sure everyone gets ample time at the buffet. With a large litter is not uncommon for one or two to be smaller, so I just keep a close eye on them, and when the rest are full and sleeping I put them on a back nipple and make sure they get a chance to nurse until they can nurse no more. I do this several times a day until about 2 weeks old. I have never had to do more than that.

FWIW I don't think a last litter at 8 years old is a crime. The fact she is having a "biggie" proves her body feels capable as well.

I would be feeding her 3x/day now, she may require even more but smaller meals as she gets bigger and the pups take up all the room in there, especially if she is smaller framed. Sometimes with larger litters mom does get tired and sometimes the contractions aren't as effective and she might do fine for a while and deliver puppies then slow down or even quit-so have your vet aware when you start whelping so that they can be ready if a c-section is needed. If you think she's hungry now wait until she's feeding all those puppies-she will require a huge amount of food. When mine had 9 she was eating 5x/day by the time they were 2 weeks old. I also did daily weights and rotation to the biggest nipples at the milk bar-never needed supplementation. But I did introduce food to the pups at 3 weeks as mom does get tired.  Unlike a small litter, mom never get a break;there is always a group nursing. She started wanting to spend more time out in the yard during her potty breaks and they were being vocal about wanting to eat and would "attack" her when she returned and they were doing some damage with those little needle teeth and nails (I cut them all the time). Once I started them on food they weren't as aggressive and she was much happier to spend more time with them nursing. I feed raw and she had so much milk, it would drip all over them as they would jump up and try to nurse. Good luck and get your sleep now!

Jo Ann

Not a breeder but a whelper helper.

On the litters I have helped with we per the Reproduction Speciality Vet gave Ice Cream in between pups.  The Calcium helps keep the contractions going, the liquid helps keep the bitch from getting dehydrated and the sugar content helps keep the energy level up.  A couple of decent size table spoons or about 1/4 cup.

Some people use goats milk with honey, but we used Vanilla Ice Cream, not the diet kind, but the stuff with real sugar.

Val

Feeding 3 times a day 2 cups each feeding....at first she's almost inhale the food but now will leave 1 or 2 meals in the bowl each day. So I am going to cut back to 3 meals of 1 cup each plus the Vertex & Structure supplement in the morning.

She has also decided that MY plate of food is sooooo much better than her bowl of dog food. Should I be concerned?

She's drinking 3-5 large bowls of water per day with multiple "potty" breaks thru-out the day & night and have just started a 1/4 mile walk at night in addition to our "play" sessions of fetch.

Hi k9sar06,

If you do spay her, wait until all her pups have gone to their new homes & she is getting back into shape,

then have her spayed, DO NOT spay her if she has a problem and needs to get an emergency C-section,

She could very well bleed to death, always best to spay when they are not in heat, or not in the process

of whelping a litter, too many enlarged blood vessels to close and some may be overlooked,

Just food for thought........

like others have stated, weigh pups daily, if they are growing well and gaining good weight they should be fine, I would start offering gruel and goats milk at around 3 weeks, try to get them onto other foods as quickly as possible.  I like using goats milk over puppy milk replacer, I by the myenberg brand which can be found in most stores in the baking area.

with my big litter, at least twice a day I would remove 1/2 a litter to make sure the other 1/2 would get enough to eat, mark them with collars or ribbon, then next time I remove that 1/2 and make sure the others got to eat their fill.  Mom produced more than enough to feed everyone, I was just making sure 1 or 2 pups weren't being pushed away at all times.  and as soon as I felt teeth coming in, I started them on gruel and goats milk.

I would give mom what ever she wanted.  Do you feed kibble or raw?  You can buy 10 lbs of chicken leg quarters at WalMart for $6.  I would give her at least 2 a day along with whatever else you were feeding.  cottage cheese, or plain yogurt for calcium too.

the problem with big litters is the cleanup.  making sure everything is kept picked up so coccidia doesn't get started.

Feeding Dry Kibble plus Vertex & Structure Supplements plus 1 daily Tablespoon of yogurt

Vertex Supplement: Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein 24%
Crude Fat 24%
Crude Fiber 4%
Moisture 5%

Ingredients: Maltodextrin, Whole Dried Egg, Whey Protein Concentrate, Poultry Liver Hydrolysate, Canola Oil, Olive Oil, Flax Oil, Flax Seed Meal, Spirulina, Chlorella, Alfalfa Powder, Kelp Powder, Pumpkin Powder, MSM, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Chondroitin Sulfate, Sodium Ascorbate, (Vit C) Calcium Citrate, Calcium Carbonate, L-leucine, L-isoleucine, L-valine, Salmon Oil, L-glutamine, Mixed Tocopherols, (Vit E) Potassium Chloride, Trace Minerals, Lutein, Micro Algae (Asaxanthin), Ginseng Root Powder, L-carnitine, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Lactobacillus Lactis, Bifido Bacterium Bifidus, Biotin.

Structure Supplement: Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein 28% minimum
Crude Fat 28% minimum
Crude Fiber 3% minimum
Moisture 5% minimum

Ingredients: Dried whole egg, dried egg yolks, maltoDextrin (glucose polymers), dried skim milk, dried whey protein, safflower oil, canola oil, olive oil, calcium citrate, calcium carbonate, sodium ascorbate (Vit C) d alpha topherol, (Vit E) lactobacilium acidopilus, biotin.