size of puppies

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by Laris on 19 July 2007 - 18:07

I am having a 6-day old litter of 4 puppies out of my bitch with Yak Frankengold. This is my 6th litter and I have been recording the weight of each puppy daily religiously. The weights of the puppies are the heaviest of all my breeding, partly my fault of overfeeding the bitch. At birth they average 580 grams, compared to my previous litter of 270 grams to 460 grams. Now at 6-day old, they weigh as much as 1,070 grams (2 Ib 4 oz) compared to the previous litter of 8 (also sired by Yak) of around 550 grams at 6-day old. They gain as much as 12% daily. From what I see, they have good bone mass, no indigestion, the puppies are obviously contented since they are not making any complaints. All my previous litters (out of 2 bitches) grown up to be medium size dogs, males around 62cm and females around 58cm which is one of my aim for breeding. My bitch is medium size (daughter of Kevin Murrtal) but Yak Frankengold is probably on the borderline of being over size? My concern is that would the large puppies grow up to be over size at this rate of growth? Should I slow down the rate of growth by reducing the quantity of food for the lactating bitch? Thanks.

by DKiah on 19 July 2007 - 20:07

How much are you feeding her?? If you tell me in grams, I am lost.... cups, pounds.. can you do that??

What was the birthweight of these puppies.. they should double their birthweight in a week to 10 days..not sure I would ever cut back on a nursing mothers food to slow the growth of the puppies, especially so early after delivery.. would maybe keep her away just a tiny bit ?? She should be eating 2 - 3 times her normal ration of food plus additivies....

Are they able to move around, are they nice and round and not flat??

Hope this helps....

by djc on 19 July 2007 - 22:07

I would not worry about such young puppies. I have had the largest puppies in the litter turn out to be the smallest when they are older and vice versa. Time will tell. I have heard some working people advice to take the largest puppy because it probably has the most food drive! lol Don't know if that is true or not, but it makes sence!

The bitch should be fed as much as she wants to eat within reason. If you don't give her enough food she may dry up.

Good luck!

Debby

ebinezer052899@yahoo.com castlebrookshepherds.net/enter.html

by Blitzen on 19 July 2007 - 23:07

Agree with Debby, I've had puppies weighing 2 lbs at birth that were average sized as adults. One of my smallest puppies weighed 125 lbs at maturity; this was a breed that called for males to weight 85 lbs. It's all in the genes so you can't make a puppy larger than it is genetically programmed to be, just fatter, and the only way to keep them smaller is to deprive them nutritionally which I'm sure you don't want to do. Basically, it's out of your control, so relax .

by Laris on 20 July 2007 - 01:07

DKSiah "How much are you feeding her?? If you tell me in grams, I am lost.... cups, pounds.. can you do that??" I feed raw, mummy is getting around 1 lb of bone and 1.5 lb of lung/liver/veg/egg/cornmeal mix now, she gets half of that when not pregnant, and 3 to 4 times more than normal during the 2nd/3rd/4th week of nursing. At birth, the pups weigh 1 lb 4 oz. Now that I know Blitzen has puppies weighing 2 lb at birth, I am relieved! Yes, they are nice and round and cuddly Thank you all.

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