long time reader first time poster question about litters - Page 1

Does litter size matter? I am thinking of getting a gsd does the size of the litter have anything to do with the quality of the dog I see many people that have litters with one or two pups.

Sometimes the best dog for you is born in a small litter.  Pups in small litters often have way more socialization and contact than a really big litter...just more lovin' to go around :-)   More milk also!  The only problem with a bitch from small litters is that often bitches reproduce as their mothers did.  If the bitch's mother had large litters, than the daughter will also.  If the mother had small litters, the daughter will also.  That's only a sort of breeder's rule of thumb, not always true.  Veronica

Thank you Does the age of the mother have anything to do with the quality of the dog? What about the quality of whelping?

How many times should a female be bred, Can you over breed a female?

Would you think it was strange that all the breeders litters are small? using different females and still having litters of 1 and 2 pups?

Thank you in advance for answering my questions. I just want to be well informed before i make a decision.

Your best course is to get a couple of references from the breeder your looking at that have actually purchased puppies from that breeder and see what they have to say.  Also ask for the breeders vet reference.  Then you will get the straight facts you are looking for from the horses mouth.  Other wise you probably will get general comments that might not pertain to the situation you are looking at.

Best of luck

Veronica answear is right on. But age of a breeding pair matters as well.

Litter size alone should not effect the quality of a pup.    Veronica may be right about daughters inheriting large or small litters from their mothers tho.    Some dogs are good producers and some are not. 

What do you want to raise?

A good bitch, a breeder should not have small litters of 2 or 4 in my opinion.  

A bitch should not have to raise more than eight in my opinion.  

Everyones gonna have a different opinion on this one.

Litter size is just one aspect of the total genetic picture, in that I guess it does have something to do with quality.   Just not in the way your thinking.

Moons.