Young puppies changing gender? - Page 1

Greetings all, As some of you may know, from my last litter of 14 puppies (From a Golden Retriever) I had a count of 10 FEMALES and only 4 MALES, I also had my mother on hand incase I needed supplies while I was whelping the litter. I did a recount after 9 hours of labor, and then I had my mother do another recount (three counts, THREE) And in the morning, I woke up checked all of the puppies, and get this, the count had changed! 14 puppies, but this time, 7 FEMALES and 7 MALES, and I kid you not, the night before, they either had a penis or a vulva, there was NO question. I have heared of this happening in ONLY ONE other time, with an English Springer Spaniel, with a litter of 6 (the first count was 5 girls, one boy, and it changed to 3 girls, 3 boys, notice again, a perfectly even litter) Are these the only two cases we will ever hear of? Has this weird stroke of nature ever happened to anyone else? PLEASE NOTE: First it was MY opinion (I have been breeding for 6 years, I know the difference between a penis and a vulva) and my mother, who had been breeding for three years. Can anyone explain this? Krista blueskyekennels@msn.com

Erm... Changing gender is a bit of a ridiculous thought, but newly born things can be really wrinkled and/or wet so the skin isn't 100% yet what it should be, so what would look like a girl's may actually be a guy's. I had this happen to me before with a litter of what I thought was two girls, I even went so far as to put a collar around one so I could tell who was who in the morning...turned out to be a guy and a girl a little later. Remember too all the anticipation waiting for the pups and you were probably too tired while checking them out...

I'm waiting for an explaination too.Be checking back shortly,lol.

Maybe mistaking the umbilical cord for something? Maybe dog ate three females and had 3 more males? Not really feasible, but hey, neither is changing sex when you're not looking.... Glad they straightened themselves out before you sold them. ;)

The idea that I was exausted did cross my mind...but it wasn't my opinion alone, it was my mother's as well. But yes, it probably was wrinkly skin, but still, how could you miss the penis? I still find its really weird, and have actually heared a name for it "peak penis" Don't know, it wasn't me that created the name...again, very strange, sci-fiy kind of stuff! VomFelsenHof, sorry to say, but I witnessed the whole whelp, from start to finish. I even gave an oxytocin shot, and the contractions stopped, I took the girl out for a walk, and her stomach area was completely flat, there were no pups left in her, so that makes it even more weird...wish that could've been the explanation, not some little "transgender" puppies, lol!

Wierd things can happen, although this is a bit 'far out'. I do know that you can have a sheep that is male and female. They have both a penis and vulva. There is a name for it too..can't remmember it though. I have not experienced this but a freind had one.

It happens on newborn colts too. The penis doesn't drop right away, and it will look as though there is no penis. But a few hours and things begin to "drop". It's embarrassing to tell friends that your mare has had a filly...then...a day later.....oops, sorry folks! it was a colt! Makes for a real real red face!!!!!

no they don't change gender. You either mistook the umbilicus for a penis, or the anus for a vulva - either way it was a mistake in the first few counts. I'm sure it happens. molly

blueskykennels, you have got to be kidding, spoofing here, no? Do you have a webb site? Do you breed any other breed besides Golden Retreiver such as GSDs and/or other breeds too? Perhaps you could contact others on a Golden Retreiver site and find out if they have had this problem. I've never heard of any such thing in regards to GSD puppies.

Winnie, It's called Hemaphrodite. spelling may be off.