Litter Limits - Page 1

I occasionally browse over to the website for the breeder where I got my last pup to see what he's up to and check out his program. One reason why is because I'm frequently asked where I got my girl and I am cautious to blindly recommend a breeder just because my particular litter seemed like a good one.

This particular breeder typically keeps four breeding females, though he's always seemed to stagger breeding so that no more than two litters are "on the ground" at once. I was surprised (and disappointed) to see that he's advertising all four as expecting litters within a few weeks of each other.

Perhaps I'm being judgmental, but it's just him and his wife and unless he's retired from his "day job" he's not a full time breeder. That leads me wonder - and ask our forum breeders- what's your opinion on the number of litters or better- the number of puppies, one can (should?) correctly raise at a given time?

 

EDIT- btw, here's a link to his website-

I removed the link I do not want this to be a bashfest against your breeder

Western rider

To me, it really depends on the time and how the female bounces back. Without seeing if the females are titled/show rated I can’t make a judgment on the breeder himself and his practices. If all the females are breedworthy, all are healthy, sometimes timing works out that all the females come into heat and there are stud dogs to breed them to. Sometimes we only have access to certain stud dogs for a limited time as they are in the United States on loan and people jump on the opportunity to breed to them.

If the females are all being bred to the same stud dog…says more about the breeder’s lack of ability or caring IMO than having 4 litters on the ground at the same time does. If the females are all separated, no one gets hurt, it’s not a big deal…just a lot of work.

Could possibly come in handy if any female is having issues with nursing or raising her puppies though, just throw the others in with the other females instead of having to take care of them yourself.

I do think its a huge risk to breed that many dogs if you're just part time and don't really have a following. 30-40 puppies is a lot to sell in a short amount of time...but I don't know the breeder, don't know the quality, and don't know exactly who they're selling to. Easier to sell $800 puppies out of untitled bitches than it is to sell $1500 puppies from proven lines these days.

For me, no more than 2. But ONLY if they are staggered, one is still in the whelping box, other is old enough to take out and socialize.
It wouldn't cause me any grief to wait to breed one female her next cycle if I had two in heat at the same time.
I have done 3 litters at one time(NOT mine!) without working a job and it was absolute hell.
$400 puppies, or $2000 puppies, they still are(should be) the same amount of work.

To me it's an easy answer...The answer is do you have enough time and energy to properly take care of 1...2...or more litters...
I usually only have 1 litter a year...One time I had 2 litters almost at the same time...It's A LOT of work and difficult to take care of along with still taking care of my other dogs in my kennel...
You also have to have the right set-up so you can have proper places to keep the puppies...To begin with the Whelping Box...then you have to have someplace more appropriate...
The first 2 to 3 weeks are easy...mama takes care of the puppies but you still need to handle them and make sure everything's ok...then the work begins when YOU have to feed them and begin to socialize them...IT'S A LOT OF WORK...A LOT OF TIME...

Well, I tried to provide a link to the breeders site so readers would be able to see his operation. He has some nice pics of his kennel and his dogs. I guess the admins on this site don't have much faith in me or most of the posters, because they edited my original post and removed the link. I'm not trying to bash anybody. I'm just looking for opinions.

Very disappointed to have my post edited.

It would have been easy for you to POST the pictures if you want others to see a  nice setup etc and not put another person in the line of fire.  So post picture you think are informative to you topic but be sure not to post anothers name. 

You already set the tone with your comment of not being judgmental about what they decided to do 

You say we did not have faith in our members and that is for VERY good reason.  

You have any more comments to make about what an Admin does or not please follow the TOS for the site and PM us do not put it on the board.

OP
Is your dog in the pdb? Do you own her outright? If so I would love to see her pedigree. Please provide a link to her pedigree here on the db. Thanks

Re the original question - at most two staggered especially if there is only 1 or 2 people available FT to care for the dogs. If done right (and it should be both for puppies and purchasers), it is a lot of exhausting work. As much as breeders love pups usually by 8-10 weeks they are thankful the pups are off to good homes.

As noted above selling 4 litters at a time might be a problem also and IF it is then the breeder needs to have the ability and facilities to separate and pair off the litter by about 10 to 12 weeks of age at the latest. Number of problems raising a pack of pups as they age - dominance, fighting, tendency in later life to bond to other dogs not humans plus generally in that situation they are also not getting the socialization to people, place and things and other animals that is so critical at those ages.

You only want opinions !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You name the breeder and post a topic about them to take opinion on their breeding practices !!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY? Did they do you any wrong? No, so why post about them?!!!!!!!!!!!
This is no taking opinions, this is bullshit, shame on you and people like you

Like I said, to me there are a lot of other things I care more about than the amount of litters the breeder might have on the ground. There are a ton of variables with that as well because they might have co-ownership agreements for some of the bitches and so the puppies might be raised by other people and not on their grounds. Does 4 litters sound like a lot? Sure...but what if you get small litters...then it gets easier. If the breeder is willing to put in the work, who am I to judge them for having the amount of litters?

It's also my opinion that puppies don't have to be overly handled or socialized. A little interaction with people works wonders and you don't have to over do it if the dog's genetics are good and the puppies are stable. It's a lot of work, a lot of food, and a huge time commitment, but I'm not the one making it and personally wouldn't make a time commitment like that. My biggest worry would be what happens if not all the puppies get sold and they do have to keep them. But again...not my problem and I don't really know the exact plans for the litters.

 

I do believe it's smart to remove the breeder's name and site from the post though. You probably would've seen people start picking apart everything BUT the amount of litters they're planning on having. It's disrespectful and unnecessary.

Come visit Iraq for a few days to see how breeders are helping the world be a safer place to live in, and say thank you breeders for your contribution instead of bashing them for breeding 3 or 4 litters at a time, if they can handle those litters what is your problem? If their dogs are healthy and produce dogs capable of doing good work then what is your problem? If they have enough customers to buy the pups, what is your problem? Why name the breeder in the first place? Is it about the breeder or about fearing for the puppies?
That is just not good and not nice, really