No intention of breeding but wanted to ask a question anyway....

When mating a bitch I gather it is done over several days?
If she becomes pregnant.....and comes time to deliver....
Can one or more pups be several days later than the others...or can some eggs be fertilized on say day one....and some on say day 4 (or whatever)?

And if so do the pups made at the later mating have any developmental disadvantages? Say being weaker or maybe account for litters sometimes having smaller and weaker runty ones or pups who fail to thrive?

if the questions are silly please forgive me....but I am only curious :-)

I'm sure that someone far more experienced than me will come on later.   But - my experience,,

Pups are not, (or haven't been for me), born several days apart.  I usually mate a girl twice, 2 days apart, when it's to an outside stud.  When I've used my own boy to a bitch of my own that is compatible, I let them tell me when they're ready, and normally let them mate once a day for 3 days.  I have had litters with one smaller than the others, and assumed it was conceived on the 3rd day, but never had a problem with it being particularly weak. 

Although emphasis is always made on ensuring the tiny pup gets to the teats, I find that they are normally very strong, and crawl over the rest to nose their way in.  I have never been unlucky enough to lose the small one, and it's never been runty, or a bad feeder, so perhaps I've just been lucky.

No the questions aren't silly.  And everybody on CD will have different experiences to tell, I'm positive I've read on here that people have had a pup born a day or two after the others, it's just not happened to any of my bitches.  I have had a girl tie after I thought she was well finished - and it was at least a week after her supervised mating.  No problems with the litter that was born, and I honestly don't think that she conceived from the last sneaky mating.  Any swelling had totally gone, and I think she was just being a tart.

Even if there are 2 or 3 mating 2 or 3 days apart the eggs are ready to implant at the same time so the sperm from all the mating that are viable at the time the womb is ready to accept the ripe and fertilised eggs are the ones that go to produce a whelp. So it is the bitch that decides the moment the pups start growing not the day of the mating. Well that is how I have always understood it although there may be say a 24 hour period or more when the womb is receptive.

I have mated bitches over a period of up to 6 days.

The eggs are released and fertilised over about 48 hours maximum anyway so the difference in development is down to position and nutrition in the uterus.

The fertilised eggs growing into puppies are free floating until about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks after fertilisation at which stage they implant along the uterine horns.  Many more eggs are likely to be fertilised than manage to implant and go on to make placentas.

The longest I personally know of live deliveries being. delayed is a day and a half, when a freind had a surprise pup after the whelping was confirmed.

I've heard (although no experiance) that most pups, even if concieved a couple of days apart, will normally whelp all puppies at the same time but you may notice some are smaller.

But as said the bitch released the eggs and the sperm can live for afew days so it's all down to te bitch :)

I had one bitch almost 23 yrs that came to my stud dog was mated twice and collected some 3 days later, unfortunately the day she was collected my male decided she 'needed' another servicing, broke thru our back door and a 20 ft up and over garage door!  Won't tell you what the bill was like for the damage AND his broken leg when they were tied and she sat down, needless to say we weren't home to prevent any of this occurring, nevertheless said bitch was indeed inwhelp. 

I had my 2nd chilld on 30th May whilst the bitch had a litter of 5 puppies on 4th June, vet checked all was well but vet thought she was consitpated so left 'something' to help healong.  I then received another call on 7th June to tell me the same bitch had cleared her constipation by delivering a further 4 puppies during the night of 6th, as I knew their vet from our farming days I rang to check with him and sure enough he'd been out to her during the night for agitation!

schip did the last 4 pups live ? wow thats amazing !!.

yep all pups survived, I've only got photos as I was based at RAF H Ely at the time but some friends of ours with USAF Mildenhall had one of the males from this litter who lived till he was 13.  I was very skeptical until I spoke to the vet  who surmised she had 2 litters one in each horn hence the delay between each whelp with no obvious health issue for mother or pups - must admit I'd forgotten all about them lol.

I've only got photos as I was based at RAF H Ely

I was born there :-) many, many moons ago :-0

So was my youngest lol, May 86 and her twin brother was cremated there with his ashes spread in the roses outside the maternity ward patio doors, not been back for years!

Bittersweet memories for you then Schip.