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Topic Dog Boards / Breeding / Small litter
- By Hazenaide [gb] Date 14.03.15 15:12 UTC
Just curious and as my girl is on day 55 2nd mating now and just waiting and wondering. If a bitch has  a small litter for the breed, In this case 3 seen average supposed to be 8 but I have had much bigger litters, do you normally see signs or is it as if she might not be in whelp.
I ask because she seems fairly large and almost as much as her 1st litter when she had 10? So I'm expecting ( hopefully 3 ) but wondering if there are more?
It is just I have read that in the case of 1 puppy, there can be no signs at all.
- By Carrington Date 14.03.15 16:41 UTC Upvotes 1
3 seen by a scan does not mean 3 coming, she may well have 8 yet, every scan I've had has ended up with at least double of that which the vet has seen. I just use a scan to confirm what I already know, never for numbers. :wink:

But, in answer to your question, once helped out with a bitch who was very large but only had 3 pups, the rest was obviously water retention, so it can be very hard to judge unless listening for the heartbeats as to how many are in there, size does not always match what is going on. 

Have also seen a bitch very small and not even showing until the last 2 weeks, then have a huge litter, the whelps can hide behind rib cages and not be spotted.

If your scan says 3, I would generally expect double that......vets like to under assume :wink:

Be interesting to see how many on the day.......
- By Hazenaide [gb] Date 14.03.15 21:53 UTC
I'm sure you know how I feel at this stage lollol I wondered about water retention. I can see and feel puppy movement.
can't wait to see the new arrivals. Hope all is ok first and foremost thoughthough of course.
- By Goldmali Date 14.03.15 22:53 UTC
Bitches do look bigger with their second litter, even if there are less pups -so that's one point. The scanning of course depends on the skill of the person doing it. "Best" I've ever had was the vet who said one, maybe two pups -and we got TEN. My current vets are great and have been spot on several times now -always ONE puppy more than they saw on the scan.

This week my vet's scanner was away for repairs so we used a private one for my pregnant bitch, one I'd not used before, and she saw at least ten........ I sure hope it isn't double that LOL!!
- By Hazenaide [gb] Date 14.03.15 23:49 UTC
Now that would surely be a record!!!
Topic Dog Boards / Breeding / Small litter

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