I was talking to a breeder about my upcoming whelping and she said a few quite interesting thigs that i wanted to run by people and see what they thought.
My bitch comes from a larg e whelping line (8/9 pups a litter) yet she has been scanned for 4. I know that this is not set in stone but could the small size of the litter be due to a late mating? It was very hard to tell with her, so on 12th day took her to vet who said optimum time, and she was mated next day. If we did catch her too late, does this means she will whelp early (63 days from ovulation)? and are there any bad things associated with late matings?
She also told me not to increase my bitches food until the last week, as with staffords this means that the puppies may be too large. I told her that cleo is trying to eat the carpet she is so hungry!, but was told this is a natural instinct as in the wild they will not leave the pups for 4/5 days. Does any one else follow this?
Just thought i'd post to get peoples opinions, especially about the ovulation thing, as it would be good to know!

HI, its almost imossible to know when she actually ovulated unless she was tested for ovulaion at the time. However if she stood happily for mating then she had probably either just ovulated or was just about to!! I know thats not much help, but mating at the 13th day, on average is the "normal" time. Most bitches will only stand happily for mating for 3 or 4 days. Of course there are always exceptions to the rules, and every season with the same bitch can be different. When your vet said "optimum time" had he smeared or swabbed her or was it his opinion of the general optimum time for mating, which is the average for most bitches. They are all different, one bitch I had was mated on the 7th day and had 7 puppies, another wasn't ready til 18 days, and funnily enough also had 7 puppies, one mating each. I know I can't always get a second mating with a dog, because of travelling distances involved, but the ideal is to mate every 48 hours from when the bitch will stand happily for the dog, until she is not interested any more. One mating on exactly the right day will give as big a litter as several matings though. Just be glad she is pregnant at all!! I would follow your vets advice re feeding and dont be tempted to go against his advice. I would think you could improve the quality of the food, ie higer protein but not the quantity, but do ask his advice first. You could divide her food ration into two meals if she just has one at the moment, but make sure you dont increase the amount. I usually increase the amount only a little at 5-6 weeks, often the last week their appetite wanes as they are just too big and uncomfortable to eat much.C sections are expensive and upsetting for everyone, especially as it is a first litter, her mothering instincts may not be so good to begin with after a C section, so you really must do everything in your power to avoid one by not feeding too much. If she has to have one with her first litter and there are complications, you may not be able to breed her again - if that was your intention. My most recent litter was from a bitch whose first litter contained very big puppies. I fed her as I normally feed pregnant bitches, increasing a little from about 6 weeks, This time I hardly increased the food at all, scared of a C section, but she still had 5 enormous puppies by section, though was leaner herself at whelping than I like to see. They are 5 weeks now and she is holding her condition fine. dont worry, the puppies wont suffer by her being fed less than you would like, and there will be every chance for her to retain her good condition - if she is lean at whelping. Give a daily calcium supplement as soon as she has whelped but NOT before,and once the pups are 3 or 4 days old you can start giving her as much as she will eat. Best of luck.

Thank you for your reply, i just guess i want to run it past enough people that i'm doing the right thing really, I would have made a great girl guide - always be prepared!
She was swabbed by the vet on the 12th day, and then mated on the 13th and 15th day. The stud dog owner thought the 1st may have been a bit early, but then said it may be because she was a maiden. The reason i asked about it decreasing the amout of pups was because both her mum and grandmum standardly have 8-9, the smallest has been 7 adn that was grandmums last ever litter. I shall feel more at ease tomorrow i think, as she is having her final scan and he canm tell me roughly when they should be popping out! I have increased her food a little bit, as she was always a very very very fussy eater and always sat a bit underweight before. She behaves as though she is positively starving though now! She has been on hills puppy food since 6 weeks, and has scrabbled eggs with biscuits in the morning to break up the bulk a bit. She is carrying a little fat around her ribs, but still has a waist line whem viewed from above, and generally doesn't look big, just misshapen, still loads of energy as well.

I've mated 1 of my bitches twice on her 18th day. I remember a pom. that we had who was away from the dog for a full month, put back in the room with the dog a month after starting her season, hey presto 9 weeks later 3 pups. 13th and 15th days are fairly average times to be mated.

My friend had her bitch scanned and was told that there were 4 pups and she had 7, just be prepared.

Went to the vet 2 days ago to have final week scan and he said he could see 4 but to expect anything up to 7 so quite prepared, sort of want 5 though as its a nice litter soze for a 1st whelp. He also thought they would come early due to their size and preparedness (if thats a word!). I read in the book of the bitch that it is an average of 63 days, but 60 days from ovulation, and we had her swabbed on the 12th day and vet said perfect time - but wasn't really sure exactly what they meant at the time. Thanks for your reply, it really is just down to guesswork and luck really isn't it!