Just wondering, for those of you that breed cavalier king charles spaniels. I know it's different in different lines but how many puppies have you seen first time mothers have. Is the first litter usually smaller with cavaliers?

Friends cavalier is tiny, her first litter she had 5 beautiful puppies! I think the average is about 3-4 though.

Hi i breed cavaliers and the breeders that i no say that first litters are smaller 4 is about the right number.

She came from a first litter of only 2 or 3 and after that the mom had 4 then 5. I'm guessing she'll only have a couple. she is around 40 days now and just starting to get a little tummy. I heard sometimes they don't show until the last couple of weeks. Is that what you have found. I know they're probably all different.

It really is a case of how long is a piece of string.  One of my (medium size breed) bitches had a first litter of 9 pups all reared no trouble.  3 years later she carried a litter of 8 but sadly only four were reared, as two were stillborn, one was sat on and another failed to thrive, she did have a long and tiring labour.  In May she had her thrid and last litter, this time 4 live and one stillborn, born quite quickly and no problems rearing.

So what I am saying is it is impossible to predict.  she could have anything from 1 to 6 pups of which some may not survive.

I have had 2 litters of 4 and one of 3 .......Bonnie my ruby girl is from a litter of 8 and her mum had a second litter of 8 as well ....she has produced 2 litters herself one of 4 and one of 3..... i think 3 or 4 is a nice litter size for a cavalier ...good luck let us know your news ???

thanks I'll keep you posted. She still doesn't look preg. when standing. When she sits down she has a little kind of hard pot belly. when she sits it must scrunch together because that's when she is thicker. I know she's only about 40 days but I'm assuming there aren't many in there. Then I've heard some people say they couldn't tell anything until the last week or 2.  I don't want to do a scan. I'll know soon enough :)

Why don't you take her for a scan???
Both my cavs only had 2 pups each in their first litter.

Well, at around 42-44 days has thickened overnight. especially around her ribcage. still not eating very well but we're working on it.  scan won't be accurate for how many pups and I know she's preg. so there is no point. Some people do blood tests to determine pregnancy if they really need to know. Most of us in the US wait until the last week and do an xray to determine count (which is not always accurate either) and postition.