anyone with large litter experience. My bitch has had 13 pups, 12 have survivied so far. Any tips on feeding them, Mother is doing it all at moment and I am worried that she can't kee p producing enough milk for 12.

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Hi there
I recently reared a litter of 12, no problem. Just started weaning them earlier (2 weeks) to help Mum out. The milk will increase with demand and once settled they dont all feed at same time. If any are smaller, just encourage them to get on the teats first, even if you have to move bigger ones to other side of whelping box. You willbe fine, dont worry

Hi John

If the Mum is getting enough quality food then she should cope okay but will need lots to eat especially around the three week time when the demand is at its highest before you start weaning them.

thanks for advice.  They all seem very happy now either eating or quitely sleeping.  how often do you get up during the night to check on them? Last night I was up most of the night making sure they were all getting a turn, but I am sure mum would have coped without me there every second. 

I sleep on a futon in the kitchen alongside the welping box for the first week or 10 days, I'm a very light sleeper and find I wake up when they start making hungry noises (every 1-2 hours) when I like to check all are getting clamped on alright and go back to sleep when all are settled down again with mum asleep and all pups where I can see them.  But I reckon if a large litter are exhausting you and you are not likely to wake up everytime they do, you may, infact, be better making sure they are well protected by pig rails and going to bed and having a jolly good sleep, setting your alarm to get up nice and early and concentrate on getting them all well rotated round the milk bar all day long so they would manage well enough through the night without you.

im always intrested to know how long people sleep with there pups ( if atall) my dads been breeding for years and never slept with litter, but i think hes old school, i plan to have them in bedroom away from other dogs and close to me for first few weeks, its my first litter , needless to say dad thinks im a little obsessive , but id never forgive myself if anything happened during the evening, oh yes another question what do people do about working i work 3 hrs a day and will be very lucky to get time off so they will be alone for these 3 hrs?

I think a lot of the "old school" think it daft to sleep with litters :) but I think attitudes have changed and a lot of people these days find it very tough if a puppy is lost that might have been saved by more attention.  A litter could well be fine for 3 hours but if one is a poor feeder or the dam is found to be rather clumsy I expect you will find it very worrying to leave them for that length of time, I arranged for a trusted friend to sit in with them if I had to leave them for more than an hour or so but after a couple of weeks I was happy to leave them for that sort of period as my girl was usually insisting on getting out and about herself by then! :)

i sleep with them for the first week to 10 days as i worry that they won't feed or be cold at night ...then i take them up to be with me .....in an identical whelping box.........

I sleep with mine for about 3 weeks - until they manage to climb out of the whelping box! Am I over protective?

I have a litter due on Sunday and will sleep with the bitch from Thursday onwards and with mum and litter for the first two weeks.I too wake up every two hours or so when I hear them and love watching them when the house is quiet and peaceful and all the other dogs are asleep. This is my "special time"  and is all too quickly gone, never to be repleced ,with mum and babies before the house ereupts in the morning with all the other dogs and humans.
One very excited Diane !

I have a litter due on Sunday and will sleep with the bitch from Thursday onwards and with mum and litter for the first two weeks.I too wake up every two hours or so when I hear them and love watching them when the house is quiet and peaceful and all the other dogs are asleep. This is my "special time"  and is all too quickly gone, never to be repleced ,with mum and babies before the house erupts in the morning with all the other dogs and humans.
One very excited Diane !

I currently have a 3.5 week old litter. re: large litter (this was 14) I would say that weighing/ feeling them daily is vital & as soon as itsa obvious someone isnt keeping up, then let them have some time on their own with mum (say 10 minutes 6xdaily) so they dont get shoved off the teats. Usually they dont thrive because they are smaller than their siblings & cannot hold their own at the milk bar. However if everyone growing & no one whining continually because hungry, then just leave as is. Re: sleeping with pups, well normally I sleep alongside every night for 2.5 weeks (despite having pig rails!) however because I have had problems with this litter :( I only saw my own bed for the 1st time last night!!!

are they bloodhounds? Thats what I'm looking for - black&tan bitch puppy...........if You are somwhere in Europe...........
be in touch please..............

wow sam, 14 pups!!!! Your bitch must be a super mum! what breed are they? :)

guess!! :)

My bitch had her 1st litter of 10 and coped no problem, however, her second litter produced 14 puppies.  She was a super mum, coped well the first week, but from then during the day I would split the pups into 2 lots so that each pup got at least 10 minutes feeding. each session.  Mum obviously coped well through the night, as we are in the next room and never heard any puppies crying.
  I fed her a high protein good quality complete food, which was always available, and 4 meals daily of eggs, chicken, meat. When the pups were 2 weeks I started to supplement them with the Pedigree porridge, and by the end of that week they were having 4 meals of that.

All 14 puppies were of an  even size, and my bitch was in excellent condition.
Best of luck to you.

lol, bloodhounds!!!! :)