Hi all

I just wondered if someone out there could settle an argument.  Is it possible say for a pedigree bitch to produce a crossbreed in her litter, meaning that a dog had got to her before she was covered by the stud dog.  I am sure I have read about this on this board at sometime, but wasnt sure what to search for.

Yep - VERY possible :)

Thanks very much...I said it was possible but my friend said it was definitely biologically impossible.  Have you actually known of a case?

Yep it's definitely possible.  I've never known of such cases as most people I know would never allow it to happen, but one of my vet saw a number of pups being born where the mother had had a few and then went into difficulty and the next lot of pups were most definitely from a different father and mated, he felt, a few days afterwards.

Not exactly the same but in the US for example when doing an AI mating, their KC gives them permission to use semen from two separate dogs and then the resulting litter is DNA tested to determine the sire!  

Sorry I the reason I am asking is that I want to print it off to show her, and prove that I am not making it up !!!

There was a Beardie breeder who also had Cockers & his Champion bitch had a litter some of which were definitely not Beardies They were way too small & a very odd colour & coat texture & we(as in peeps in the breed who saw them)suspect he had been less than vigilant when she was in season ! Fortunately they all went to pet homes as the breeder got himself into a lot of trouble with the KC over an unrelated matter & banned from registering puppies etc shortly afterwards

Thanks so much for your replies...better start printing !!

It is actually possible for any number of different sires to father one litter if a bitch ran with a pack of males and was amted at short intervals by several.  I sperm one egg equals a pup so all depends which sperm got to the eggs.

Theoretically a human being having non identical twins could have them fathered by different peple.

Definately... Many years ago my boss owned a couple of Labs and a couple of ESS.... He Mated one of his girls (Lab), but when pups were born.... 6 beautiful black labs and 2 ESS x Lab pups popped out, I whelped them, so can definately say yes .....

Yes, definitely. I knew of a litter of puppies, 6 of which were clearly black-and-white collie and one was a yellow lab cross!

Well a similar thing has happened in humans, where a mother has given birth to "twins" which had different fathers........

When we got our pup from the rescue centre there was a litter next door that was made up of three distinctly different type of pups but all from the same mum. The litter was 12 pups of which there were staffy type, collie type and one that definitely had some longhaired alsatian in him. The mum had been picked up as a stray and had her pups a few weeks later. She was a crossbreed herself with some labrador in her.