We have two chocolate lab bitches who are sisters. They are of good lines and hip scored etc. We want to breed from them but feel two litters at once may be a handful. Is it unfair to breed from one and not the other or if we bred from them at the same time - will this cause problems between the two of them. They are inseparable from each other but excellent temperaments.

Hi Lucy,

One litter at a time is a handful to look after properly, so would advise that you pace yourselves and make sure you have plenty of time to enjoy your babies. With any gundog breed litters can be large, so you could also be faced with having a large number of pups to find high quality homes for, so I definitely think two at a time would be too much to take on.

Have never had sisters before, but I haven't had a problem with other bitches having a litter - and my dogs have all lived as pets in the house. As your girls are really close, you'll probably find they join in on 'Aunty' duty and you'll end up with two girls cuddling up in the whelping box!

Marina

Hi Lucy, I have had sisters whleping, and 2 bitches whelping a couple of days apart, but not sisters whelping together! If it is any help, when my pair of sisters had litters, the first time Honor had 5 babes, and sister Maud completely ignored the whole thing! (Honor was a good mum though). Next time it was Mauds turn, and she had 1 pup, which she was fairly disinterested in, she fed when put into the bed, but no bonding, when he was about a day old Honor walked over, had a look, then climbed in and washed the pup - Maud stood by and watched. After this, whenever Honor climbed in, so did Maud, and both lay down together and fed the pup (Honor came in to milk straight away). Honor did most of the cleaning, and grandma joined in as well, occasionally - it was a real family event. Needless to say the pu was fat, content and totally spoilt, he just had to squeak to have 4 females running to tend his every whim (The 3 bitches and me!) Couldnt bear to part, and he is now 4 years old and in charge of my house dogs!

With the other bitches who had close together litters they have always been courteous to each other, but not interested in the others litters. It is has occassionally been a godsend when one mum rejects a pup, and the other has been willing to play foster mum, but as a general rule, I do try to avoid it. Will this be your first litter? If so, I think you will have your hands full with 1 litter to cope with at a time. It would be gahstly if both actually whelped together, trying to deliver 2 litters at the same time.
Gwen