My bitch had her litter (as most of you know, I went on about it enough! :-)) on Tuesday night. She had 9 pups, (the breed average is 6-8) all a good size, at the higher end of the breed's pup wieght range. She has 9 teats, all producing milk. It has been suggested (by someone experienced) that I start topping the pups up with Lactol, as she has had a 'large litter'. I am a bit reluctant to do this, as surely the more the pups drink, the more milk she will make? All pups are currently gaining weight well, some a bit more then others (they are pushy!) but I am just popping the ones gaining less weight on the back teats whenever I can.

I know 'Book Of The Bitch' suggests only topping up as a last resort. Do I really need to top up? I really don't want to, and not for my own benefit, but I feel the pups are better getting only Mum's milk. Obviously if I felt their weight gain went down before weaning, I'd re-consider.

Thoughts please? Thanks! :-)

No need at all as long as the puppies are gaining weight. I have had 4 litters - all more than "average" and both bitches fed without assistance for the first 3 weeks until weaning - puppies gaining weight and thriving, even without a teat for every pup. As long as you make sure mum has enough food (and she will eat LOADS) and fluids, they should all be fine.

Thanks, that's pretty much what I had though. She's not very greedy, but we're feeding her prety much as much as she will eat for now in lots of small meals.

Pups seem to be doing pretty well so far. :-)

jackson,

Even though this is your first litter, you are showing much more knowledge than the person who told you that! :-)

Well done, stick to your guns, milk is all about supply and demand you only mess with that if there are real problems like a sick pup or a mum not supplying.

Most bitches have 10 teats, she can happily feed 9 with no problems at all, if you stop their constant suckling, the message sent out to her body if you top up the pups will be that she does not need to make as much, when her full milk comes in at approx 2 weeks she may not make enough and then the pups will be in trouble and very hungry.

They need to keep suckling to get her body set up properly.  Allow everything to develope naturally. :-)

I had a bitch with 8 teats who reared a litter of 10 puppies with no supplementation needed at all. Give the bitch as much good-quality food and, even more importantly, liquid intake as she wants and she'll manage fine.

As others have said, milk is produced according to the demands of the pups. If you lessen their demand (by supplementing) the less milk the bitch will produce, creating a vicious circle.

You seem to be doing exactly the right thing. :)

Sorry, another couple of questions!:-)

Pups are gaining weight and all looking/seeming well. It is now day 6 and they have gained between 45% and  60% of their orginal birthweight, other than one pup, who has gained around 30% of her birthweight, however, she was big at birth. She hasn't lost at all. Book of the bitch says to aim for birthweight to have doubled by day 8, but my mentor feels that the pups are gaining weight very well. I am making sure smaller pups/ones gaining less weight are on the back teats, and supervising to ensure they are not pushed off by the fatties! :-)

I have noticed that at times, the bitches teats are empty, but soon fill up again. I assume this is normal, as with breast feeding ladies? I am making sure she lays on alternate sides, as the 'uppermost' teats are obviously used more until all pups learn to burrow under easily. She is getting as much good quality complete food as I can get into her, plus some weak lactol to wet it (she likes this and has no diarrhea) and as much water as she'll drink. She shows no signs of mastitis and is happy feeding the pups.

I am not worried, and still not considering supplementing, but can someone please just confirm this is normal?

Thanks!!! :-)

It sounds as though everything's going very well. :) I wouldn't start supplementing in case I messed it all up!

Thankyou!

Like I said, still not considering it, I felt things were going well. Just checking withthose who are more experienced than I. :-)

Thanks once again!

That's brilliant news, it sounds like the milk is coming in and the bitch is managing. You are doing a brilliant job, well done

Just looked to see what my litter did last year (FCR).  On day 6 they had all put on about 50% of their birth weight and by day 9 or 10, had doubled their birth weight.  So sounds good to me. :-)  Hope this helps.

My own breed unless the litter is very small never double their weight in a week, more like 10 to 14 days.

I suppose it really depends what they start as, and I have found that pups born large don't gain as quickly because there is more of them just to maintain while the milk supply is being established.

I would be guided by your mentor as to what is a reasonable weight gain for your breed.

Also I have found no matter the difference in weights between litters (usually down to numbers) by the time they reach 12 weeks they are likely to be within a pound of the same weight.

Can I just say Jackson, that it sounds like you and your girl are doing a fantastic job, you've obviously done a lot of reading, and it sounds like you know what you're doing.  It's great to have somewhere to come for reassurance though isn't it?

I'm sure people will understand when I say I wish everyone who had a litter put as much into it as you seem to have. 

Edited to add.....I wouldn't be supplementing either as long as the pups are gaining weight......which is actually what I was going to say in the first place!!