My girl was showing around her waist at 4 weeks from the only mating .I took her to a special scanner who was recomended here and as suspected she found a large litter , she actually stopped counting at 9 and said possibly more .
She is now 61/2 weeks and huge ! . she is wide at the sides and dropping down below , her teats are huge and her boobs swollen , they hang down and can be seen from between her back legs when she walks .
Her back is arched downwards with the weight .Its a big litter for her breed and although she is still merry in between sleeping I worry that its a lot for her to cope with especially as it's her 1st litter .
I have had 3 litters before with 5 or 6 in them but this is a concern .I am very glad I scanned her the cost of knowledge is money never wasted .
I am also interested to know from breeders with "large litter"experiences and advice

I've had a litter of 13, though I lost one, so ended up with 12. Mum was an English Springer, though larger than most working lines. (she was working bred, not show bred) Mum coped fine. Yes, she was huge before they were born, but she was still happy in herself, ate almost everything put down, and gave birth without any help. On the other hand, I've had a Large Munsterlander bitch that had 13. One of the pups got stuck across the birth canal and stopped the others from being born. She had to have a caesarian. I lost 4 of the pups but the others all survived.

With a large litter I wouldn't try too hard to keep any weakling alive, unless there were only 1 or 2 of any particular sex, but I would also expect to lose 1 or 2. Usually the weaker ones. Mum is more likely to be clumsy with a larger litter. There are just too many to watch ;-) Expect a lot more mess with more pups - it gets everywhere :-)

Feed her smaller meals, but far more often. There just isn't the room for a lot of food. :-D Otherwise treat her as you normally would. She is only pregnant and will be happy to go for walks, though shorter than normal may be the way to go if she isn't coping with long walks.

my girl had 14 wich is a huge litter for my breed and she was huge she really didnt eat at all in the last few weeks just picked at her food she couldnt sleep or anything but she had 14 pups in 12 hours sadly the 13th was still born and we lost one at 6days so we have 12 now but they are doing fantastic and havnt really had to do much she has done it all apart from not cleaning their poo very well and its amazing how much poo 2 week old pups make lol but the vet bedding is a godsend and in a week or so they are being moved into a crate i have got them as they are getting rather cramped in the whelping box lol

I've had 4 litters from 2 bitches. Average for the breed is 6/7 and I've had 2 x 9 and 2 x 10. My foundation bitch was one of 11. The first litter was a day late arriving and whelped easily with no problems: all 9 arrived in less than 4 hours (it was a bit traumatic for me, as they arrived mainly in pairs with 5 or 10 minutes between, then half an hour or so break before the next two!) Her next litter was 10 and took longer to arrive - she needed an Oxy jab to help with the last one who was a big boy and she was tired by then. One of these was quite small, but thrived and caught up once weaning started. We sadly lost one pup because mum lay on him. Her daughter had a litter of 9 then 10, all good weights and all survived. Neither bitch had any problems whelping and feeding - they fed them til just under 3 weeks when I started weaning. It was a case of "2 sittings" as each only have 7 teats, but all I had to do was make sure they all got their share - as one "fell off", another would take his place at the bar.
As LindyLou says, feed your girl little and often now as she will not be able to cope with a big meal. When the pups arrived I gave as much protein as the bitches would take - chicken, fish, beef etc with just a little puppy kibble. I also gave them raw eggs mixed with Lactol, goats milk and the liquid from boiled chicken carcass to get the extra fluid in them.

My friend has recently had a litter of ELEVEN Spanish, breed average is 5/6 so double normal litter.  All doing very well and are now just over 5 weeks old. 

I've had a bitch that's been massive at the same stage as yours and only had four so size etc. doesn't always mean that they are going to have a massive litter.  I think we worry about things more than the dogs do when the time comes.

Quick update
All went well and we were done in 3 1/2 hours with no intervention or fuss .Our only sign was our girl nodding her head rythmically at the tv , no digging , a meagre amount of panting and no apparant straining/pushing before the 1st pup arrived .
There IS a GOD !!!

Well done!  Did she have a big litter?

SHE HAD 9

Congratulations - lovely news :-)

Wow! Thats lovely news, hope all goes well for mum, bubs and of course you (the sleepless nights begin...;))

My friend's Cavalier bitch had 9 twice - the second time in particular I know my other (very experienced) friend was quite worried about her as she could barely stand or walk she was so huge - but she didn't tell the bitch's owner in case of panicking and all went well, she reared all 9 with no trouble. Not sure what happened with the first litter as that was before I knew them but I understand she did lose a couple. Glad your girl and pups are all fine - I wouldn't want that many but I wouldn't mind more than 2 next time! :-D

Thanks guys
Sally x

> When the pups arrived I gave as much protein as the bitches would take - chicken, fish, beef etc with just a little puppy kibble. I also gave them raw eggs mixed with Lactol, goats milk and the liquid from boiled chicken carcass to get the extra fluid in them.

Pleased you had a straightforward whelping.  I do agree with Fillis here.  I have a toy breed, recently whelp 7 puppies, and I am getting as much protein into her as I can.  Pups are thriving, and I much prefer to put the nutrition into Mum, than supplement pups.