My friends bitch has had two past litters both of 8 pups, she has been scanned with her 3rd litter and the vet told her he would say she was carring 8 puppies, of course we will not be sure untill they arrive. (She was mated same amount of times on around the same days)

My question is, is this a common occurence in some bitches? Or is it just complete coincidence. 

Thanks, Lois

i can only say with mine ,my girl had 3 litters ,1st 8 pups ,then 11 then 13 :0..different girl and different breed she had 2 litters 1st she had 4 2nd she had 8 lol ...

my friends girl had 10 1st time and 11 2nd ....maybe coincidence? :) good question tho ,ill be reading what is said :) x

First Bitch: 3 litters, 1 mating day 12 each time, 1st litter -10 pups 2nd - 11 pups 3rd - 12 pups
second bitch: 2 litters 1 mating 1st litter day 12 - 10 pups, 2nd litter day 13 - 9 pups.

1st bitch - 1st litter 4 pups, 2nd litter 6 pups (4 reared)
2nd bitch - 1st litter 8 pups (7 reared), 2nd litter 7 pups, 3rd litter 4 pups (3 reared)
3rd bitch - 1st litter 9 pups, 2nd litter 8 pups (only 4 reared), 3rd litter 4 pups.
4th bitch - 1st litter 5 pups (4 live), 2nd litter 7 pups, 3rd litter 7 pups.
5th bitch - 1st litter 8 pups (7 reared), 2nd litter 7 pups, 3rd litter 5 pups.

Conclusion who know, mien obviously like to carry 4 to 9 pups and have reared 3 - 9.

Bitches have been between two years and nearly 4 years with first litter, and between 4 and 7 with their last.

I have a bitch who always mates on day 8 , will only ever allow one mating , and each of her 3 litters she has had 5 pups , all on day 58 !!!!!

One of my girls
1st litter mated day12 one mating had 8 pups
2nd litter mated day 13 1mating had 9pups
3rd litter mated day13 1 mating had 6 pups
all were healthy, all my girls mate on days 12 or 13.

One of my girls mated 1st time days 14 and 16 two pups born on due date
2nd time days 11 and 13 two pups born 5 days late
3rd time 12 and 13 days time will tell. 

Litter average is around 6!

Her mother 1st time mated days 16 and 18 5 pups
2nd time same days had 5 pups
3rd time after missing twice mated day 7 (per instructions from Idexx) had 3 pups

I have a bitch who always mates on day 8 , will only ever allow one mating , and each of her 3 litters she has had 5 pups , all on day 58 !!!!!

Wow!!!

With mine, no two bitches are the same.

My best girl always mates day 8 and day 10.  She has had 3 litters.  2 pups every time.

Another girl, different breed, mated on day 19 and had 6 pups.  2nd litter mated on day 8 and had 6 pups again.

They don't like letting us get complacent!

Only had 2 litter from 1 bitch, first was 2 puppies, second 1 puppy. Conclusion she is not terribly fertile.... But I'd rather have 2 or 3 than 9!!

so looking at this some of your bitches have changed the days that they were mated on, but still conceived? I only ask this as my bitch was mated on her first litter days 13 and 15 and had 10 pups and reared them all.... i didn't use any method for testing for ovulation that time other than the timings of her mother and grandmother and she seemed willing to do the task... This time I mated her on day 10 of her season (using a draminski tester for guidance) and she was happy to mate that time, so do their ovulation times change from season to season for some bitches? (I am still awaiting to find out if she has conceived yet on this second litter!)

>so looking at this some of your bitches have changed the days that they were mated on, but still conceived?

One of my bitches was mated on day 13 for her first litter, but not until day 18 for her second litter! Lovely puppies both times. :-)

well 1 of my girls had 2 litters her 1st litter she mated on day 13 and 15 she had 4 pups then her 2nd litter she mated day 27 :0! and had 8 pups LOL x

wow that is amazing how it can change like that I am going to look into this a bit more as I never realised it would change so much on the same bitch! we're on day 11 now so will keep you informed of the outcome fingers crossed :-)