Potentially needed for large litter of Boxer puppies due to be born
late next week. (scanner thought 11 or more!)
The dam is located in berkshire.

Many Thanks for any help or suggestions you can offer.

having had bitches whelp litters of 13/16 in the past, why on earth do you want a foster mother. Do you think she is going to die? Is there something wrong with her? I'm confused.
I have successfully reared a big litter by letting all pups suckle but then topping each one up every few hours with lactol in a foster feeder. On another occasion, I culled out 5 males (4 normal & 1 cleft pallate) as males are difficult to find the right homes for in my breed, and the bitch reared 10 with ease.

I have a small bitch (18kg, where average is 20kg) who had 9 pups and needed less support from me than her Mum who has just had a litter of 3 and they needed supplementing! I agree with Sam that if the pups are not gaining enough you can top up with milk replacer, and start weaning at two weeks! some bitches have no trouble producing enough Milk for a big litter, and others have trouble with a small litter.

Sam? can you tell me why you have to be so abrasive to people this person has asked for advise and you talk as if they are not quite a full shilling! maybe you have whelped large litters and she hasnt,try counting to ten and then post an answer as your advice is generally very good

well said mattie,i had my frist litter two years ago,which my bitch deliverd 10 puppies ,i needed all the help people could give me at the time,form other breeders, web site like this one,and i had to hand rear one,i think the above message would put me off having a litter,and i do not believe in culling health puppies,just because you cannot sell male dogs,you should not breed if you cannot keep the one that donot go,i would give the puppies away witch i could not sell them to charity group where the dog be welcome and trained to do a worth well job to help other people

Hello Briedog - where you been? No, I wouldn't cull either except for defects, and we have successfully reared 12 this spring - actually on the bitch with no help, but early (not complete) weaning with Pedigree Puppy porridge at 2 weeks. You do have to be really on the ball with blood sugar levels in the bitch, and also with Calcium levels, and it goes without saying that Mum must have the highest quality food you can find.

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

hi jo are you going to the show tommrow,we are and andrew is going to put brie in the obedience for pre -beginners,rush,s new wife is producing a litter is afternoon so far two black girls,one black male and one liver male,on the scan it did show 9 puppies,so we wait an see what else comes along,

hope to see you soon

terri

Have a good time tomorrow you two. At least you won't have me to worry about at the obedience this year!

Regards, John

I'm sure thats all very fine in certain breeds, and in the past the odd one or two have been entered into a pack, but its not what I want for my particular puppies and whilst there are nearly always people to take males in my breed, they are rarely the sort of people I would ALLOW to have one. I only breed when I personally want a pup, I always know exaclty what I plan to keep from a litter before the bitch is even mated & I would far rather rear a small litter, having culled, than see pups being placed on rescue as they get into big boisterous working hounds, unsuitable for most domestic lifestyles.

Well I am so sorry Mattie but when I 1st read this post, and as I read it now, my initiall thought was WHY ON EARTH DO YOU NEED A FOSTER BITCH and so I answered it thus.

Hi Kirstine, best of luck with your pups. Dont know if this will be of any help to you, but my breed tends to have very big litters. I split the litter in half, put one half on mum, and one half is bottle fed. The next meal time, I swop the two groups around. I give an hours break in between to give mum a chance to rest properly. It makes a lot of work for the owner, but makes it easier on the mum. Hope that helps a bit

It's not actually me that's having the litter, but a friend.
She was worrying if they had any problems with 'mum'.
Unfortunately my girl is now fully weaned off her pups (7 weeks now)
and has no milk, so I cannot offer the 'foster mother' option.
I hope things go o.k. for her and that mum of pups has an easy time.
I know how stressful having a litter can be especially in my case
where one puppy had fading puppy syndrome and I lost her after 3 days
of putting her on mum and bottle feeding. (Lack of sleep made me highly emotional
so I cried buckets when we lost her, I had her pts at the vet as it wasn't fair to see her suffer)
I'd like to thank those for their constructive advice, I'll pass this on to my friend.

Wht not wait and see whether you may need a foster mother earlier this yr i raised{well my bitch raised a very large litter} of puppies I only topped up 1 puppy due to no weight gain for 2days.I would NEVER cull any puppies unless they were deformed so please don't worry about that now.I have a litter due in 2weeks so if things get really bad I may be able to help (no promises as I don't know how many she will have} Raising a large litter isn't difficult especially if you can mark each pup so weight gain can be checked{don't forget most puppies will loose weight for the 1st day or so,if needed top a pup up with bottled formular milk {I allow a pup to suckle from mum first then top it up and then place back with mum to finish it off if needed} most big breeds has 10 nipples so 1 extra will be no problem my good luck with the puppies