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[jfields]

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[Ky. Hunter]

Most of my first litters have been running from 6--10 pups per dog so I don't think there can be anything to what you heard and I usually don't breed one unless it is 2 or 3 years old but on occassions I will breed younger but hardly ever.

[northern beagles]

yes just breed my female for the first time had only one pup this morning.

[ANTHONY KERR]

Who knows !!!
I just had a 3 year old female have 10 pups about four weeks ago. It was her first litter. She had them a few days early by herself underneath the dog house. When I got home all 10 were clean and living. She rejected 2 in the first few days and has ended up raising 6 that are all healthy and starting to eat on their own. I think if I had an anti smother rail in the house she would have raised 8. It would have been tougher on her though.
It was a surprise, I was expecting 3 to 5.

[wvduece]

i got a female that had 7 pups 10 days ago n she will be 2 y/o in july havent lost any pups yet all are getting fat as as lil pigs she never had any problems this was her first litter ya just never know about these things jb

[Shady Grove Beagles]

A female dog is born with all the eggs in her that she is ever going to have.During her hear cycle the pituitary gland releases FSH [follicle stimulating hormone ] which causes the overies to grow the egg follicles and begin to make estrogen.Under the influence of another pituitary hormone called LH [lutenizing hormone ] the egg follicle ruptures and releases eggs into the fallopian tubes.After the eggs have ben shed from the ovary, they must mature in the female for 72 hours before they can combine with the sperm.Fertilized eggs implant in the uterus on the 14'th to 18'th day.These are the major factors that determine how many pups your bitch is going to have.
In all actuality a first time bitch is percentage wise apt to have a bigger litter than an older bitch that has had several litters.
I had a 5 year old bitch out of IFC Greenbriar's Birch Haven Merlin that delivered 11 her first litter.Got a 2 year old bitch out of FC Turbo Charged Thunder Blue that has 9 now out of her first litter.The "professional" dog breeders / show people will tell you the prime breeding years for a bitch are between 2-5 years old and most of those folks won't breed a bitch that's past 6 years old. Young dogs are like young women in that they can pop them right out with very little problem .The older the female having pups is just like some women having kids in their early 40's--alot more problems all the way around.

[Newt]

IMO, first litter or being young has no bearing on the size of the litter. I bred a bitch for the first time and she had seven. I later bred one of those pups and she had one. My buddy bred her litter mate and she had seven. All these bitches were bred prior to their second birthday.

[ringtail]

i have a 3 year old , had her first litter 2 weeks ago , had kept 7,,,,,,they are little pigs

[scootersjill]

my female turns 4 on the 12th. had her first litter april 9th had 8 . 5 lived all doin fine.

[Cottonbuster]

I have a female that had 12 her first litter and 10 her second and third.

[Michael Maynard]

I don't think the size of the female matters. I bred a female that was almost two years old. It was her first litter and she had 12 pups and raised ten of them. The same female just had pups again, now she is almost 5 years old, this time she had 11 pups and all are alive so far.She is almost 14inches.

[Briarhoppers]

I had two litters, each w/ first time mothers and had 7 pups (raised 6) in one litter and 9 pups (raised all) in the other litter. One of these females was 2 yrs. old and the other was 3 yrs. old. All I can offer is my first hand experience, but also from what I've heard, there is no truth to young females having smaller litters.

Now I have heard that SHOW BEAGLES tend have smaller litter - more along the lines of 3 - 4 in a litter on average. Don't know if this is accurate, but would be interesting to hear from some of the show people.....do show beagles have smaller litters on average - and if so, why?

[Windkist]

I just had a litter of 7 born and a litter of 5 from a teeny tiny 13in bitch. My average is 6 I'd say. The biggest litter from a show bred bitch I've had is 9 and that was the litter "Parker" came from. personally I could do without litters that big. 6 is enough.

Congrats to everyone on their puppies ;-)

Leah

[Bev]

I second that, Leah. 5 - 6 pups is a manageable litter for both Mom and owner. I think it's genetic. I've bred differnt bitches over the years, but to track my main bitch (Dolly) her litters went as follows:

Age 1 year = 7 pups

Age 3 years = 10 pups

Age 6 years = 11 pups

Age 9 years = 9 pups

...so who knows? I don't think anything's died in wool. I think a lot depends on timing, health of the bitch, and potency of the sire, too. But mostly genetics. JMHO.