Nursing Nine Pups

[PABeagler]

Happy Easter everyone! My dog had nine pups Friday night, and her and the pups are doing well. Since I never had a litter this large, I am concerned if she will be able effectively nurse all of them. I put her on a high quality puppy food more than two weeks before she whelped. Has anyone had a litter this big? If so, and you helped nurse them, how did you do it? I see that they have puppy nursing stations. Has anyone used them with any luck?

Looking forward to your response.

Thank you.

[Mike McPherson]

She is likely more then capable of taking care of them. I like to add a milk replacer to the moms food. there are several that are meant for all animals check your local feed farm store to see whats available. I put a couple Table spoons on the food with a little warm water each end of the day. This is also very good to start your ups on as soon as there able to eat, good luck with them.
Hunt-Em-Up

[PABeagler]

Mike,

Thanks for the info. I will have some pups for you to start for me in the fall.

Duane

[Shady Grove Beagles]

Last litter I raised she had 13 and raised 10 of them. I fed her all she wanted free choice. There is a U.G.O. near me that sells short dated discount groceries. I bought cottage cheese, beef liver and chicken livers and periodically mixed it in with Mom's chow. She had plenty of milk and stayed up in good flesh -- not getting sucked down by the pups.
I introduced the pups to a powdered milk soaked gruel at 2 weeks old and they went right at it. I also fed them the cheese and liver and they did super.
Just remember that a big litter is quite a drain on mamma's resources but if healthy and fed a good diet she should have no issues.

[PABeagler]

Thanks Dana. Since she was so big before whelping she wasn't like she should have been. Her appetite is much improved.

[RiverBottom]

I've got one due any day and she's just about dragging on the ground

They are all different but as long as you give her plenty of good quality dog food she should be just fine. Nine isn't that many.

I follow a lot of dog breeding groups on facebook and it's hard to believe all the things they are all doing now days. One big one is loading them up on calcium. I think that is a little extreme.
I've raised hundreds of puppies and twice had dogs with eclampsia. Both times it was from feeding meat with their dog food. There is no calcium in meat. It would not hurt to give some extra calcium like tums, but probably not needed if you are feeding puppy chow. You should never feed extra calcium before they have puppies.
https://blog.animalemergencyservice.com ... er-in-dogs

[jerwane]

A year ago, my female had 12. She raised them all. I was concerned about her being able to nurse them all, so I bought bottles and formula. Didn't need them. I had her in the house in the spare bathtub. She had them in two piles. She'd nurse one pile and then the other. If I hadn't watched her do it I wouldn't have believed it. I don't know if she's the exception to the rule or not. By the way, not a runt in the bunch.

[Bev]

This old gal had litters of 7, 10, 11, and 9 (in that order) She lost 2 in that last litter, but they died within 24 hours so I don't think it was a feeding problem - most likely just a fading puppy syndrome. In any event, when she had the litters of 10 and 11, I was where I could observe, and every once in a while if I saw a small one consistently getting nudged off the tit, I would pull the largest pup for a "rest" and put the small one at the spigot for a few. She probably didn't need my intervention, but I just needed to see for myself that everyone was getting a turn at the milk bar.

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=101 ... 3365062170