Can a dog deliver puppies days apart?
No, it’s not normal for dogs to deliver puppies days apart. The longest interval is three to four hours, not days. For canines with smaller litters, the interval will be 45 minutes to an hour.
It’s essential to get your dog examined before whelping so you’ll know the number of puppies that have to come out. An X-ray at the vet’s clinic will easily determine the number of puppies within the litter.
If your dog is still due to release more puppies but not whelping for more than three hours, I suggest calling the vet. While rare, some dogs need to undergo emergency C-section to remove the remaining puppy.
A best practice is 4-6 litters per dog
Most reputable breeders will cap even their fittest, best mothers at around 4-6 litters so that she can be spayed while she is still young and at her healthiest. Reasons that a reputable breeder may have to retire a dog sooner would be difficult deliveries that may require C-sections or other common reproductive related difficulties such as recurrent mastitis or uterine infections.
However, most well-bred dogs are able to have a good handful of litters with no health concerns. Remaining active during pregnancy and whelping and being able to maintain a healthy weight during nursing are signs that your dam is feeling good and able to continue producing litters.
Physical health is one factor that breeders should be highly aware of, but a dam’s emotional health matters, too. A breeder should always be in touch with their dogs and show a high degree of concern for their wellbeing. Some dogs seem to really enjoy being mothers and spend extra time with their pups and actively choose to play with them, bring them treat/toys, etc.
Other times, a dog may not seem to jive with motherhood. A breeder should be willing to retire a dog early if they simply do not seem to enjoy being a mom. This can look like a dog not wanting to spend time with her puppies, seeming particularly anxious during the whelping process, etc. A breeder who is in tune with her parent dogs will likely retire some earlier than expected for reasons such as these.
Besides actual number of litters, there are other questions to consider when it comes to the ethics of breeding your dam. When and how often your dog should be bred are also questions that every breeder must grapple with. And similar to the topic of number of litters, the answers to these questions do vary based on size and breed of dog as well as other factors.
Even reproductive vets tend to disagree when it comes to the answers to these questions. As an example, previously, skipping heats between pregnancies was strongly encouraged in the breeding community. However, newer research has suggested that the more heats a dog has in her lifetime, the greater the risk of pyometra and other health concerns.
Research shared by Dr. Claudia Orlandi PhD, suggested that a breeding female should not skip any heat cycles until she is retired. The study involved dissecting the uteri of retired females. The uteri that had the most scarring and “damage” were from those who had skipped a number of heat cycles.
So some breeders feel strongly about breeding their females back to back, while others insist that skipping heats allows their females to completely recover physically between pregnancies. Regardless of their answer, your breeder should be able to tell you why they breed their female as often as they do in a way that shows concern for their dog.
Will a female dog’s nipples shrink after puppies?
Most of the time, the mother dog’s nipples will shrink back to their original size after the puppies have been weaned. However, some dams (mother dogs) will keep their enlarged nipples and may never go back to their normal size. If the dog has multiple litters in a year, its nipples may not recover from the repetitive swelling.
You don’t have to worry because this is completely normal. As long as there’s no infection on the dog’s nipples, you can leave it alone.
How many litters can a dog have?
Normal puppy litter size tends to vary from one to twelve. The world record according to Guinness is a whopping twenty four puppies, birthed by a Neapolitan Mastiff in the UK in 2004. Why does litter size vary so much and what determines litter size in puppies? OVRS looks at the main factors affecting litter size.