Choosing a puppy...Should I be concerned about size of litter?

[deerminator]

We're getting another dog and found what we believe to be a very reputable breeder. Really like them, their kennel, their dogs, and got a chance to spend some time with the mother of a puppy we picked out in addition to the puppy. Everything seems great. But the more I started thinking about it, the puppy we picked out is one of a litter of two. Is that anything to be concerned about? Does a dog only having two puppies in her litter reflect anything on her health or the potential health of the puppy? Probably not, but thought I would see if anyone else had any thoughts or experiences on this? BTW, the little guy we picked out is a healthy-looking hoss, probably because he's gotten some extra milk.

[MuleShack]

Not that it matters to your question, but what type of dog are we talking about?

[abcnerdd]

Hrm... what type of dog is it? If there are only two, that should be a great sign. You won't be getting the runt

Oh, congratulation on the newest member of your family!

[Ralph Wiggum]

I've never heard of a problem with a dog from a smaller litter. Probably a bit bigger than normal (ours was). Is the mother older? Usually, older dogs have smaller litters.

[brittman]

Only if the litter was larger and several puppies have died between live birth and current age. Then you need to ask why?

[deerminator]

Thanks for the replies guys. It's a beagle and this will be our second. We're very excited to be picking him up this week. I forget the exact age of the mother but I believe this isn't her first litter so she's probably a little older. And it wasn't a case of several of the other pubs dieing between birth and current age. I do believe the other male in the litter had some sort of hip problem but he was taken by a vet student who knew and was going to work with him on it. Our guy appears completely healthy and we're bringing him to the vet the same day we get him.

Anyway, I almost felt bad asking about this because the breeder seems great, has been doing this for awhile and has a lot of great dogs bred for excellent rabbit hunting and wonderful pets. But you do have to check this sort of stuff out.

[brittman]

Good luck.

By the way a good breeder should never be afraid of answering tough questions and in fact most would expect them.

Most breeders also want their puppies to end up in good homes that treat their dogs with respect, spend time training them and provide them some love.

[jeffreyd]

i would allow the puppy to be with mom as long as possible. we pulled our first lab at8 weeks and second lab at 12 and what a difference. This would be the only way i would get another dog but would think that only 2 pups would be a benefit. might ask your vet what they think.

[caseymcq]

... we pulled our first lab at8 weeks and second lab at 12 and what a difference. ...

Other than the obvious (age and size) what was the difference? Our dogs came home with us at 8 weeks and 7 weeks. I read Wolter's books and he had recommended getting a pup at 7 weeks. By your post you seemed to like getting the older pup so that tweaked my interest since we are looking at getting a pup in the near future. I am really interested in your experience since you have had both.

[duckbuster]

Generally speaking what we hear with labs on the trial circuit is that it would be a male thing. Low sperm count, bad sperm or old sperm, if frozen.

I wouldn't worry about it either way what size the litter is, I'll bet your new puppy will give you great joy!!!

[springerspeed]

I would agree with all the others here in that the litter size should not be a big concern. I have a female that had 3 litters that were 8, 9 and 2 respecfully. Many factors come into play with the size of the litter. The mating itself, sperm count and quality from the male, when the female was bred in her heat cycle, the list goes on and on.