How many litters of pups do you feel you could raise at a time?

Question

What got me thinking about this was this question:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AuYZGLFwqD4v9BP86ymicaTL7BR.;_ylv=3?qid=20080904074525AAue2zw

and this question by the same asker asked yeseterday

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=As1Jmxu6Ga0oHpvV3AEUS2rsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080903000600AARcpHx

I have a litter right now-- which means-- I didn't get much sleep for the first 3 weeks, my house is a mess because I think its more important to work with pups than to clean. I do scads of puppy laundry. I'm spending a ton on feeding them and they have a vet appointment tomorrow which won't be cheap... I've never considered having more than one litter of pups at a time--- what do you think?

Answer 1

One litter is work.   But right now we have two litters of poms. They were born 4 days apart. It is double the work.  It is time consuming. Staying through the whole birthing process making sure everything is going ok and what to look out for if having problems.  Have your phone near by in case you would have to call your vet for any emergencies.  Watching the mommies and pups to make sure they are doing ok and eating. Cleaning up the mommy after having her pups.  The puppy laundry and box lining as you say is the worse part of it trying to keep everything clean from the p**p and pee. Especially when they get a little older. You are always changing it.  Then with starting the pups on mushy foods, running in their little box playing and then here comes the p**p. They p**p A LOT.   Then trying to keep them clean after eating, most of you already know how hard it is. They are little Messy Marvin's. They always have to be cleaned up.  They have food stuck on their bellies, their feet, heads when done eating. They have been to the vet once already and have to go back in 2 weeks.  There are just so many things you need to do to raise clean and healthy pups. It takes a lot of  hard work, time and patience.  

But I still have time to keep my house clean and in order.

Add: I really do not know about raising large breed puppies.

But I would think that large and small breed puppies each have their own seperate needs.   It's just the way it goes.  As for potty training we have never had a problem.  As for clean pups it is a must no matter what the breed!

Answer 2

I can only manage one litter at a time. My pups are raised indoors until they are four to five weeks old (then moved to a puppy pen outside) and their whelping area and play pen stay spotless. It means I spend all my time socializing, cleaning, supervising them and washing puppy linens.

When I am not taking care of pups, I am in contact with their future owners providing photos and updates.

Answer 3

Me?

none.

I have not / do not want to breed for a very good reason. Not only the fact that I know nothing about breeding I'm just not cut out for it. I'm not really a puppy person neither, sure they are little bundles of fun, but I love nothing more than seeing my "puppy" blossom into a dog.

Answer 4

Zero. Unless of course I didn't work and it was my full time job to show and breed dogs.  But Zero is my firm answer right now.

Answer 5

Theoretically, I probably could raise several.  I never sleep anyway.  However, I know me too well and I could never have the heart to find homes for them and I would end up with all of them.  That's one of the reasons I spay!

Answer 6

While I'll probably get lots of thumbs down for this, I really don' t think having ANY litters are needed! A few licensed and reputable breeders are all that are needed -- there are too many unwanted dogs as it is.

Answer 7

I would guess a max of 2.

We've raised a few single litters - even those are incredibly draining, time-consuming, tear-inducing, on and on and on...I would never wish to have more than one litter at a time, but if an emergency came up, or if a friend needed me to whelp and raise a litter due to a family issue or anything, I'm sure I could do it. A good friend of ours recently had 2 litters at one time, 3 weeks apart...she didn't mean to, a friend asked her to raise one for them as somthing had come up. Even with our help, it was still a ton of work.

Answer 8

Well, if I had the money and the space and the time to commit, I would love to raise 3 or 4 or 5 litters! I've raised 4 litters of kittens before, so pups would be just as fun!

Answer 9

Wow good catch!

I cant imagine having more than 1 at a time to properly take care of it!

But then again neither you or I were every BYB were we! ;)

ADD:  Chihuahua Lady!  God bless you!  I can't imagine having that many Golden's litters here to care for at one time!  

ADD2:  I dont know if breed size makes a big difference sounds like a good next question though!

.

Answer 10

I do not have any kids but I would imagine having a litter of pups would be like having a baby.

No sleep, tons of laundry, constant watching and feeding and cleaning up and monitoring pups and just a ton of work over all.

I am not sure why someone would try more than one litter at a time. But If they are like a puppy mill type setting  or just not as concerned they are most likely not doing much and letting the mom do everything.

Answer 11

Honestly, I know I couldn't raise any.  I work 35-40 hrs a week and have 3 animals of my own to care for.   I couldn't afford time off from my job, and don't have the time, money and knowledge to breed a quality litter.   I have friends that foster multiple litters of kittens at a time for the humane society, but they have no children & part-time jobs at most.

Answer 12

I couldn't raise any litter. Imagine if the mother didn't even care for them. I'd have no idea what to do. Or what danger signs to look for. I'd want to give them to my vet to take care of or someone who could.

Answer 13

When it comes to the litter , mom should be doing all the work, even cleaning up after them. I don't know why you should be losing any sleep , You are trying too hard. Mostly the puppies need clean bedding and food and water when they are old enough. I have raised pomerainian pups for over 8 yrs. I never worked as hard as you seem to be doing.I have had as many as 5 litters close together and still didn't work as hard as you are with one  litter. You need to take it easy and let mom do most of the work when the puppies are weaned there is much more work to be done by you then. Once weaned mom will be happy to turn the feeding and cleaning all over to you then.  So once you learn to not work so hard you can handle several litters at once.  Letting mom do all the work will make it so much easier for you.

And as for the puppy shots you can buy them and give them to the pups your self , and lots cheaper to, the vet has to give the rabies shot. You can  buy the 7 in one puppy shots at feed stores and it is easy to give the shots.

And you can buy the puppy shots through   Revival Animal Health at

revivalanimal.com

I have given puppy shots for my pups for over 15 yrs and never had a problem with them.

  

Answer 14

Well, shih tzu litters are generally small, usually 2-5 pups per litter.   I think I could handle two, possibly three.   But I'd much rather just have 1 at a time.   Multiple litters would be a real pain to try and deal with.  Fun.  But a big, messy pain, LOL.

Answer 15

Right now? One that was IF I got into Catahoula breeding a pretty much kept my work schedule as is.

Before my mother was pretty much smart enough to plan her litters around summer vacation as she worked for the school district and I would be off from school to pitch in. It was still a lot of work as Jade really believed in being fruitful and multiplying.

The work, the worry and the sometimes heartache I wouldn't change those three summers for anything.

Answer 16

I used to work at a kennel that bred field labs.

At one time (and only once in the time I was there) we had 5 litters (of between 8 and 13 puppies) at various stages between whelp and going to their new homes.  That...was A LOT of work.

Like I said, I was an employee and I was not alone in taking care of all these little p**p machines - there is no way anybody would be able to do that themselves.  

At the place I worked the owner and I built a number of whelping boxes and we had nice setups for the puppies to be able to have indoor and outdoor access throughout the day.  The litters we took care of did not all belong to my boss - some where friends that simply paid us to take care of the puppies (and the mess) and then the female would go back home when the puppies left.  A number of them were dogs co-owned by my boss who we only saw here and there during their training and when they had puppies.

I'm quite sure that this is why I like to adopt ADULT dogs.  I've had a lifetime worth of puppy p**p, I don't mind living without it...lol.

Answer 17

None!  Dear lord I have no idea how you don't go insane doing it!

I can hardly handle a 12 week old puppy, let alone a whole litter of newborns!

As you can see, I really really need my sleep...

Answer 18

Zero.  I'm not a dog breeder.

I can handle bottlefeeding about 8 kids and/or lambs at a time, but it's about 3 weeks of lost sleep during kidding and lambing season.  Yes, lots of cleaning, handling, feeding... I'm glad most of my girls only kid once a year.

I guess the advantage to raising livestock is that most of the actual veterinary work is done myself.  I have a friend who helps with castrating and disbudding, but all deworming and vaccinations are in-house.  Many of these pup vaccinations can be done by you with a little experience and training - have you considered looking into doing some of this yourself?

Breeding is the easy part because the animals do all of the work.  Raising them, cleaning the messes, socializing and such is alot of work (and if you look at what your hours are compared with the money you make, we will forever be earning less than minimum wage!)  Gotta love it to do it, or you shouldn't do it, right?

Don't overwhelm yourself.  If you already feel at your threshold, you probably are.  It's better to raise one litter with lots of attention interaction and socialization than to spread yourself thin with more.  Quality over quantity!

Answer 19

Comfortably 1 at a time.  This year I had fostered 2 litters of puppies 2 puppies that came at 6 weeks with out mom and 4 that were 4 weeks when mom was killed.  I had both in the house at the same time and I don't think I got any sleep.  So for me the answer would be 1 that were the same age.  I know others that successfully do two at similar ages that are 6 weeks apart.  They do just fine, but then again they only have a couple litters a year and only in late spring.

There is a breeder that is in a couple towns over and they have litters hitting the ground at what seems like every other day, on average they have 10 litters of puppies available to choose from between the two breeds that they do, they also have 103 dogs in their breeding program at last I counted.  Their dogs end up in shelters all the time for their nasty aggressive temperaments, unlike the average Siberian.  

Answer 20

well I actually had 5 litters at one time. The Humane society shut down a puppy mill and called me to see if i could take some of the pregnant ones until they give birth and raise the puppies. WELL when I said yes I did not expect 5!! They all had puppies within the same week! So yes very very busy but it can be done! They are all now 9 weeks old and ready to be adopted out through the Humane Society and the mommas are being spayed next week then they too will be placed through them.