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Below is a picture of my 10 day old pups. As you will notice they vary greatly in size. I was just wondering if i should be concerned or if this much varyance is normal?
The small red and white pup did get chilled and was a little dehydrated on day 2. however with a mixture of 50/50 pedialyte and goats milk and a heating pad under the blanket he came right out of it. He seems very healthy, when he's awake he moves around plenty doesn't cry alot etc. As a matter of fact he's the first one to actually walk on all fours with some success at this point (just a couple steps obviously but he's the only one trying right now)
I make sure he gets plenty of teet time because of his size, I let him get all he wants atleast 4 times a day however while he looks and acts healthy he just won't gain weight. He was 9oz when born, day 2 he lost 3/4 of an ounce (thats when i started the 50/50 mixture and added another heating pad) since then he's maintained weight but hasn't gained.
Theres actually 2 in the litter like this and both seem healthy as can be they just don't put on weight. The other does gain 1/4 ounce now and then but is still close to her birth weight.
Any suggestions i could try to get them to gain or am i worrying for nothing? This is my first litter of pups and i've been pretty bad about worrying over the least little things but this seems serious to me even though the 2 pups don't seem affected in any negative way that i can tell.
Its probably not goign to be a problem ... if the bitch was bred on multiple occasions, the smaller pup may just be the one that was concieved on the last breeding. If so, he'll catch up to the others soon enough. Or, could be a hound that will end up under 13" as an adult. I had one litter where the sire was a pipsqueak and the dam was a full 15" ... we had five pups all averaging 10 oz at birth, and one was only 6 oz! He was one of the fattest, healthiest pups, although was always smaller than his siblings. He's now 18lbs. and the largest male from that breeding is 29lbs of muscle.
Basically, if that pup seems to be gaining weight and growing at his own pace, I wouldn't worry much. However, if he's still noticably smaller when he's about 6-8 weeks old, and doesn't seem as thrifty as the others, I'd have the Vet give him a checkup & maybe do an ultrasound of his heart.
Most likely, tho, he'll come around with supplementation. I use a mixture of one can evaporated milk, two raw egg yolks (no whites!!!), one small carton of plain yogurt, and some boiling water just to thin out the mixture for bottle feeding (btw, add the yogurt after the boiling water). Always beefs up my smaller pups ...
Other than the little tiny red one I think they look nice and fat and healthy and the little one just looks little. I would continue to suppliment it for a couple of weeks with some goats milk. Don't dilute it at all. Pour it straight from the can. I have found that if there is something wrong with a puppy there isn't much you can do but, you can try to help it a along with extra food.
Forgot to mention, if you havne't been already, leave the smaller pup in with the dam without the other siblings, and put him on the rear nipples w/ the most milk. Part of the problem could be he cannot compete for milk with his heftier littermates
It is a misconception (no pun intended) that puppies can be concieved on different days. The bitch releases all her eggs at one time on one day. These eggs would be fertilized within minutes or hours not days. Most of the smaller puppies in a litter are either just genetically small or if a large litter can be lacking in nutrition during gestation. Some placentas are not attached as well as others too. Generally the later born puppies will be the smallest.
You are so right and the ovulation can ocur late in the oestrus and that's why so many misses. People think one tie is all they need and don't realize the sperm dies in about 2 days. One late breeding is usually good, one early one may not be.
Also the evaporated milk (cow's milk) may not be too well digested by young pups and the goat's milk is much safer. Eggs can cause allergic reaction in dogs and I never feed them.
Looks to me that the red and white one is the runt of the litter........Should be fine........
In some of my previous litter's I have had some big one's and some smaller one's..........It seem's normal to me.........They should even out some by the time their 5 week's old.......But you will alway's have some bigger one's and some smaller
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mo. beagler wrote:It is a misconception (no pun intended) that puppies can be concieved on different days.
I did not know that. I had always heard there could be to sires to the same litter. some pups ones, some the others. Thanks for the info..
Yes, there can be. Lets say a bitch got bred yesterday and then today by 2 different dogs. So, we have a mix of semen. She ovulated yesterday and tomorrow her eggs will be fertile. So, whichever semen gets there first...see what I mean? all the eggs will be fertilized at or near the same time but, the semen is a mix of the 2 dogs.
I've differences like that before.
Often the "runt" doesn't make it past the first week because it is pushed away from the mother by the larger pups.
I know of a litter that produced hounds of all sizes (one breeding).
The markings varied quite a bit. Grown the smallest was right at 13" and the largest ended up over 16"
There was quite a difference in the performance characteristics across the litter.
Another thing about sized that I have noticed.
Typically the larger the litters, the smaller the pups.
There is only so much nutrition to go around and a limited space to grow.
Large litters divide the available nutrition between more pups, the temperatures in the womb are higher, and the pups generally smaller.
Large litters often result in still born pups due to competition for nutrition, space, elevated temperature in the womb, and longer labor times to birth more pups.
I feel the ideal litter size is 5, but there is nothing we can do about that.
Thanks for all the info folks, You've all been a great help in easing my mind a bit.
Some more history and a bit of an update:
The 2 smallest of the litter of 7 were born 3rd and 5th. The red pup which was actually one of the largest at birth (9 oz) was born 5th in the litter and is now the smallest at 12 days old weighing in at (9 oz) As i explained earlier on day 2 he had lost 3/4 oz and he has since gained that back slowly. I blame this on him getting chilled on day 2 however i'm concerned that he's not gaining very fast and each day i expect to see him go downhill but so far he still acts as healthy and happy as the other 6.
The other small one (pictured 2nd from the left with what looks like a white 7 on her butt) was the smallest of the litter. I was concerned for her in the begining because she would not gain weight (but she never lost anyas the red one did) Currently she weighs in at 11.75 ounces and she is also very healthy and happy looking.
The other 5 are all well over 1lb and spunky as can bee when they're awake and feeding.
So for now i'll take it day by day and see what nature has planned. If any begin to look sickly i'll see what a vet has to say.
1 more question i'm sure i can find the answer to if i search the forum but might as well ask while i'm typing.
When should the pups get their first worming? I've seen 2 weeks i believe and the puppy wormer i have says 2 weeks but i'm interested in hearing what you all have to say?
The wormer i have is the equivelent of StrongidT (pyrantel pamoate)
I start pyrantel at 3 weeks then again in 10 days.
I have had 2 puppies over the years that just never grew. It was weird and they didn't die right away but, they continued to nurse and get around until about 4 weeks then they go to where it was futile to keep them alive. Eyes didn't open and they looked extremely hairy probably because the hair was growing but, the body wasn't The hair was brittle. Each time I had a vet euthanize them. My guess is something inside isn't right. Not sure thats your puppies problem but, you'll know soon enough.
Am definitely NOT an expert - but my JoJo had 5 pups her first litter - 3 females, 2 males - the smallest female died at 4 days - of the remaining 4, there was one LARGE male and one SMALLER male, one LARGE female and one SMALLER female. I have both the males from that litter - one is still small - probably about 20#, and the other a much "sturdier" boy, probably 25-28# (haven't weighed them lately), but they have much different "builds". Joe is like his maternal "gramma", who is a dainty little girl - and Jack is more like his maternal "grampa", who is not a large beagle, but is a heavier build. I think it's pretty normal to have pups of different sizes - or has been in my litters. JoJo is a fairly "average" size - but when I got her I had no idea what size she'd be - her parents are both "smaller" beagles, as noted above, BUT the mother's full brother is 18" tall and weighs 53# - he's a LOT of beagle - and truly magnificent! My male is quite small - probably about 12" and 20# - which is just about perfect for me.
Just an update, All 7 pups are growing and healthy with the red pup still the smallest weighing in at a whoping 1.5 lbs @ 4.5 weeks old.
I started them on puppy chow + milk replacer mixed in a blender this past weekend and give it to them once a day in addition to their mother still nursing them. They love it!
gunna bump it up to twice a day this weekend when they're 5 weeks old and ween them the week after if they're still doing well with it.
