Heaviest birth weight?

I think our heaviest is probably around 10.5 oz. I groan when I get a pup at
9+ oz. I find they continue to grow, grow, and grow up and over. I really like to see 6-7oz birth weights. Sturdy and able to nurse.

The smallest I can recall was about 2oz. She quickly dwindled to 1.6oz. There was no way she could take a bottle. She looked like a baby bird in my hand. I do supplement with tube feeding as long as needed until they are strong enough on their own to belly up to the bar. You can tell when the scales tip, and the pup is strong enough to fight for, and hold a nipple. Then it is smooth sailing.

My thoughts are this...absolutely FIRST and foremost, it is a living thing that needs a helping hand to gain strength and thrive. Second, it could very well be my next Champion, and third, (and certainly least important, but still,...) that is a $1200.00 puppy. Everything in my being could never let me watch a puppy fade away. I think I would stop breeding if I did that.

I am so lucky that I don't work away from home, and can sometimes be attached to the nursery for days on end, where family and friends pick up the slack around the house and kennel.

Of course, not every one can be saved, but that is usually because something medically is not correct.

 

BRAVO to you both!

 

hmmm my last litter out of my little 13 1/4 bitch had SIX puppies even though we ended up the last 4 days before the c-section giving a progestrone shot to keep her numbers up because she started an early labor..they were still about 3 days too early..we kept them in as long as we could..they all ranged about 3.5oz..the smallest was I think 2.9 or right around there...we did end up losing 3 puppies 2 from being born too early, and the third I dont know why since we were tube feeding every two hours...I was lucky at the time to be out of work so I could devote day in day out to the puppies. I also now have a job with enough flexibility that if I need to take time off I can..

I agree with Missjenneygirl...I fought my absolute hardest to keep the puppies alive...I did not sleep for the first I think 4 or 5 days..great weightloss program I must add...But I did everything within my being to keep them going..I believe I brought them into this world I have to atleast give them a fighting chance and besides that could be my next CH as well, or my pick girl to continue on with!!

 

Missjennygirl, you sound exactly like the breeder I got Emma and Liam from. Her pups are part of her family, even as newborns.

 

I am with both Lightplum and Missjennygirl and I will also fight to keep them alive. I've had to... My one bitch was only 13.75" and had 6 pups both times. By the last week before birth on both litters, it was next to impossible to get her to eat. I don't think she was comfortable enough to eat. For the first litter, she had no milk, and I tube fed for three weeks and later fed puppy mush as there was nothing that could be done to get milk from the bitch, despite help from the breeder vet here. Those pups would've died had I not done that, and it had nothing to do with them being unhealthy/unthrifty, and they shouldn't have to die just because mom had no milk. The second litter from her there were again 6 puppies. She did have milk the second time, though it was never enough for 6 puppies, so I did again have to supplement them. Again, they shouldn't have to die just because mom didn't have enough milk. It was just too big of litters for such a small bitch.

 

I would have spayed the bitch after the first litter. Picky eating and no milk is not something I select for. I want the girls to eat, spit out puppies, have milk and be good mommies. I have small puppies, and I have kept them all alive because they are hearty like thier mothers. My sample size is small, with two litters, but I take reproductive health and robustness very seriously.

 

Given the bitches size, I did not feel it was because of poor reproductive health, nor did the breeder vet I go to. She agreed with me that it was just too large a litter each time to be able to support them all. It couldn't be helped that each litter was so large, which caused her not to want to eat out of sheer discomfort which lead to a lack of milk.
Her daughter is right at 16", and has none of the problems her mother had.