The last few years have not been kind to my girls - they have either not gotten pregnant or had small litters. I've done guarded cultures and given Baytril when appropriate, but still have a problem - the girls behind my current generation all had large, free-whelped litters. Food is constantly changing, so I'm wondering what people are feeding who are having better luck with larger litter sizes on average?

Honestly, I think dogs can do well on any quality diet. So I do not think kibble correlates to litter size. I think timing, general health of bitch and semen quality are probably the key items.

The type of food probably won't have anything to do with the size of the litter. There is a process called flushing used on sheep and goats to produce multiple ovulation. Basically they are moved to richer pasture a couple of weeks before breeding. No evidence that it would work on dogs though, even if they would eat grass. ;)

Have you just started doing more shipments with chilled semen as opposed to fresh?

As a stud owner, I regularly see people trying to breed their bitch too early. Wait till she hits 5 and then breed 2 and 4 days later. Sometimes people will hit 2.8 and ask for semen to be shipped the following day.

Just wondering...because I don't think food will influence number of puppies unless she is starving or a total butterball.

Hi - no, I've been doing shipped semen for 10+ years - always had large litters, obviously do progesterone timing and usually breed 2 and 4 days post-ovulation, if possible. I'm feeding a quality kibble, just think it's odd that what used to work isn't working on this latest generation. Now, I only have a few girls, in fact only one right now of breeding age - so it's frustrating only getting a few puppies here and there - both with her and her half-sisters and other related females from the lines that up to this generation had really good fertility.

Just thought I'd pick everyone's brains to see if I could come up with an idea to try next time!

In my case I'm guessing it has something to do with the size of the pups. Twenty years ago my pups were averaging about ten ounces when born; now they typically range between 18-24 ounces. With puppies that large there's less room in the uterus.

Of course the lines I'm breeding now are different too so genetics may play a role.

FOOD ? Well, that is new to me. I would think more timing.

Like my counterpart above,timing is everything.

Just because your girl is flagging, does not mean she is ready to be bred.

Just because your girl was bred on day 16 last litter does not necessarily mean the same will hold true for this cycle.

Good reliable ovulation timing is key.

Food? I am afraid that is wishful thinking. If only things were that simple. All my girls have been on the same food for ages. One girl has had 12 puppy litters every time. Another one never had more than 4. Everyone else was somewhere in between.

A little over 4 years ago a friend talked me into trying Royal Canin Starter on a litter of puppies. Hands down the best puppy food I have ever fed. Using the puppy food led me to look into other breeder diets in their portfolio. They make a formula specifically for breeding bitches called HT 42D. Prior to using this food my average litter size was 4-5 puppies. If I had 6 puppies I was in heaven! In the past 4 years I have not missed a bitch and my average litter size is now 8-10 (most recently had a litter of 12). Can I promise the food is solely responsible. Nope. But, I can tell you I am not about to change anything! I was so impressed with the food I now work for Royal Canin. If you'd like further information on HT 42D please contact me directly as it's not available in retail stores!

Eukanuba did a study many years ago and came up with the conclusion that bitches fed their 30/20 premium formula would had in average 2 more puppies per litter. I used that formula for while and did see an increment in the size of the litters and live puppies born. I stopped using it when they changed the formula 1-2 years ago. I still use a 30/20 formula and so far, I'm happy with the results.
If you are doing all you can with timing and bitch's health, then yes you might see a benefit from using a richer quality food.
There are some lines that carry large puppy size at birth. Those lines will have a lot of problems at whelp time.
You have to see the whole picture.
Good luck!

Interesting concept!

All this has me thinking. Right now, three breeder friends have litters on the ground, two litters of 11 and one litter of 10. Since I supply their dog food, I'm going to have to make up and offer 32 puppy packs - thank heavens the year doesn't have twelve months of May or I'd be broke!!! Maybe it's time to change the recipe...........?

Check your water, esp. if you are on a well. If you are on sewers and you won't drink from your taps, neither should your dogs. If you have filtration system, make sure its running smoothly and you have a new light. Anyway, just a thought. I do agree, timing is everything but if you have a real Lab like Idexx running your tests-you are doing all you can that way(beyond a surgical implant)

what 30/20 food are you using?

TIA..

Would love to know what food you speak of and what puppy food you are delivering......

I do think we need to check the semen quality prior to breeding.............we leave that to the discretion of the Stud Dog owner and at the last minute is not the time to check it..............."right before it goes in to the bitch"

Breeder 2 - unfortunately, it's not available in the US. It's made to order and delivered here 5 tons at a time, about 5 times a year. Not sure it really has much to do with litter size. According to my osteopath, the water (as suggested by Kim) could have an influence...

I've never had a litter smaller than 7, usually have 10 pups. I strongly believe in extra protein as soon as they are in season. Protein makes the placentas. Not only are more eggs fertilized, but there are less reabsorbed. This info was actually given me by a certified human midwife but I've found it works great with dogs, too. I feed a 32% protein/20% fat food but still add an hard boiled egg a day as soon as they are in season and continue for a week after breeding. Has worked well with 3 different lines for me.

Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mention. Diamond Performance.