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German Shepherd Litter

Average litter for a GSD is seven. Goes down with age. As with me your
bitch can go early, but if your prepared things should go smoothly. With most
GSD’s it’s pretty normal to have puppies at first pretty quick and then have
them slow down as they tire. Or in Hady’s case she just had to move that
puppy a long way and it took a while. But, there is no mistaking contractions.
Anyone, regardless of experience will know a contraction when they see one.
I saw the signs that Hady was going to go early. I just wasn’t listening to
my little inner voice. I even said it jokingly to Christina that Hady was
in labor. But, I was so distracted with my own personal issues that I didn’t
take myself serious. About two hours later the first pup was born before I
had even set up my whelping box which Aric had just delivered. I was on the
phone with Beth. Heard the pup mewing and said hey I got to go. It was panic
time for about an hour before I got the situation under control. So, even
pro’s get caught with their pants down. But, anyone looking can see that a
bitch is in labor.
I don’t think there is any reason to panic with a gap of four hours if the
bitch is not straining with no results. If you are sure there are more pups
and four hours has passed with no contractions then you start to worry. But,
Hady went three hours without a contract last night and then got on with it
and had the pup pretty quick.
Like Susan said. Getting the bitch up and outside is a great way to move
things along. I did that several times last night. Just had to take a flash
light with me for fear that she would leave a pup behind in the yard :)
My biggest concern with Hady is that she is a heavy bitch and not careful
where she steps. So, I have to be Johnny on the spot to keep her from walking
all over her pups when in labor with the next puppy. I keep a box with a
heating pad under it for this occasion. When she starts into labor with the
next pup I grab up all the pups and put them into their warm box. Once she has
her puppy then I work to get that puppy to nurse before putting the rest of
the pups back with her. Unless she is being to rough, and then I will give
her a stronger pup to maul around while I get the new pup to nurse.
I feel strongly that a new pup needs to nurse within the first thirty
minutes of it’s life and work hard to make that happen.
The other big issue is warmth. It has to be HOT in the whelping room. At
least 87 degrees the first day. 85 degrees the second day, 83 the third, 80
on the forth and by then the pups can do fine in normal room temps. But,
those first few days are critical.
I use a heat lamp from above to heat a portion of the whelping box and from
below with a heating pad. Pups will crawl to the heat if cold and away if
hot. It is easy to tell if you have happy puppies. Happy puppies are quiet.
Noisy pups are either cold or hungry. Hot puppies will pant and spread out.
Cold puppies will huddle on top of one another.
Last night I kept the temperature at floor level about 90 to 95 for most of
the night. Today it’s staying around 90 and the pups are happy.
I could write a book about this stuff. I have seen some pretty weird stuff
over the years. I have even had a puppy born alive twenty hours after all
the other pups were delivered. I have whelped litters from fifteen to one. I
have had bitches that were great moms and ones that were terrible moms and
everything in-between.
But, Susan Brown’s model is a good one for success. Know your dog, use
common sense, call when you need help and be prepared to spend a lot of time in
that whelping box with your new babies. Moms need a lot of help if all the
pups are going to do well.
Happy to answer all your questions and their is tons of info on the net.
Problem is that it all conflicts. One site says do this and the next say’s to
do that. So, read away and then just do your best.

17 Comments

17 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Bill Maher // Sep 22, 2008 at 12:48 pm

    Thank you our GS is in labor as I write this and you just saved me a panic attack lol. You should write a book …cant wait to see our new babies the father is a white husky and she is a pure black GS

  • 2 David Harris // Sep 23, 2008 at 11:55 am

    Bill I am glad the site was helpful. Write up your story and why you were in a panic. I will post your story so that others can learn from your experience. Send the story to my e-mail address.

  • 3 gregariousred // Sep 25, 2008 at 12:15 pm

    What do you do in a case like Envy’s, where there’s prolonged contractions (for hours) with no puppies? Especially if you are NOT an expert?

  • 4 David Harris // Sep 25, 2008 at 9:25 pm

    Two hours is nothing to panic about. Three is starting to make me nervous and four hours with contractions and no pup is something to be concerned about, but the judgement call has to be how stressed the bitch is acting. If you have gotten oxytocin from your vet then I would administer it at two hours to get things moving again. If not, and three hours has passed with contractions and no puppy then it’s time to call the vet. Not panic, but call for advice.

  • 5 Jessica // Apr 30, 2009 at 10:29 pm

    I have a question. Often how big is a german shepherd’s litter? Another question. If the daddy is a huskey? I just don’t know how many to expect. But the main question is, generally, how many usually come in a litter with this breed of dog. I have been a cat person my whole life untill the day I set eyes on Kiawa. She is my pride and joy and she is the best therapy for me and I am the best therapy for her. Basically we are best friends. Hah. Sorry to bore you to death. I’m just a bit worried about how many she may produce. She is just getting over heartworm treatments and I just wanted to know how many mouths we are feeding her. I got her back on Pedigree puppy chow. Cooking her liver sometimes. She gets whole milk sometimes cause I read about how the leading cause of puppies death has something to do with the lack of nutrition in the bitch. Oh what an awefull, tinge we have put on that word. I would rather call her Kia. Anyways sorry to stray from my question but if anyone could give me an estimate. I am planning to take her to the vet and find out when she is far enough along. But it’s too early now and my mind is racing.

    Thanks,
    Jess

  • 6 Jessica // Apr 30, 2009 at 10:36 pm

    I guess I didn’t read the 7 part above….. hahaha stupid me….. okay. Well the daddy is a Siberian Husky and I don’t know how that impacts the question I asked earlier? So to rephrase my question. My german shepherd is preggers from a husky. How many puppies should they produce? Same number? My dog is 2 years and 3months and this is her first pregnancy.

    sorry and thanks,
    -jess

  • 7 Bill Maher // May 1, 2009 at 9:51 am

    Jess I am not sure how many puppies you will have but what I do know is that husky/Shepard mix is amazing. I kept one of our puppies his name is Yagar and he is BIG only 6 months old he is way bigger and heavier then both parents and beautiful besides smart he truely got the best of both parents. Good Luck with your puppies and if you can keep one you wont be disappointed. Bill

  • 8 Manona // Feb 22, 2010 at 8:48 pm

    How old would you say a GSD bitch can become pregant? Not to early like a teen pregnancy. Thanks
    ~Manona

  • 9 Manona // Feb 22, 2010 at 8:53 pm

    Sorry I’ve got another question. Where do you find good temperament studs? To you own both the bitch and the stud, or look for the perfect match? I’m very new at this breeding thing. I would like to know everything before I try. And one more question, is the a book or website that has good advice and step by step instructions of how to breed and raise GSD’s or the common term dogs?

  • 10 David Harris // Feb 23, 2010 at 10:40 am

    Manona,

    A GSD bitch can get pregnant on her very first heat cycle. But, should not be bred until at least twenty months and not until you have completed her health checks. Hips, Elbows perhaps eyes depending on the bloodline. You can get hips certified with several different organizations. OFA, Pennhip, SV in Germany. Just depends on what your breeding goals might be.

    You can get a lot of information from the German Shepherd Club of America, Schutzhund USA, WDA or the AKC.

    A nice website for doing pedigee searches is www.pedigreedatabase.com

    I would suggest you find a breeder you can trust and try to learn from them.

  • 11 Shelle // May 14, 2010 at 1:34 pm

    Hi my Shepard is 5 years old and has just given birth to her second litter of pups, only she has only had three pups I now the amount that they produce can reduce with age but I am a bit worried that something has possibly gone wrong somewhere. Like feotal absorbtion. Also she has gone right off all food and is hardly drinking have you got any advice as to how to encourage her to eat or at least drink. Any advice will be much appreciated. Thankyou

  • 12 David Harris // May 15, 2010 at 4:57 pm

    Shelle. Sorry I wasn’t able to reply right away. Normally we are very good at getting back quickly, but for future reference if you need answers quick don’t rely on the blog. Got to the website and call me.

    What is going on with your female now? It’s been over 24 hours since you wrote of your problems. What has happened since then?

  • 13 adeline // Aug 17, 2010 at 6:02 pm

    my nephews german shepard just this morning well up until just now actually had eleven puppies how do we make sure we keep them all fed and healthy

  • 14 David Harris // Aug 18, 2010 at 5:22 pm

    Rotate! You feel their bellies. They should feel like a full tick. If they do not then make sure they get up to nurse. Pay special attention to the smaller pups. The larger ones can fend for themselves in most cases.

    Unfortunately, you will most likely lose a few. That is normal and mother natures way of making sure the fittest pups survive to perpetuate the species.

    Once the pups are about three and half weeks old you can start to feed them a soft mash. That will really help to take some pressure off the bitch to produce so much milk.

    You will also want to pay special attention to her and make sure she is getting an abundance of water and high quality nutrition so that she can make milk. There are some very good supplements that will help as well.

    Keep up posted and good luck.

  • 15 farah // Sep 22, 2010 at 1:23 pm

    Hi, i have a german shepherd and she is probably 7 weeks pregnant if its not a false pregnancy. I was wondering how many puppies to expect because her abdomen did not swell much. An approximate estimation will be helpful.
    Thank you

  • 16 farah // Sep 22, 2010 at 1:26 pm

    by the way, i forgot to mention its going to be her first litter and she is 2 years and 9 months old.

  • 17 David // Sep 23, 2010 at 8:33 am

    Tyically young dogs such as yours are very fertile. So, if she is pregnant then you can expect between eight and twelve puppies. You can expect some to not survive the process since your bitch is so young and you are inexperienced. The average litter for a mature GSD is seven. My largest litter was fifteen and my smallest was one.

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