How Many Puppies Do Golden Retrievers Have?
Golden Retrievers are a breed of dogs that have made their way into millions of homes and people’s hearts. Known for their Scottish heritage, once a cross-breed of Yellow Retriever and Tweed Water Spaniel in the mid-nineteenth century is now a favored breed in every 7 out of 10 households in America.
If you’re a dog parent and your Retriever is pregnant, it is normal for you to be anxious about the number of puppies your pet dog will have. today, I will discuss everything you should know about dog pregnancy.
So, let’s get started, shall we?
What is the difference between First Pregnancy and Experienced Pregnancy?
First pregnancy and an experienced pregnancy determine the size of the litter immensely. Let me break it down further for you-
First Pregnancy
If this is your retriever’s first pregnancy, you can expect a litter of about eight puppies. The national average number of puppies a first-time retriever mom has is eight, or more or less around it.
Experienced pregnancy
A retriever who is pregnant the second time around is expected to have a litter of about 6 to 10 puppies.
Singleton Puppy
This is rare but your dog can give birth to a single puppy, so the term “Singleton Puppy”.
What are the other factors that affect litter size?
Allow me to further educate you on the same –
Size of the puppies
Did you know that the size of your dog can affect the litter of puppies vastly? Larger dogs have larger litters whereas smaller dogs have smaller litters. Some retrievers may give birth to a litter of twelve puppies, and the average number of puppies a retriever generally gives birth to is between six to eight.
There’s even the possibility of a retriever giving birth to one puppy or a litter of four. It majorly depends on the size of the dog. The bigger the dog is, the bigger the uterus leading to a larger litter.
Also Read: How To Raise A Golden Retriever Puppy?
Several other factors can affect the litter size too, some of them are as follows:
Diet
The diet of your pregnant doggo is crucial to determine the size and health of her puppies. During pregnancy, your dog must be given a healthy and balanced diet comprising high-quality vitamins, minerals, and sufficient protein. A healthy diet can strongly influence the puppies’ survival rate after birth.
Also Read: How Much To Feed A Golden Retriever Puppy?
Age of Parents
The age of both parents matters immensely to determine the size of the litter. A female retriever should not be bred below the age of 2 years and above 5 years. Pregnancy post 5 years can cause the litter to be small. The sperm count in male retrievers too slows down after the age of age 5. It can either lead to a smaller litter or poor survival post-delivery.
Also Read: How To Tell If A Golden Retriever Is Pure Bred?
Obesity
An obese retriever is considered unhealthy. If the pregent retriever is obese, it is most likely to have a small litter. The survival of the litters of such unhealthy retrievers is also low.
Conception
Once a female retriever is ready to get pregnant, she will inform the male retriever who will mount her. A female retriever can have multiple mating partners, which too affects the litter size.
The conception method too determines the size of the litter. If a retriever is conceived naturally, the litter size is likely to be big. On the other hand, if she’s been conceived artificially, the litter size is likely to be small.
For the record, retrievers that conceive within 48 hours of ovulation get successfully pregnant.
Also Read: How To Deal With An Aggressive Golden Retriever Puppy?
How will you know when it’s time to stop breeding puppies?
As the retriever gets older, her ability to breed puppies reduces. You will begin to notice deformities in the puppies being born or the retriever mom won’t look very healthy.
What is the pregnancy cycle of a female retriever?
The heat cycle of a female retriever is every 6 months. They remain in heat every three to four weeks. The fertility span lasts for about 9 days.
How long are golden retrievers pregnant?
A female golden retriever stays pregnant for about 63 days before she gives birth. In the gestation period, the female will undergo quite a few shifts in her body, such as changes in hunger, vitality, or temper.
What is the right age for the retrievers to get pregnant?
A female retriever should be bred between ages 2 to 5. If done before or after that age limit, it can affect her health immensely. The perfect age to expect a decent litter size is in these 3 years. She is not too young or old to carry the pups during this perios.
As I’ve already discussed, a male retriever begins to lose sperm count post-age 5. This too shall affect the size of the litter immensely.
How many puppies should a female retriever have in her lifetime?
It’s okay for a golden retriever to have between 4-6 puppies in its lifespan. The maximum number of puppies your dog can have is 10. Anything more than that is not good for their health. It can lead her to a painful death.
Also Read: How Many Puppies Do Golden Retrievers Have?
What are Puppy Mills?
A puppy mill is a corporate breeding establishment that mass-produces puppies for sale. Here, the retrievers are bred intensively pregnancy after pregnancy and in inhumane manners. This drains the retriever immensely and eventually leads to a premature and painful death.
If a female is bred every heat cycle, she can produce around 84 puppies in her 10-12 year lifespan. No veterinary care is given to female retrievers during and post delivery. Male retrievers too are left malnourished and abused physically. Such mills use unethical means of breeding to mint out of these pups. And such wrong-doers should be punished for it.
End Note
As tempting as these adorable little puppies is, pregency can be very exhausting for the female retrievers after a certain age.
If you’re planning to breed retriever puppies, you will need to plan it out for a healthy delivery. Take her to the vet before you plan to get her pregnant. Also, make sure she is healthy and able to carry a litter safely.
Consider her age, diet, health, age of her mate, and fitness before you breed her. If all factors give a green signal, then go ahead for breeding.
