09/10/2024
🐾🐶🐩🐕🦺🐕🦮I have a lot of people on here that are 1st time breeders so this week I’m going to post some puppy facts for you all.
1.Largest litter ever recorded was 24 puppies
One of the most amazing fun facts about puppies is recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records! In 2004, in the UK, a Neapolitan mastiff called Tia, gave birth to 24 pups by Caesarean section!
2. Puppies double their birth weight after the first week
If your pup is growing healthy and strong, they should ideally double their birth weight after the first week!
3. Their coat colour may change as they grow
The colour of puppies’ coats may change as they get older. Patches of colour can shift and grow, and how they do so depend on their breed. Dalmatians, for instance, don’t develop their famous spots until they are two or three weeks old. If your pup is purebred, you’ll be able to predict their appearance by how their parents look, but for crossbred or mixed breed pups, it can be more complicated.
4. Puppies can be twins
There are often many puppies in a litter, each genetically unique – but did you know that puppies can be twins? The first confirmed case occurred in South Africa in 2016, with vet Kurt de Cramer delivering them via Caesarean section. There may have been other unconfirmed cases of genetically identical canine twins, but this was the first officially recorded instance of identical puppies being born.
5. On average, giving birth to an entire litter takes 3-12 hours from the start of contractions/straining. Exact timing varies, but most dogs give birth to their whole litter with 12 hours. The process should never take longer than 24 hours – any longer and the risk of a problem becomes very high.