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Whats the biggest litter of BC's


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Wow 11 or 12 BC puppies? That's amazing.

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Wick had 11 pups (2 died during whelping). What makes it more extraordinary is that Wick was pulled from a shelter a day or two before whelping, and she only weighed about 40 lbs with all those pups in her. I believe one of the lovely ladies who transported her to RDM described Wick as "a pregnant goat".

 

neko_lg.jpg

 

A cute pic of the four surviving sausages, taken by RDM:

sausages.jpg

 

Here are three of her four pups on their first b'day:

wicks_kids.jpg

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Sad, though, how only 4 survived.

Yes, well, given the shape that she was in, and the fact that she was not the most maternal dog in the world, I think it's downright heroic that RDM was able to raise 4 pups to adoption age! It was sad watching the RIP notices going up, as the pups had reindeer names, and seeing "Rudolph - RIP" was upsetting. I think the saddest was learning that Wick sat on "Comet" and smothered him. :rolleyes:

 

The first year birthday pic is great! How exciting that everyone could get together-they are all extraordinary looking!!

Thank you, they are striking! That was 4 years ago (!). People at the beach couldn't believe the little weird one (their words) was the mother to the other three gorgeous border collies. She had two split-faces, a very traditional B&W, and a slickie. None of them really look like her, but that's probably a good thing. We don't see them very much (two of them moved out of province), but Wick did see her slickie daughter this past summer at a sheepdog trial. True to her nature, she ignored her. :D

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Those little sausages are so adorable! Even when they are full grown, so cute!!

 

 

Wow a litter of 12!!!! Thats got to be the biggest. The poor mommy.

Casey came from a litter of 7 or 8, i know they were all boys. Ash i dont know, she was a rescue.

Bella, i dont know either. Wolfie came from a litter of 9, the son of Casey and Ash.

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Shadow came from a huge litter ... of 4 LOL. Think her breeders largest litter was 8. Is it normal to only breed your dogs a few times before retirement? He only breeds them 5 times then sells them (usually as working dogs).

 

ONLY 5 times? Then sells them???? I know a lot of breeders who only let a bitch have 1 or 2 litters. They breed their working dog when they want another pup for themselves from those lines. They don't sell them after they "retire from breeding" because the point of the dog in the first place was to work on their farm, not to produce puppies. If a breeder is letting a bitch have 5 litter before she is even middle aged then selling her off I would question their motives.

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All his dogs are working dogs. No "pets" and all eventually for sale. The only 5 times breeding was the LOWEST I've seen on any of the breeders' sites I looked at in Atlantic Canada. Many breed until the bitch cannot possibly breed anymore (which I think is cruel, but I can't do anything to stop them =/) Most of the retired bitches I've seen on his site were 7 or 8 (I believe).

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All his dogs are working dogs. No "pets" and all eventually for sale. The only 5 times breeding was the LOWEST I've seen on any of the breeders' sites I looked at in Atlantic Canada. Many breed until the bitch cannot possibly breed anymore (which I think is cruel, but I can't do anything to stop them =/) Most of the retired bitches I've seen on his site were 7 or 8 (I believe).

 

What breeders were you looking at? Most of the breeders I would buy from in Canada don't even have a web page.

 

scenario 1: breed a bitch 5 times, starting when she is 2 yrs old, and "retire" her young

pros - she is young and healthy so better able to handle pregnancy, her pelvis hasn't fused so whelping should be easy, she can retire young from breeding

cons - she is pregnant every heat cycle which is very hard on her body, how do you even know she is worth breeding once let alone 5 times?

 

This scenario does not allow for preserving the working Border Collie because you don't have enough information on the working ability of the dam or what she produces. Instead you are producing dozens of pups from an uproven female. I find this practice unacceptable.

 

scenario 2: breed the bitch 5 times after she retires from a trial career

pros - she has proven herself worthy of breeding

cons - pregnancy is harder for her, fertility is reduced, she may have a harder time given birth

 

scenario 3: breed the bitch 5 times over her lifetime with the last litter being when she is 8 or 9 yrs old

pros - she can take the winter off from trials to raise pups but still compete during the summer, she had her first litter young so her pelvis is wider, she proves herself worthy of breeding, you can experiment with different sires by seeing how the pups she produces turn out as working dogs

cons - the bitch took time off raising pups she could have used instead for training

 

It is not bad for a HEALTHY bitch who hasn't been pregnant on every single heat cycle and has had at least 1 litter while she was younger to be bred when she is older. I would be very cautious about breeding an 8 year old maiden, but would not have a problem with a very healthy 8 year old with a history of a few easy pregnancies having a litter.

 

scenario 4: breed the bitch only when you want a new pup from those lines to train, likely fewer than 5 times

pros - not producing lots of surplus pups, can prove the bitch and evaluate her pups as working dogs

cons - you may not get what you want out of her if the stud you chose turned out to not be a good match

 

If you really believe in preserving the working Border Collie you need to look for breeders who are taking the TIME to evaluate their dogs to see if they are worth breeding in the first place. No good working breeder I know would breed a bitch 5 times when she is young then retire her from breeding. Many will breed a bitch when she is young, but after working her longer and seeing how her pups turn out as sheepdogs they may decide a different type of stud is better suited to her.

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  • 12 years later...

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