# How many puppies are normal in a Cavalier King Charles dog litter?



## Mund1950 (Feb 8, 2015)

I've finally made the decision to breed a litter from my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. I've already spent a ton. I have spent over $4,000 on the stud fee, getting her vaccinations, having her health screened (cardiac, elbow, eyes, hips, patella, thyroid) and purchasing all the supplies. The breeder of my dog is the one that is helping me. She told me not to expect more than three puppies. She is a small girl, only around 13 pounds. So, I'm not sure if she will have even three. I don't think she is big enough to carry more than two pups. As much as I would like a large litter, I think a smaller litter would be easier. She is 2-years-old. She is in her prime breeding age, so I know she is more fertile. I made sure to wait until her fourth heat cycle to breed her. This will be her first litter. I will probably breed her again when she is 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 and then have her spayed. She is very healthy. She is at a perfect weight. Her heat cycles are always on schedule. My girl and the sire have great hearts, elbows, eyes, hips, patellas and thyroid, so I'm sure the pups will turn out great. I am still walking her a mile per day.


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## Old Shep (Oct 17, 2010)

You're "still" walking her a mile a day? Can I ask what that means? 

I'm also a little alarmed at the number of litters you are planning from this one dog. It seems a bit much to me.


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## hd123 (Feb 17, 2013)

6 litters  I'd say three maximum and wouldn't even be looking that far at this stage. Also, don't forget to keep money aside for potential c section and other vets fees. Great that you've done all the right testing but please go one step at a time with your little girl, she's a pet, not a puppy making machine. 

I'm not a CKCS breeder but do they require testing for syringomyelia?


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

I have never owned a Cavalier but had a bitch here once to deliver her pups when her owner was taken into Hospital.

It was her first litter and she had six pups. They were tiny, only between three and five ounces in weight.

She screamed throughout her entire labour and wanted nothing to do with the pups when they were born. I had to hand rear them. Cavaliers are not the most instinctive Mums.

Are you really planning to breed six litters from your bitch? Can I ask why? If you want a pup for yourself, surely, one litter is enough?

I don't think the Kennel Club will allow you to register six litters from one bitch.

Is your girl a pet, because what you're planning sounds to me as though she's nothing more than something that can produce six litters for you. Far too many for one bitch. It's not kind.


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

I see you have posted earlier, on another thread, saying that you own a Norwich Terrier and she is five weeks pregnant.

What are you doing?


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## Old Shep (Oct 17, 2010)

Oh dear! You're commenting on another thread about the cost of an X-ray. Do you realise how expensive a c section is?

You also say you are an experienced breeder, but seem to be asking very basic questions.

I'm confused???


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## Ceiling Kitty (Mar 7, 2010)

Six litters is too many for one bitch.

Have the hearts and eyes been screened by a cardiologist and ophthalmologist respectively, or just a GP vet? Have you had an MRI to screen for SM in both parents?


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

Old Shep said:


> Oh dear! You're commenting on another thread about the cost of an X-ray. Do you realise how expensive a c section is?
> 
> You also say you are an experienced breeder, but seem to be asking very basic questions.
> 
> I'm confused???


I have no wish to be unkind but, what's the line between an experienced breeder and a puppy farmer?

You're absolutely right, she is asking basic questions, but they all seem to be based around how many pups she can get.

A Norwich Terrier, already pregnant, and a Cavalier expected to produce six litters?

Are you hearing Puppy Farmer too?


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## Old Shep (Oct 17, 2010)

Sweety said:


> I have no wish to be unkind but, what's the line between an experienced breeder and a puppy farmer?
> 
> You're absolutely right, she is asking basic questions, but they all seem to be based around how many pups she can get.
> 
> ...


Absolurly. It was the first thing that came to mind. Unfortunately.


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## rocco33 (Dec 27, 2009)

They are not my breed, but I'm sure I've read that they should not be tested before 3 years (I think it's the syringomyelia) so she is too young and OMG - 6 litters? That's far too many - your poor bitch.


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

rocco33 said:


> They are not my breed, but I'm sure I've read that they should not be tested before 3 years (I think it's the syringomyelia) so she is too young and OMG - 6 litters? That's far too many - your poor bitch.


I agree, and it was going so well as regards as the testing, having a breeder mentor etc, until you get down to the planned "breeding programme"
Like you say poor little dog. Financial seems to be the biggest driving force.


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## Tanya1989 (Dec 4, 2009)

... deleted. Don't know why i bother


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## Mund1950 (Feb 8, 2015)

I walk her mile per day. What is so hard to understand about that? If its not good for her, I wont breed so many litters from her. Instead of breeding six litters from her, I will breed five.

I didnt think six litters was that much? I dont have to breed anymore than three litters from her. I have a separate emergency fund for my dogs and I have about $20,000 in it. I would never breed a dog that didnt pass all health screenings. I have not tested for syringomyelia. 

This will be my first Cavalier King Charles Spaniel litter. I would be very surprised if she had six puppies, but that would be wonderful. Im sure the pups she births will be small. Im sure her first delivery will be painful. If necessary, I will hand rear the pups. I hope it doesnt come to that, though. I will make sure to test her for syringomyelia before I breed her again. The CKCSC-USA recommends a maximum of six litters from one female. I do plan on keeping a female for myself. The AKC allows you to register a maximum of 25 litters from one female. She is a pet dog. I wont breed her six times. I didnt know that was wrong to do.

My Norwich Terrier is also 5-weeks pregnant. I have bred both my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and Norwich Terrier. 

What is so wrong about breeding two females at once? I never once asked about the cost of a radiograph. I asked when I should have it done. I have bred litters before, but I have never had radiographs done. I wanted to make sure I am doing things right.

Again, I will not breed her six times. A cardiologist at an OFA Meetup screened her heart. She, nor the sire, has been screened by syringomyelia. 

Puppy farmers dont extensively screen their dogs for health. Asking how many puppies I can expect from a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (considering I have never bred one) is a simple question and I was expecting a simple answer. Yes, I bred both my Norwich Terrier and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Im not going to sell my puppies to pet stores. 

I specialize in Cavalier King Charles and Norwich Terriers. I know everything about the breeds. My Cavalier King Charles Spaniel competes in competitive obedience and my Norwich Terrier competes in tracking. 

I will get her tested for syringomyelia after this litter. Again, I will not breed six litters from her. 

Once again  I will not breed six litters from her. Im already very well off and have put more money into my dogs than I could ever hope to get back with puppies.

If you have a problem with me, dont even bother responding. I dont remember coming here and asking for your personal opinions about me.


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## Ceiling Kitty (Mar 7, 2010)

Mund1950 said:


> I walk her mile per day. What is so hard to understand about that? If its not good for her, I wont breed so many litters from her. Instead of breeding six litters from her, I will breed five.
> 
> I didnt think six litters was that much? I dont have to breed anymore than three litters from her. I have a separate emergency fund for my dogs and I have about $20,000 in it. I would never breed a dog that didnt pass all health screenings. I have not tested for syringomyelia.
> 
> ...


I don't wish to be rude, but you have started several threads asking about how many puppies to expect and when pups can go outside etc - have you not a mentor or experienced friend helping you with this?

Have you read up on breeding, whelping and raising pups?

I guess if an experienced CKCS breeder has told you to expect around three pups, then you could expect around three pups. 

Don't breed five litters either. In the UK, the Kennel Club limits registered litters to four per bitch. I'd say four is an absolute maximum for one bitch.

I am not a breeder.


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Mund1950 said:


> I walk her mile per day. What is so hard to understand about that? If its not good for her, I wont breed so many litters from her. Instead of breeding six litters from her, I will breed five.
> 
> I didnt think six litters was that much? I dont have to breed anymore than three litters from her. I have a separate emergency fund for my dogs and I have about $20,000 in it. I would never breed a dog that didnt pass all health screenings. I have not tested for syringomyelia.
> 
> ...


If you specialise in Cavaliers and Norwich Terriers and know everything about the breed, then there is obviously nothing that we can tell you anyway is there.


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## Old Shep (Oct 17, 2010)

Surely this is a wind up.


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## labradrk (Dec 10, 2012)

Ohh ONLY 5 litters, as if that is so much better.  Would you like to spend half of your life pregnant? no, and believe me, your dog doesn't either. There is no justification for even contemplating breeding one bitch that many times.


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## Thorne (May 11, 2009)

Refreshing to see that you have been thorough with health tests so far, will you be getting your bitch screened for syringomyelia when she is old enough? And is the sire screened? It is distressing enough to observe a Cavvy suffering from SM, so I dread to think what it is like for the dogs themselves. 

I feel it is worth adding that the incidence of metritis, pyometra, and mammary tumours (among other related diseases) increases in un-neutered bitches in correlation with increasing age and number of litters. In other words, the longer a bitch is entire and the more litters they have, the more likely they are to experience these potentially fatal conditions.

I adopted my bitch from a puppy farm aged -almost- 7 years. She had a litter every year, totalling 6. There were 9 pups in her last litter, 7 of which were stillborn. When Breeze was 8 she had a cancerous mammary tumour removed. 
My grandmother adopted her dog from the same kennels aged 5 years. Gemma was also bred yearly, and developed advanced metritis shortly after giving birth to her last litter. For what it's worth, the entire litter of 5 was born prematurely and died within 3 days. 

I hope you are prepared for an incredible amount of work; looking after one litter is hard enough, let alone two.


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

You are not, by any means, a conscientious breeder. 

Let me ask you this. If you're going to breed all these pups, why are you doing it?

One reason and one alone. Money. You should be very, very ashamed.

You're a puppy farmer, pure and simple, and believe me, it takes a lot for me to be so outspoken, but you are everything that is going wrong in this World where the Shelters and Pounds are full of unwanted dogs.

Shame on you. Think again for God's sake will you.


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## Sams and Ellas Mum (Feb 3, 2015)

Sweety I think she said she isn't selling them to pet stores. Sorry just so you know  she's already made enough mistakes lets not add to her list


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## Dogloverlou (Dec 8, 2013)

If you're an expert on the breed why didn't you know about testing for SM? It's an absolutely horrible and painful disease that could result in a lifetime of heartache and suffering for the future pups and owners. I would expect an experienced Cavalier owner/breeder to be testing BOTH parents for that, heart, and DNA test for episodic falling syndrome and curly coat, at a minimum.

Here is a good site for your benefit - Cavalier King Charles Spaniel - Health & Genetic Diseases


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## Honeys mum (Jan 11, 2013)

Like Shoshannah says, if you know everything about your dogs, why would you come on PF to ask advice about such simple things, that most dog owners should already know.

I'm afraid you come across as some one who is putting your poor dogs through this purely for money, and not thinking of the welfare of your girls.
You quote that the AKC allows you to register 25 litters from one bitch, that is unbelieveable, and would be impossible, and you think that 5 litters would be O.K. instead of six, no way, far too many.
I worry how you intend to find homes for all these puppies, May I suggest that you take a good look round some of the rescues and see how many there are in there, before you mate your girls again.
You say they are your pets, so please keep them as just that and enjoy them, and not use them as breeding machines. Because what you are planning is just one step away from puppy farming, whow ever way you look at it.


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## Honeys mum (Jan 11, 2013)

Sorry, my previous post should read, however way you look at it.


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## lilythepink (Jul 24, 2013)

is there an emoticon for a big fat YAWN??????????

If this isn't a wind up, this is why there needs to be more info out there about BYBs and puppy farmers.

Every other line is a contradiction. Boring.


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

25 litters 

5 litters is not impossible or too dreadful with a bitch that has small litters. My sheltie that I bred from did not ever look as though she had just bred a litter. Her weight was perfect and she was fit and well. My standard poodle stayed very fit but you could tell she had bred one litter.


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## Old Shep (Oct 17, 2010)

I don't believe this is a serious poster. What he's asking is ridiculous for a so called "experienced" breeder.

What temperature should the house be?

How often should I feed the bitch?

When can I leave the pups alone with mum?

Honestly! I've never bred a litter in my life and know Jack sh1t about breeding but I shure know he answers to these.

Haven't you heard of books? You know, eyre made of paper and you can read cool informative things in them.


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## Linden_Tree (Jan 6, 2011)

OP is a liar and has already been banned from at least one other forum.


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Old Shep said:


> I don't believe this is a serious poster. What he's asking is ridiculous for a so called "experienced" breeder.
> 
> What temperature should the house be?
> 
> ...


There is actually some very good websites too, if the OP has access to the internet as he must to be on here, then you can find all that out easily.
I often give one that's an AKC breeders resources one that would answer all the questions above.

It goes from even considering breeding to pups going to new homes.

https://images.akc.org/pdf/breeders/resources/guide_to_breeding_your_dog.pdf


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## pickle (Mar 24, 2008)

Old Shep said:


> Surely this is a wind up.


My thoughts exactly.......and 25 litters!!!!!


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

pickle said:


> My thoughts exactly.......and 25 litters!!!!!


I noticed the 25 litters bit in the post and couldn't decide whether I was reading the post incorrectly or it was a typo. I even had a look on the AKC website to see if it said anywhere about how many litters a bitch should have, but gave up as I couldn't find anything.
I don't think a bitch could live long enough to produce 25 litters, what a dreadful thought.
Begining to agree that this is a windup, experienced breeder, yeah right. I've never bred a dog, but know more then this person.


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## Hanwombat (Sep 5, 2013)

Really hope this is a wind-up. Dogs aren't machines


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

Sams and Ellas Mum said:


> Sweety I think she said she isn't selling them to pet stores. Sorry just so you know  she's already made enough mistakes lets not add to her list


Apologies, I obviously misread that part.

Probably not reading carefully enough because I was so shocked by her selfish plans to breed a bitch nearly to Death.

I'll go back and remove that part of my post.


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## cinnamontoast (Oct 24, 2010)

Yawn. Is it half term already?


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## pickle (Mar 24, 2008)

This person has another thread started about her Rat terriers  titled-
"are puppy fetuses in separate sacs"!!


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## pickle (Mar 24, 2008)

Sorry, apparently Rat terriers not his/her dogs!


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## Flot1930 (Feb 10, 2015)

Why are you guys being so mean to someone who is just asking for advice? Wow. That is sad. The average number of puppies in a CKCS litter is anywhere from 2 to 6. 

A dog should only be bred if they have show/working titles and are properly health screened. Most dogs should never be bred. 99% of dogs don't need to reproduce EVER. If a dog doesn't have at least one title, then they should not be bred. Show and/or working titles are fine, but every dog that is bred should at least have one. I think the amount of litters a dog should have in a lifetime varies by breed. I would never breed a female more than three times. The most I ever bred a female was four times, but I wouldn't do that again.


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## Flot1930 (Feb 10, 2015)

pickle said:


> Sorry, apparently Rat terriers not his/her dogs!


I did see this person post about helping birth a Rat Terrier litter that did not belong to her.


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## Amelia66 (Feb 15, 2011)

Flot1930 said:


> Why are you guys being so mean to someone who is just asking for advice? Wow. That is sad. The average number of puppies in a CKCS litter is anywhere from 2 to 6.
> 
> A dog should only be bred if they have show/working titles and are properly health screened. Most dogs should never be bred. 99% of dogs don't need to reproduce EVER. *If a dog doesn't have at least one title, then they should not be bred. *Show and/or working titles are fine, but every dog that is bred should at least have one. I think the amount of litters a dog should have in a lifetime varies by breed. I would never breed a female more than three times. The most I ever bred a female was four times, but I wouldn't do that again.


This is a very close minded view.
A title is nothing but words, it means nothing. If the dog is a good example of their breed and healthy that means everything. They don't need to have ever stepped into a show ring to be a good example of the breed and healthy.


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## Burrowzig (Feb 18, 2009)

Mund1950 said:


> I've finally made the decision to breed a litter from my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. I've already spent a ton. I have spent over $4,000 on the stud fee, getting her vaccinations, having her health screened (cardiac, elbow, eyes, hips, patella, thyroid) and purchasing all the supplies. The breeder of my dog is the one that is helping me. She told me not to expect more than three puppies. She is a small girl, only around 13 pounds. So, I'm not sure if she will have even three. I don't think she is big enough to carry more than two pups. As much as I would like a large litter, I think a smaller litter would be easier. She is 2-years-old. *She is in her prime breeding age, so I know she is more fertile*. I made sure to wait until her fourth heat cycle to breed her. This will be her first litter. I will probably breed her again when she is 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 and then have her spayed. She is very healthy. She is at a perfect weight. Her heat cycles are always on schedule. My girl and the sire have great hearts, elbows, eyes, hips, patellas and thyroid, so I'm sure the pups will turn out great. I am still walking her a mile per day.


Huh?
You can't know she's fertile; assuming it is the best you can do until you have proof! Some bitches fail to produce pups, no matter how healthy, ideally aged and how regular their seasons.

And frankly, I'm disgusted at your suggestion of breeding 5 or 6 times from her. What is she to you, some sort of puppy machine?


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## Nicky10 (Jan 11, 2010)

I thought cavaliers were supposed to be screened for SM around 2 and a half with parents at least 5 and also screened. The person is likely a troll but at least there can be useful information if someone else googles this


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## Andrew5500 (Jan 3, 2019)

Mund1950 said:


> I've finally made the decision to breed a litter from my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. I've already spent a ton. I have spent over $4,000 on the stud fee, getting her vaccinations, having her health screened (cardiac, elbow, eyes, hips, patella, thyroid) and purchasing all the supplies. The breeder of my dog is the one that is helping me. She told me not to expect more than three puppies. She is a small girl, only around 13 pounds. So, I'm not sure if she will have even three. I don't think she is big enough to carry more than two pups. As much as I would like a large litter, I think a smaller litter would be easier. She is 2-years-old. She is in her prime breeding age, so I know she is more fertile. I made sure to wait until her fourth heat cycle to breed her. This will be her first litter. I will probably breed her again when she is 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 and then have her spayed. She is very healthy. She is at a perfect weight. Her heat cycles are always on schedule. My girl and the sire have great hearts, elbows, eyes, hips, patellas and thyroid, so I'm sure the pups will turn out great. I am still walking her a mile per day.


How much do you sell cavalier King Charles spaniel for? Black and tan and rubies are Most fav


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## SusieRainbow (Jan 21, 2013)

Andrew5500 said:


> How much do you sell cavalier King Charles spaniel for? Black and tan and rubies are Most fav


This thread is 4 years old and the OP no longer active.
:Locktopic


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