Why?
2007-03-23 20:22:28 · 12 answers · asked by THATgirl 6 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
Usually, not always.
The dog's uterus is shaped like a Y, not like a triangle like in women. The arms of the Y are called the uterine horns. Normally, the pup right in the middle of the Y has to compete w the other embryos for space, for placental attachment, plus the middle of the Y is smaller and not as elastic as the middle of an arm.
Funny is that during delivery, sometimes the last one to be born is the runt... not only everybody competes for space, they also compete on who is the first one to come out.... poor guy has to fight even before being born.
2007-03-23 20:50:47 · answer #1 · answered by kitty98 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
usually, no one really knows why, but maybe its because that animal is the weakest and it was just born that way sometimes the mother cannot cope so one animal is neglected, which makes it the runt of the litter or the mother senses the baby has an illness that will develope or she just knows its just not fit enough for survival. my dog was the runt of the litter. I always like them better as they seem to have so much more character!
2007-03-23 23:37:07 · answer #2 · answered by morv k 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, not always. I've had at least 15 litters, and only 2 litters had a runt.
2007-03-23 20:26:42 · answer #3 · answered by Susie L 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I raise Dobies an there is always a runt--but don't know why--sorry! Not actually a runt--but 1 is usually a little smaller than the rest .
2007-03-23 20:27:24 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
i guess so, the runt is just the weakest/smallest sibling in a litter so theres always going to be one, the severity of the weakness/size difference differs though? i'm a champoin of the runt though :o) they always struggle and strive to overcome things that the others will find easy but they usually get there in the end and it always feels more rewarding. thats life in a dogbasket right there lol
2007-03-23 20:29:10 · answer #5 · answered by xx_connor_uk_xx 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Sorry but there is no such thing as a runt.. Some pups are bigger and some smaller.. And in some breeds they would be considered toys (or minis if bigger)..
I hate when people come to me looking for the runt as if I will charge less.. guess again!
2007-03-23 21:04:37 · answer #6 · answered by Mommadog 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
There is usually one. 2 years ago, my German Shepherd Sasha had a litter and we named the runt Tiny. She was so small and we thought she might die. Weird thing is, Tiny is now the largest German Shepherd I have ever seen. It's usually very funny when I walk her and people ask me what her name is.
2007-03-23 20:30:56 · answer #7 · answered by lolo 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
There usually is a runt in the litter. My guess is because of survival of the fittest that it was not able to fight for the same amount of sustinence/ attention causing it to be smaller or weaker than the rest.
2007-03-23 20:35:49 · answer #8 · answered by Cinta 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
the runt is the one in the womb who had the least room to grow and stayed small.
2007-03-24 07:39:01 · answer #9 · answered by MommyCaleb 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most of the time there is because there's always one who is smaller and sometimes weaker than the others but that doesn't mean it's worse off or anything.
2007-03-23 22:53:33 · answer #10 · answered by Horse crazy 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋