Are there any dog breeders out there who breed teacup puppies? I need some tips to reduce losses.?

Question

I breed many kinds of dogs and my puppy losses are way under the average expected. My tiny teacups tend to have higher rate of loss; generally within 3-5 days after birth, one will die for no reason, even though they eat fine, momma milk is good, etc. Momma's are all free of parasites and disease. If anyone can help, would really appreciate it. Also, I give moms antibiotics 2 weeks before birth and two weeks after. They get probiotics, and Milk Aide. I keep the pups at room temp of 75 degrees, keep them covered so they don't get drafts, etc. I've researched this subject extensively. The latest thing I read was from a vet/breeder who said to leave the umbillical cord and sack attached for as long as possible before clipping it. This seemed to help a bit, but there's got to be something else that can be done. Thanks!

Answer 1

I just found your question. I do not have super-small puppies, usually by the time I sell them they are about a pound. I sold a litter of three in late Oct that were 9 to 10 wks old. They ranged from 11oz to 13oz. So, if yours are smaller I might not have any good suggestions.
I know the biggest problem is simply having a good mom. One little fawn Mom that I had was not a good mom, yet I have a little brown girl that is perfect.
Another thing is that many people who breed extremely small dogs do tend to loose more. They don't have any reserves to pull from if they don't eat constantly or run into any problems. You are not the only one with this problem. The smaller dogs are just more fragile.
You might ask your vet about doing a round of albon on each of them just as a precaution.

Answer 2

Why do you pup the moms on antibiotics? I don't think I would do that unless there were an infection.
I breed yorkies. Although I don't breed for teacups, I usually get 1 to 3 per litter...my females are between 5 and 8 pounds. My males are 5 pounds.
75 degrees in way to cool for newborns. I keep my room 85 degrees. I change it to 80 by the time they are 10 days, and then to 75 by 4 weeks.
I weigh my pups several times a day. At the first sign of dropped weight, I supplement feedings.The tiny ones will benefit from a little Karo syrup rub on their gums a few times a day. It will boost their energy so they are stronger to nurse. Sometimes the moms nipples are too large for the tiny ones to grab hold of. If this is the case, I leave the pup with mom, but i bottle feed it every two hours until it's large enough to nurse.

Answer 3

Because when you focus soley on size, health and quality of the offspring will suffer. A good breeder strives to produce healthy, well balanced animals, and a grossly undersized dog is, by design, not well balanced and will not have good vitality. Small size, among other things, produces problems with internal organs. There isn't enough room inside the dog for its organs to develop or function properly enough to keep up with the growth of the dog. This is likely why your puppies are dying suddenly.

Unfortunately, there's a ridiculous trend these days for breeders to produce dogs the size of field mice and sell them for lots of money. When you start seeing a higher mortality rate in your offspring, that's Mother Nature telling you you're doing something wrong.

Breed standards aren't there just so a bunch of snobby show dog people can tell you what's wrong with your dog. They're there because generally, form follows function....if your dog is built correctly, chances are it will function correctly. A Chihuahua's or Yorkie's intended function is to be a companion and lap dog. When it's the size of a small rodent and can't take 3 steps without snapping a leg, or one of it's buggy eyes prolapsing, or certainly when it can't survive past 2 weeks....it's not performing the function intended for the breed.

Start adhering to the breed standard, stop breeding ridiculously undersized runts, and stop breeding "fad puppies" to pay your bills.....problem solved.

Answer 4

When you breed so called "teacups" or for size, a whole lot of genetic and health problems can happen. All breeding dogs should be genetically tested. There is no such thing as a teacup dog. Go look at your breeds standard and you'll see it right there. Teacups are unhealthy runts and yeah, their going to die because they'er unhealthy from the get go. You need to research about breed standards, genetics, healthy dog breeding and what can happen when you only breed for looks. You need to spay and nueter to insure that your poor girls and boys don't have to go through any more pain. It's BYB like you who put so many animals in the shelters. Please don't breed anymore.

Answer 5

ny people who breed extremely small dogs do tend to loose more. They don't have any reserves to pull from if they don't eat constantly or run into any problems. You are not the only one with this problem. The smaller dogs are just more fragil

Answer 6

You should no better than to breed and ecourage "Tea Cup" size animals. They are never as healthy as the AKC standard expectations in weight, for what ever breed your are reproducing. Please do your research on that breed to make sure you are not breeding under weight dogs! The losses could very well be due to underweight! I know accidents happen when breeding, trust me I have been there and done it, and thats why I quit. I was not educated enough to breed any animal. Don't misunderstand my advice here, just looking out for the animals and I hope this helps ya.....Good luck in future Breeding

Answer 7

you want tips? stop breeding!!!

your "tiny teacups tend to have a higher rate of loss"? wow, theres a shocker!

obviously you dont know the first thing about responsible breeding! stop adding to the problem of puppy mills and back yard breeders!

Answer 8

Explain exactly what a 'teacup' is (besides runt) and I may give you an appropriate answer. Until then FIX ALL OF YOUR DOGS. Its no wonder the poor uneducated people get their hearts broken over the loss of a puppy when people had NO business breeding in the first place. Its no wonder that the shelters are overflowing and animals are being EUTHANIZED just because people are being stupid.

Answer 9

Oh mine, you are a typical backyard breeder and please stop breeding more poor quality pups. First, there is no such "breed" called teacup puppies. They are runts of the litter. I'm sure you "know" about that. Also, why are you breeding so many breeds? If your female is a good producer, you won't keep losing puppies. Please spay and neuter all your poor dogs. Good grief!

Answer 10

I would suspect that you are over doing it with the antibiotics.. Any reason why she needs antibiotics 2 weeks prior and 2 weeks after? If you kill all the good bacteria you must replace it with good bacteria.. But if there is no good reason to be giving antibiotics..

You have to start with healthy dogs to produce healthy dogs if you are losing a whole lot of puppies.. Well then I suspect that the b!tches you are breeding aren't healthy and they are passing on something to the pups.. Or else you are trying to breed dogs that are far too small.. Something has to give when you continue to breed for smaller and smaller dogs.