The age of the dog when breeding plays a key role in the size of the litter. The older the prey, the smaller the litter, especially in larger breeds. Mothers raised 2 to 5 years old tend to have the largest litters. Despite the age of the prey, the first 2 litters will generally be smaller than the later ones.
The size of a puppy litter can be influenced by many different factors, including random circumstances. Therefore, it's almost impossible to predict. Despite what you've read, you'll never know exactly how many puppies a pregnant female will carry until she's examined by a veterinarian. Lower-than-optimal protein levels in pregnant dogs have resulted in smaller size.
When it comes to essential fatty acids, the right ratios are also important. Consult your veterinarian or veterinary nutritionist to find out what is the best diet for your breeding dog. In general, smaller dog breeds have smaller litters because their body size does not allow them to carry large litters. On the other hand, although larger dog breeds are capable of carrying larger litters, and often do, sizing alone does not guarantee a large litter.
In fact, there is more variation in potential litter size for large dog breeds than for small dog breeds. The dogs that produce the largest litters are middle-aged dogs, while very young and old dogs tend to produce smaller litters. It is recommended to keep the number of litters for a female dog three to four in total, and a good breeder will distribute the litters throughout the optimal breeding years of the female to keep the mother and her cubs healthy. As a general rule, you should expect smaller litters in smaller dog breeds and larger litters in larger dog breeds.
A healthier, thinner female is more likely to have a larger litter than those who are overweight. In general, it is known that the smaller the breed, the smaller the litter size and the same goes for larger breeds, the larger the breed, the larger the litter. Instead, look at the size of the litter in general, the more puppies there are in the litter, the healthier they will be. For example, litter size can be based on the number of eggs produced by the dog's ovary during a given heat cycle.
The average litter size of a species is generally equal to half the number of teats and the maximum litter size generally coincides with the number of teats. Females also tend to produce larger and larger litters with each pregnancy during their first four years of life. I think that the timing of reproduction also matters in the factors that affect the size of the litter, as well as the case of the absorption or abortion of some fetuses by the mother and I would not know if the size of the litter can really be hereditary, I would like you to research more on this. For example, spaniels and retrievers usually have four to eight puppies at a time, while smaller dogs, such as terriers, can only have two, maybe three in a litter.
Usually, the size of a dog litter is mainly based on the size of the dog's body simply because biologically, larger bodies are capable of carrying a larger litter than smaller bodies. Things like diet, breed type, and mother and father's health will definitely influence litter size, but no one knows to what extent.
