How many puppies can a bitch rear? This question is asked very frequently, but there is no short answer.

Any bitch, of any breed, can rear up to four puppies, providing she is in good condition when she whelps and providing, also, that she is well fed throughout the pre-natal and post-natal periods.

Small toy breeds will usually find more than four puppies something of a burden, while the bigger breeds can normally be expected to suckle at least five or six puppies and make a good job of them.

When we get into double figures, however, the rearing becomes more complex. Many healthy bitches are capable of managing a big litter but equally well, many need expert assistance from someone who is under no delusion as to the cost entailed.

Only very experienced, very dedicated breeders can rear litters of 13 or so puppies, and they have to be able to allot much time and a lot of money to bringing the project to a successful conclusion.

Understandably, and also unfortunately, a great many people embark on such a course without any idea of what it will entail. The puppies are born, they keep on coming, and soon there is a wet, wriggling mass which the dam keeps licking and turning upside down.

Probably the puppies are similar in size, and all appear strong and healthy. It seems wicked to even think of culling such a splendid litter. Surely if we feed the dam well, she can manage them all? A young bitch may sit on one or two, in which case some of the elimination is taken care of by good old Mother Nature.

The poor mother gets very little rest with the pushing and jostling and the competition for the teats, of which there are not enough to go around. Some breeders give supplementary bottle feeds every few hours, which must ease the drain to some extent, but few realize how much extra nourishment the dam requires if she is to maintain her own body weight.

Generally, a good brood bitch will produce milk for her puppies at the expense of her own health, gradually growing thinner as the clamouring hoard draw off more and more of her milk for their requirements.

A pregnant bitch of Retriever size, can consume a gallon of milk and as much as six pounds of meat daily towards the end of her time and for the six weeks when the puppies are not completely weaned.

Those who underestimate the requirements of the bitch with a big litter will find that, as already stated, she rapidly loses condition, and while the puppies look good the first week, they do not gain as they should and by about the fourth week are definitely undersized and lacking bone.

Apart from lavish and extravagant feeding, which the dam gets, in rearing a large litter start encouraging the puppies to lap and eat finely scraped, fresh raw beef, very early. It is often possible to get the puppies interested in milk food and meat as early as 2Vi weeks.

Good rearing is not entirely confined to the amount and quality of the feeding, though this plays the greater part. Other things count a great deal—rigid adherence to a timetable, scrupulous cleanliness—the latter being no small task with baby puppies.

It should be clear to everybody that you need time, money, patience, and know-how to raise a big litter.