Runts of the litter.. does it mean poorly bred dogs?
Well i was thinking a lot of people tend to think runts of the litter or a runt in a litter means they're poorly bred.. is it true?.. Even dog breeders -reputable- get runts don't they?, my dog is a runt of the litter, and someone told me that runts to be one of the better pups out of the litter, lol now i'm not sure, i was just told, don't get me wrong but my dog is very smart and she's one outstanding lab :). What's the truth about runts? Why are they born smaller? Why does it happen?.. Does it mean they will have a shorter life or have mental or physical problems??.. i'm very curious.. if anyone can answer it would be great :).
2009-05-17T21:04:21Z
btw i do know what a runt is lol, i just wanted to know if it just means these dogs have a poor survival rate or bad. I do have a runt of the litter. p.s also thanks for the great answers :)
2009-05-18T07:18:50Z
it's hard to chose a best answer! gosh.. my dog wasn't DRAMATICALLY smaller, she was just a bit -i mean a TAD- smaller and thinner than her siblings, it wasn't really that noticeble but you were able to find her.
Chetco2009-05-17T21:29:54Z
Favorite Answer
The runt is most often just a bit younger than the others. When dogs mate, a pup can end up as much 8 days gestationally younger than the oldest. That makes that one a preemie. They most often turn out just as nice as the others, if given proper care.
This type of runt is from poor breeding practices, but not poor breeding bloodlines. Ideally, Dogs should only mate twice, and only 48 hours apart. That will assure the best chances for an even litter, both in gender and in gestational age. It also betters the chance of each being in good position in the uterine horn.
If dogs are allowed to keep mating, though the entire heat, then you will get pups that are hard to whelp(bigger) and pups of a younger age(runts)
Now, when a 'breeder' is breeding dogs with genetic defects, in order to produce pups of lesser size, or exaggerated features, that type of runt IS from poor breeding. Steer clear of that type of runt, as they are not healthy.
In a healthy litter, the runt will grow and catch up to the rest of the litter and be just as healthy as a puppy and as an adult. It could be smaller just due to having less room in the womb to grow or may have been conceived a few days later than the others so it doesn't necessarily mean it's poorly bred. However, in a sickly, poorly bred litter, the runt could have other issues besides just being small and won't likely thrive......the key to whether or not a runt will be healthy is how healthy is the litter to begin with? I have a dog that was the runt and she is every bit as large and healthy as the rest of the dogs in her litter. By a few weeks old she had caught up and was no longer the runt.
nobody has mentioned the obvious, healthy dams and sires can have runts that are a lot smaller if the umbilical cord is either thin or not attached to the uterus well, then the embryo will receive limited blood and nutrients. We have the same problem with human babies, the babies are usually monitored and it the growth slows down to much they often perform an emergency Cesarean.
Now a whole litter of runts caused by breeding 2 poor bred parents is something different, they are not true runts, just poorly bred.
A runt is not the smallest of a litter, a runt is a puppy MUCH smaller than the rest of the litter.
A runt does not mean that the dog was poorly bred or unhealthy.There is usually a runt in every litter,as well as a puppy that is larger than the rest. Humans have underweight babies all the time,but that doesn't mean that they are "poorly bred." What we are talking about are breeders who purposely breed the smallest of the small, and practice inbreeding,which is not good. It seems that "teacup",or very small dogs,are more likely to have health problems,and breeding excessively small dogs just to make money is unethical.But a normal runt from a healthy litter usually catches up with the rest of the pups by the time they are grown.