Runts of the litter.. does it mean poorly bred dogs?

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.

Runt 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.

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RE:

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?.

Not at all. Runts occur naturally in multiple births.

The best, most responsible, most reputable breeders get runts.

Runts just happen. For some reason they just don't get the better genes and end up a little smaller and weaker at birth. They can grow up to be exactly the same as their siblings.

They can have a lower survival rate since they are smaller and weaker, but mostly, when the breeder knows what they are doing, the runt will survive.

It can depend if they will have a shorter life span or any permanent problems. Some will, some won't.

Unfortunately, runts, instead of just living out their lives as dogs, are now being bred intentionally for the smaller size, and essentially the slightly worse genes. These "teacup" dogs are a huge problem. Whilst I'm all for looking after runts, intentionally breeding for these traits is not good at all.

One of the dogs has to be the smallest of the litter. That doesn't mean they are less of a dog than the largest. Many times the runts end up as large or larger than some of its litter mates. If a puppy is small because it has a health problem, that is different. As long as the vet checks the puppy and everything is OK, the runt is just the smaller puppy for the moment.

No, even responsible breeders who do everything right also get runts. Sometimes it's from having too many pups in the litter; the runts are the ones that get crowded to the far back of the uterus. Sometimes it's just because that particular pup is smaller and weaker for some reason; for the same reason some humans are born small and weak--it happens. It doesn't mean the dogs will have a shorter life, unless they're runts because of health problems. They may have physical problems, if they were born sickly. They may have mental problems, if their brains didn't develop properly; most responsible breeders will cull those pups, or keep them, rather than selling them.

Well there is a difference between sickly, tiny runts and a litter with one dog who is the smallest, or smaller. Many runts will grow up to be the same size as everyone else.

Sometimes the runt is only smaller due to their placement in the womb. If the pup is still considerably smaller then average and the rest of the litter at 6-10 weeks then one might worry.

A runt is a pup that was squeezed in the mother's womb

and didn't have enough room to develop. Some runts can have defects that aren't visible so that is why most

dog breeders can't sell them at top dollar. It is the law

of all animals that runts are considered puny and weak so

they are usually attacked after they are born. Runts must

fight for food in order to survive and most don't make it.

I love runts. They are lovable happy go lucky dogs and

make wonderful pets.