Hi, Paul, and welcome to Yorkie Talk. The puppies will do most of their growing in the last few weeks. Up to now,they have been in a formative stage. From here on out is when you should be increasing the dam's food as the pups need the extra nutrition for the growth they are experiencing. You can have an x-ray done at around day 55 to see how many pups and the size of them to help to know what to expect and whether any look too big for your girl to deliver.
There are some repro specialists that believe it is better to breed a bitch consecutively. You may hear 'a pregnant uterus is a happy uterus' going along with that. I tend to agree with that school of thought but it must be weighed against the bitch's overall vitality and how well she bounces back from the previous litter. I've never seen any data that would support the idea that consecutive pregnancies can lead to birth defects. I would think the danger would be first to the dam and any risks to the pups would arise from that JMO. |