Tips for raising multiple puppies

[mod93dirt]

Anyone out there got any good advice on raising multiple pups at the same time? I've never had more than one puppy on my yard at a time, but my buddy and I bred our dogs and we are going to split the litter. I am going to take on 3 or 4 of the pups and as they age I plan to narrow down to one or two or possibly none.  I still consider myself still pretty green to hog dogging, and have found that raising a single pup can sometimes be a chore, so I can only imagine that raising several pups at the same time is even more of a challenge. We bred these dogs with a specific goal in mind and have high hopes for them. I want to do my best for these pups to excel, and I am just looking for any help to make sure that they do.

[daknowles08]

We kept a couple pups out of one of our litters. We didnt do anything special, we kept them together in a big pen and fed them together and we would let them out daily to run and play and mingle with the other dogs! Just pretty much let them be puppies!! We didnt seperate them till about 2 months ago mainly because we needed their pen and it was time for them to learn how to be on a chain and handle on the end of a lead. They are 9 months old now. We have been hunting them a bunch so we cant really let them run and play anymore because they will take off hunting!! So they get treated like the older dogs now and put on the walker to exercise!!

[Bryant]

Like what was posted above, keep them penned together as long as you can. Hunt them together when the time comes.  I personally prefer to raise and hunt multiple pups together...it's been my experience that they will compete with one another and drive each other to mature quicker.

[KevinN]

X 2

Don't really like raising 1 pup at a time. Easier to work multiple pups in my opinion.

[justincorbell]

X 2

Don't really like raising 1 pup at a time. Easier to work multiple pups in my opinion.

I am the same way, if im going to raise pups I want to raise PUPS not 1 pup at a time, I like to try to raise a few at a time and have the ability to pick and choose what I like/ dislike and cull accordingly over a few month period. I dislike raising a single pup at a time so much that I gave away a pup my bmc gyp had because she only had 1 and I didn't want to mess with her lol

[williamsld]

yes it has always been easier for us to train a groop of puppies than just one, cause most of the time if you get one or two of them interested in a hog they'll get the other ones to start bayin with them

[T-Bob Parker]

Raising pup(s) is annoying and a freaking chore wether it's one or 10!!! I figure if they are gonna be a pain in the keester, why not raise as many as you can get away with? Lol

If you start out with 6, a couple will die from the road, or a sickness or livestock will squash them, then another couple will come of age and just suck and you'll cull em, then maybe just maybe you'll end up with one or two who you keep around till 18 months and decide if they cut the mustard, or just cut the cheese...

[justincorbell]

Raising pup(s) is annoying and a freaking chore whether it's one or 10!!! I figure if they are gonna be a pain in the keester, why not raise as many as you can get away with? Lol

If you start out with 6, a couple will die from the road, or a sickness or livestock will squash them, then another couple will come of age and just suck and you'll cull em, then maybe just maybe you'll end up with one or two who you keep around till 18 months and decide if they cut the mustard, or just cut the cheese...

Me and you think alot alike Tbob.

[hillbilly]

Yea me and a guy split a litter. I kept three and to me that is just enough. You don't want to many that you can't spend enough time with them all.

[justincorbell]

Yea me and a guy split a litter. I kept three and to me that is just enough. You don't want to many that you can't spend enough time with them all.

I agree, try to stay between 3-5 pups at a time

[LoftinCattleCo]

Raising pups together is the key... And like daknowles said "let them be pups "from my experience from weaning age to 6 months as much outside the pen as possible is where those briar beaters are gonna take on most of their knowledge and the oppertunity for you to be able to put a handle on them..

[mod93dirt]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm really looking forward to raising these pups. We had a litter of 12, and lost 3 almost immediately, then another one just disappeared about 3 days later. Was there in the morning but not when got home from work. Don't know what happened. So we are down to 4 males and 4 females. All the dogs we lost were females.  So ill probably take two of each. I've learned a lot from raising my other pups,'and learned even more having been fortunate enough to be able to hunt with a lot of different people and dogs. I've got a much better idea of what I want from my dogs than I did when I started.  I just want to do my best to do right for these pups. These pups come out of two suiciadally rough catchy dogs, and we are hoping for the same out of the pups.

Here's the pups, at less then 24hrs old.

[Bryant]

Be sure momma dog isn't feeling threatened.  Missing a pup could very well mean she ate one.  It happens, and sometimes will continue to happen if her environment isn't quite right.

[Irondog87]

Great looking pups mod! Like was said, keep Ol momma dog as comfortable as possible. I learned this the hard way, had a gyp eat half the litter before I sat with her and calmed her down. It happens alot with first time gyps (my gyp did this on her first litter)
Good luck with the remainder of pups!!

[RyanTBH]

The best advice I can think of is to make sure you give shots and keep them wormed... Shots at 8 & 12 weeks, and wormer every week starting at 5-6 weeks, then switching to once a month around 12-14 weeks.

Other than that, training them together like Bryant said is great so long as it isn't more than 8 or 9 dogs. I prefer to keep the training to around 4-6 pups on the ground at one time. That way you can better watch what all of them are doing and judge accordingly. When you finally start to pick out which ones are in the front of the class and are ready for woods time with the big dogs I would only run one pup at a time to cut down on the play time or slacking off. Training and hunting are different in that way IMO... I would rather them try and hang with the big dogs than play around with their brothers and sisters. Good luck to you on your pups. Like T-Bob and Justin said, it isn't easy at all and will stress you out to the max.

One more thing, knowing that you want them to do good is fine and understandable, but be patient because all dogs will mature at different ages. Some may turn on and be ready to go at 8 months, and some may take a year or more. Let them be puppies, but give them every chance to succeed.

[KevinN]

Everyone has different ways to bring pups up. I ain't sayin my was is the right way or the only way...I KNOW you can just let a pup grow up and then take them to the woods....that being said....

Ill take a litter and at 8 weeks....drop a weanling piggy in the puppy yard with them....ALL of them...lol. I guarantee you within a few minutes nearly every one of them will be barking...some will catch. After that..a day or two later I will break them into groups of 2 or 3 and repeat. Some will just straight catch...others will bay. Ill do this every few days till they are all catching, thats usually around 10 weeks. Ill give them a 2 week break (12 weeks) and Then ill up the size of the piggy...not big enough to hurt them but big enough that its harder to catch. Then ill only run 2 pups at a time and after maybe 2 to 3 runs ill make my picks on the pups Ill keep.

No guarantees...some dogs don't start good till later and make great dogs. Some that show early potential dont make the cut. This just gives me a starting point to decide what to keep early on without it just being a shot in the dark.

From then on out its trailing excercises...bay pen visits and eventually mock hunts.