Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am getting ready to purchase a Labrador Puppy. THe breeder called me today and said the mom had 4 pups only and one of the 4 died last nite. 1 of the 3 is smaller. Unfortunately the smaller one has the color and is a male what we wanted. We wanted a big Labrador and the dad is a very beautiful big size lab. The mom is very small shorter than knee size. My question/worry now is does the size at birth mean anything how big the dog will be once grown or is that not so much of big importance? Since i am looking for a big stocky labrador which all these features the dad has. ANother question is it common that a labrador only has 4 puppies or is that a sign of some sort of health problem? Since i heard labs usually have anywhere from 7-10 pups.
Thanks in advance.
Manuela

My friend has a monster yellow lab, he is just huge and stocky, and he was the runt of the litter. However, I don't know that I would buy a lab from a sickly litter.

why do you think its a sickly litter? someone else said it was quiet normal to only have 4 puppies. What makes you think its sickly? Thanks in advance

Um, that one DIED already.

well i found out after talking to some breeders that this is not necessarily a bad thing.

>>well i found out after talking to some breeders that this is not necessarily a bad thing.>>>>>>>

That's right. Veterinarians expect an average of 1/3 of pups to die. Expert breeders do much better than that, but still, losing one out of a litter is normal.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com