Influence of the age of German shepherd female on reproductive indicators

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study of reproductive indicators in female German Shepherd dogs in terms of age changes: litter size (multiple pregnancies), duration of pregnancy, live weight of puppies. For a sample of 158 breeding dogs, the mean multiple pregnancy for the entire sample was 5.8 ± 0.018 puppies per 123 fruitful matings. The authors found out that the litter size varied depending on the age of the females. During the study period, the least number of litters consisted of one and ten puppies, respectively, three and one; also 6 litters consisted of two puppies, 9 consisted of 3 puppies, 15 litters each numbering 4, 7 and 8 puppies, 23 litters of 5 puppies, 25 litters of 6 puppies, 7 litters of 9 puppies, 4 litters of 11 puppies. The maximum litter size of 11 puppies was recorded in dogs aged 3, 4 and 6 years, the minimum litter size consisting of one puppy was recorded in dogs aged 5 and 6 years. There was a trend towards a decrease in the period of pregnancy with an increase in the age of the dog, which was significant in comparison between the age groups of 2 and 7 years. Also, a high safety of offspring was noted in all the studied age periods, which was in the range from 92.75 to 100%, separately for litters with the number of puppies 2-6, the safety was 100%, for multiple litters with the number of puppies 7-11 heads, this indicator was 98.05% . Statistically significant differences were registered in terms of multiple pregnancy at the age of 2 and 3 years and at the age of 7 and 8 years, at (P < 0.05).