# What about the order of birth?



## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Question to the breeders; what can you say about the vigor and personality of the first born pup? Are the "runts" (the smallest, weaker pups) ever born first? Very curious to know.
Does the strongest pup always have the best teats if you let him/her?


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## WGSD Nikko (Jul 24, 2013)

I am not a breeder but I can answer one of your questions. Yes the runt can be born first. I am close to my breeder and on their last litter the largest biggest pup was the last one born. They thought she was done and all went to bed. Work up in the morning and the big boy was added to the group. I believe the smallest was first or second. Either way the first 2 were the smallest 2. And the biggest 2 were last 


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

Size and birth order don't correlate. The largest may be born first, last or in the middle. Same with the smallest. 

As for nursing, yes the larger, stronger pups will tend to get the best nipples (which are the ones at the back). But that doesn't mean that the smaller pups are missing out on anything.

Birth size also doesn't correlate to adult size. I've seen the "runt" grow up to be the biggest dog in the litter, and the largest at birth grow up to be in the middle in terms of size. Then I've also seen the smallest stay the smallest, and the largest stay the largest. There really is no way to tell how things will turn out based on birth size or birth order.

Again, same for personality. There is no correlation to personality and birth order. There can be *some* affects on personality, from an environmental standpoint, to size. The "runt" may be more spunky, and even prone to a bit of a Napoleon complex, due to having to fight more than others to get what it wants (starting with nursing) and also due to often being the one most picked upon in the litter. Likewise, the largest can be a bit more laid back, due to everything coming easily and never having to really work for anything due to size. But those don't always hold true, and when they do exist they are pretty minor. IMO birth order and size should have absolutely no impact on evaluating and selecting a pup from a litter.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Thank you all!


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