I'm charmed that so many people have voted on the poll and I find it interesting to see that the majority vote currently stands at 39% for 5 puppies. A super-competitive someone who always likes to win (and who shall remain nameless) has even voted twice - once with his own guess and once because I said I thought Taika would have more than 7. That's not what I voted, though - I voted for 7.
Don't ask me who just at the moment because I can't quite put my finger on the right book, but it has been said (by someone who ought to know) that the sex of the puppies is determined by the sire's genes while the genes for litter size come down the dam line.
As I'm a bit short on photos at the moment, here are a couple of cute old shot of Neka's first litter of 5 dogs, 2 bitches (including mum-t0-be Taika). The sire was Elbereth Kimmi, himself from a litter of 4 males and 1 female.
L-R: Taika, Tuuri, Keksi, Taito, Kultainen, Seppo, Karhu
That's just how cute 4-week-old Finnish Lapphund puppies are. And here they are 2 weeks later.
L-R: Karhu, Taito, Keksi, Tuuri, Seppo, Taika
Neka was one of a litter of 7 (6 bitches, 1 dog) and her mother, Pigga, had 2 other litters of 6 puppies each. Neka's second litter was 9 puppies. We thought it best to stop there - who knows how many we would have ended up with had we gone for a third batch.
Here, in their entirety, are the Devon Nine who inspired the conception of this blog:
L-R (I think!): Jaana, Inko, Tarmo, Jaska, Sulo, Rauhan, Viivi, Maija, Tarkka
Albmi is one of 3 boys and he has sired two litters of 6 each; 2 males-4 females and 5 males-1 female. I don't know what his history has to say about this theory.
3 comments:
I wonder too about this theory.....
But we'll soon find out (I hope)! :-)
I've also read that gender is determined by the male (as it is in humans) and the number of puppies by the female according to how many eggs she releases (unless dog has very low sperm count which can account for very small litters). It does seem odd though how some dogs seem to sire the same number of pups repeatedly, E. Osmo for example. So yes Jennifer, you could have your hands full!!!
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