This post may contain affiliate links. We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
Can a litter of puppies have more than one father?
I’m not sure when I first heard about a litter of puppies having more than one father, but I do recall hearing that it is a true statement…A litter of puppies can most definitely have more than one father.
Why was I thinking about this? Well, last Saturday at the pet adoption I saw two puppies at the Cuddly Canines booth that looked totally different, but were said to be siblings. Here’s a picture:
Chow Chow Labrador Retriever Mix
Koa and Sequoia
Picture from Cuddly Canines Website
Here are some photos I took at the Orange County Super Pet Adoption:
These precious baby boys were born around June 1st to what appears to be a Chow-Lab combo. They are indeed brothers, although they look nothing alike. Koa looks like he just hopped out of the clothes dryer after a quick spin through the fluff cycle, and Sequoia has beautiful short flaming red hair! Both boys are sweet & cuddly.
By the way, I looked today and these two are still up for adoption. If you’d like to adopt one or both puppies go to the Cuddly Canines website and fill out an application.
Now I’m going to go out on a limb here, but I think these two puppies may have had different fathers.
Another Multiple Father Example
Here’s a picture of a litter of puppies we rescued from the Riverside Shelter a couple years ago:
These puppies were German Shepherd mix, but two of them looked more like Labrador Retriever then German Shepherd. Once again I think there were multiple fathers involved with this litter. DNA test anyone?
Answers From Yahoo Answers
I read this on the Yahoo Answers site and also on many other sites across the internet:
A female dog can have as many different fathers for her puppies that bred with her. Dogs can release multiple eggs and they can be fertilized by whichever dog’s semen is present. If more than one male bred her, that’s how many fathers the puppies can have. the main reason everyone gets a fair shot at the eggs is because the semen wait a day or two before fertilizing the eggs.
When a dog ovulates the eggs are not totally mature. They finish maturing as they enter into the uterine horns. Then whatever dog’s semen is present releases from the uterine lining and heads for the eggs.
Now one single puppy cannot have two different fathers. Each puppy will get half of it’s DNA makeup from Mom and one Father, but since often dogs have litters it’s possible for two puppies from the same litter to have 2 different sires.
Have you had or seen any litters of puppies with multiple fathers? If you have some stories or photographs please send them to me. I’d love to post them to my blog.
Tiffany says
I adopted 2 litter mates according to the shelter, but their hair and frames are so different that it’s not hard to imagine they have different fathers. I’m just curious.
Colby says
I love seeing pictures of litter mates that look completely different from one and other. It’s so interesting that pup’s can have multiple fathers.
Emma says
We have a 5 month old rottie cross who we believed to be crossed with a Anatolian shepherd. But he’s far to short legged, more like a dashound cross!!
He’s Black and Tan rottie colouring, short, and stocky. some of the other pups we thorn colour with longer legs. I didn’t know a litter of pups could have more than one father…. I do now and think this is definatley the case with our little one who is just lovely the way he is !
Katie says
Hey i have a puppy from a batch of three fathers 1 is a blue trick pure breed with papers n also 2 black n tan hound dogs.. The mother was boarder collie… I have pictures off all puppies n fathers n mother…. My experience with having a batch of puppies with different experience for sure they all looked like the fathers that they came from only 3 out of 7 where completely different colours from the other 4 where black n tan…
timothy says
snoppy just whelped seven and
all the puppies have different colour and shapes,although a few of them seem to have striking personality but the difference still stands
shadman says
my female gsd had tied up with one short and one long coat male which coat will the puppies have
Jasmin Kate says
I had a female dog which is a mixed breed of shih tzu and terrier and she gave birth to 5 puppies. The three puppies really look the same. Their color is white with black and brown spots and their sizes are the same but the 2 other dogs looked different. One is plain white and the other one is color plain brown on the body and black on the face but they are much bigger than the other 3 dogs. I also know for a fact that my dog mated with a pure shih tzu which is also our dog and another terrier dog. That’s why I also looked for answers if others have experienced the same situation like ours.