"Theoretical" Dog Mating

[notfrommensa]

Canis lupus familiaris (dogs) can have an enormous differential in size. What happens if a huge dog (like a Great Dane) mates with a tiny dog (chihuahua).

I just can't imagine what would happen to a female chihuahua's womb if Marmaduke successfully impregnated her. (But I giggle when I think of the copulation)

What about a male chihuahua mating with a female Great Dane (even funnier thoughts of copulation). I would guess that the female Great Dane could handle

I would guess that there are documented cases of puppies of parents with big size differences but just the thought of the female being the smaller breed just doesn't compute.

[t-bonham@scc.net]

Conception is certainly possible. Though given the size difference you proposed, it would probably have to be artificial insemination rather than natural mating.

And given the small size of the female relative to the puppies, even as fetuses, natural birth is probably not possible. In fact, even full term development is unlikely. The fetuses would have to be removed early during the pregnancy and implanted in a host bitch of appropriate size.

And the whole idea is silly, because:

• the pups would be mongrels, unregisterable by AKC.
• A legitimate breeder with a valuable, pedigreed animal would be unlikely to waste their animal on producing such mongrels.
• the vet costs involved would make these very expensive mongrels.
• it's very unlikely that such a cross would have any desirable characteristics, except 'freakiness'.

So it's physically possible, but not very likely to ever happen.

P.S. Try search. We had a similar discussion just a few months ago.

[Smeghead]

This question comes up constantly, for some reason. Yes, you could probably make it happen. Yes, there's a good chance of serious harm or death to a small mother carrying large pups. We had a beagle/chihuahua mix when I was a kid who mated with a collie and nearly died delivering the babies.

And to answer the next inevitable question, yes, chihuahuas and Great Danes are still the same species, because even though they may not be able to mate directly, you can still get gene flow between the two populations through breeds of intermediate sizes.

[GaryM]

Originally Posted by t-bonham@scc.net

And the whole idea is silly, because:

• the pups would be mongrels, unregisterable by AKC.

Not Mongrels, think "Designer Dogs"

[John Mace]

Do a little searching. We did this exact thread within the last year.

[Manda JO]

My understanding is that big male dogs will savage and sometimes kills little dogs that are in heat if they can't successfully mate with them: this was a larger issue back when people didn't fix their dogs as much, and let them roam more.