How Many Puppies Do Boxers Have in Their First Litter?

Muscular, stocky, and powerful, the boxer is a breathtaking dog.

Her broad deep chest, compact and arched toes, and a regal distinctly shaped head make her a beauty to behold.

Character wise, the breed also excels in more ways than one. She is intelligent, playful, and very energetic.

 Whether you are looking for an exercise companion or just an affectionate pet to own, the boxer will exceed your expectations.

Perhaps your boxer friend fell pregnant without your knowledge. Maybe you are curious about breeding the boxer for one reason or the other.

Either way, arming yourself with the right information on what happens during the reproduction of boxers is key.

In this guide, I will be answering a frequently asked question among Boxer enthusiasts: how many puppies is a boxer likely to have in her first litter?

 I have also thrown in a few other FAQs about boxer breeding to shed more light into other common concerns about boxers’ first litter.  

Let dive right in…

So, How Many Puppies Do Boxers Have in Their First Litter?

In 2014, a Bakersfield Boxer dog named Sasha made headlines when she gave birth to a whopping 14 full-bred puppies.

She almost broke the world record which was fifteen at the time.

Two more puppies and Sasha would have topped the list.

Her human parents spoke to ABC news and mentioned that they weren’t expecting the miracle.

“Our mom called us when our dog was about to give birth. We rushed to the dog house. First came one puppy. Then another and another until the fourteenth one!” One of the owners said.

All the puppies except one from the litter lived.

The pet parents maintained that they would give away 12 of the puppies while retaining only one for themselves.

According to WGN TV, boxer dogs have average size litters of 5-7 puppies.

This is more or less the standard for medium-large-sized dogs.

However, first-time boxer mothers seem to get more puppies.

We checked several social media  and meetup groups to find out the experience of boxer owners on this.

Most of them claim that their boxer dogs got more than ten puppies for their first litter.

A good number recorded 11-13 puppies.

There’s one pet parent that wrote that her pup gave birth to 16 puppies for her first time.

Clearly, this one was not picked up by the news outlets. She would have been named the record breaker!

Only a handful of the parents stated that their dogs got less than 10 puppies for their first litter.

The bottom line is that there’s a high likelihood that a boxer dog will have a large litter the first time around. That means giving birth to 10+ puppies.

Still, getting less than 10 puppies is a possibility as well.

Keep in mind that the average litter size for the breed is 5-7 puppies.

Different puppies give birth to different litter sizes. There’s no exact number of puppies boxer dogs can reproduce.

The size of the litter is dependent on many things including the weather conditions, health of the mother dog, and her food intake.

How Long Does It Take For Boxers To Have Puppies?

Boxers reach the proestrus age from 6 months to 1 year.

If you are planning to breed, watch out for this timeline.

However, your doggie is pretty much an adolescent at this point.

It will not be until 2 years of age that she will be referred to as an adult.

Do Boxers Have Problems Giving Birth?

Sadly yes. This is according to a survey published on the National Library of Medicine (NLB).

The study was conducted to find out the frequency of dystocia in the boxer breed among measuring other reproductive parameters in the breed.

Dystocia refers to the inability or difficulty in passing a fetus via the birth canal without being assisted.

It encompasses a variety of issues ranging from slow dilation of the cervix to an abnormal drop of the fetus during labor.

After doing the experiment, the researchers concluded that the boxer is at a high risk for whelping problems.

As a result, a large chunk of the members of the breed need emergency C-sections in their whelpings.

From the study, cases of dystocia increase with age of the dog from four years of age. 

For boxers, the cases are mainly caused by fetal malpresentation and uterine inertia.

How Many Boxer Puppies Survive In The First Litter?

Like other dogs, not all boxer puppies survive in the first litter in all situations.

Many of the boxer owners who answered the question of how many puppies do boxers reproduce in their first litter confirmed this.

Some said that one puppy didn’t make it. Others claimed two died.

The same goes for Sasha whose puppy died leaving 13 behind.

A few of the pet parents said that all the puppies from the large litter made it.

There’s no telling exactly how many puppies die from a boxer’s first litter.

Nevertheless, expect 1-2 to die. If you are lucky, all will live to be adults.

It boils down to the care given to the pups, genetics, among other factors.

Parting Thoughts

A boxer dog has a happy and jolly temperament.

Any opportunity to add more puppies to your family is exciting for this reason.

It gives you and your family extra members to have fun and play with.

If your boxer dog is pregnant for the first time, you must have a lot of questions in your mind.

One of them is how many puppies to expect.

Hopefully, this guide has sufficiently answered the question for you.

Here are more articles about pregnancy and whelping you may want to check:

Is the First Litter of Puppies the Best?

How to Get More Female Puppies in a Litter

Does The Male Or Female Dog Determine The Size Of The Puppies?

Do Puppies Take After Mom or Dad?

Is Your Dog Still Pregnant? 45 Days Pregnant Dog Symptoms

How Long Does It Take For A Female Dog Nipples To Recede After Pregnancy?

How to Get Your Dog Back In Shape after Having Puppies

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