Yes, Geneva has a sister whose owner has a shop right next to my wife’s.
Everyone calls her Kass, short for Kassel. She was part of Quita’s (Geneva’s mom) “F” litter, so her official kennel name is Frederica. Kass was born last April (2019), so is older than Geneva by 8 months; this was pretty much a back-to-back whelping.
I would imagine that the breeder will now give Quita a break.
It is probably good practise* not to whelp two litters within a 12-month period from the same dam. You never want to turn a dog into a puppy factory; in some EU countries, as well as in the now sundered UK, there are limits as to how many litters a bitch is allowed to have in any given calendar year — in addition to humane limits as to how many litters overall a dam may have.
The AKC currently allows a limit of 12 litters per dam, which I view as cruelly excessive, since most dogs are seniors by age 7. I think responsible professional dog breeders should limit themsevles to 4 – 5 litters maximum per bitch.
Kass has a nice big fenced-in field to run around in at home, so is in tip-top shape, as you can see in the pic below.
In case you were wondering, Geneva apparently will never realize, when they do end up meeting, that Kass is her sibling.
I like to use words precisely. However, I cannot find one that distinguishes siblings born of the same litter from those born at different times from the same parents. I would have thought such a technical term existed.
It’s interesting that “litter” comes from the French word litière (but not laitière, a noun that conveys the sense of milk or dairy), which means a bed of straw, for usage by farm animals, such as you might find in a stable.
Lit, in French, means “bed,” but also, is the indicative present form of the verb to read.
Of coures litter in modern English usage also means trash.
Interestingly, in archaic English, litter also meant to provide an animal with material (such as peat moss) to absorb their urine and feces in a penned enclosure.
Litter is ultimately derived from the L. lectus, which means “bed,” not to be confused with lectura, which means “to read.”
* UK usage: I’m a Brit by birth
Leaving Amerika 