> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://breederbuddy.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Litters

> How to add a litter, add puppies one at a time or bulk add puppies, link an existing puppy to a litter, add vaccinations to a whole litter at once, weigh all puppies, print go-home packets and puppy health records, record an outside or external sire, mark puppies reserved, retained, or went home, mark a litter born or completed, schedule puppy pickups, deliveries, and go-home dates, set puppy prices and photos, change a puppy's sex or collar color, link a waitlist, show a litter on your website, share a litter link with buyers, archive or delete a duplicate litter, and download a litter PDF.

# Litters

> **Video walkthrough:** [Watch on Loom](#) *(link coming soon)*

***

Litters is where you manage every breeding from start to finish — from the date you bred your pair through neonatal check-ins after whelping, all the way to each puppy going home. Every litter has its own full profile with photos, puppy records, finances, and a linked waitlist.

***

## What You Can Do Here

* Create and track litters from planned through born and completed
* Record sire and dam — your own dogs or external dogs you don't own
* Add individual puppies and track each one's status
* Run daily **neonatal check-ins** (weight, ENS, ESI) on every puppy
* Link a **waitlist** so you can see exactly who's in line for this litter's puppies
* Log expenses and income tied to a specific litter
* Apply a care schedule to auto-create tasks for the litter
* Add photos, documents, and events
* Track the buyer journey for each puppy through the **Journey** tab
* Share a private link to the litter with photos, parents, and each puppy

***

## How It Works

### Creating a Litter

1. Go to [**Litters**](https://app.breederbuddy.com/litters) in the left menu (under **Breeding Program**).
2. Click **Add Litter** in the top right. The **Add A New Litter** window opens.
3. Enter a **Name** and pick a **Status** (usually **Planned** before puppies arrive).
4. Enter the **Date Bred**. BreederBuddy shows the estimated due date right under it, based on your gestation length (61 days unless you change it with the **Change** button).
5. Under **Parentage**, pick the **Sire** and **Dam** from your dogs.
6. If the sire or dam isn't one of your dogs, click **Select a Sire** (or **Select a Dam**) and search the name. Outside dogs you've used before are listed under **Outside sires already in your pedigrees**; click **Use**. Not there? Click **Add a new outside sire** (or dam), type the **Name** (plus any details you know), and click **Add sire**. To add them as a full dog in your program instead, click **Create New Dog** in the same window.
7. Click **Save**. Your litter now appears in your Litters list.

If puppies are already born, also fill in the **Date of Birth**. Leave **Status** empty and BreederBuddy asks you to choose one so your records stay lined up.

### Adding Puppies to a Litter

1. Open the litter and go to the **Puppies** tab.
2. Click **Add New Puppy** at the top right of the puppy list.
3. Enter the puppy's **Name** and **Sex** (both required), plus a **Collar Color** if you use them. You can also enter a **Quick-add first weight**.
4. Click **Create Puppy**. The puppy appears in the litter's puppy list and in your **Dogs** list, already linked to the litter's sire, dam, and date of birth.

### The Puppies Tab Toolbox

The **Toolbox** box at the top of a litter's **Puppies** tab handles the whole litter at once:

* **Bulk Add Puppies** — enter how many **Males** and **Females**, a **Name prefix**, **Generation**, **Size**, and **Description**, then click **Add Puppies**. Puppies are named like "Male Puppy 1" and "Female Puppy 2" with the prefix in front, and get the litter's date of birth. The **Name prefix** box starts with a random fun theme (like "Moonbeam"); use the arrows or shuffle button to try others, type your own, or clear it for no prefix. Rename each puppy later with **Quick-edit details**.
* **Link Existing Puppy** — attaches a dog you already added (for example, from a spreadsheet import, or one sitting in the wrong litter) to this litter. Pick the dog and click **Link Dog**. Linking replaces the dog's sire, dam, and date of birth with the litter's.
* **Weigh All** — log a weight for every puppy in one window. Set the **Weigh-in date** (today unless you change it) and pick the **Unit** before you start typing, since changing the unit clears what you've entered. Press **Enter** to jump to the next puppy, and leave a row blank to skip it. An arrow beside each puppy shows the change since their last weight, with a down arrow when they weigh less.
* **Add Bulk Health Records** — adds the same vaccination, deworming, vet visit, or other record to many puppies at once (see below).
* **Export Health PDFs** — pick puppies, then pick sections, and click **Export PDFs** to get one health PDF per puppy.
* **Copy Buyer Emails** — copies the email of every puppy owner so you can paste them into one message.

Each puppy's card also has **View/Add Weight**, **Print for owner** (a go-home packet), **Quick-edit details**, and the **open profile** arrow. Below the puppies, **Weight tracking** charts the whole litter, and **Export Weight Report** downloads it as a PDF.

### Putting Puppies in Birth Order

Drag a puppy's card by its handle, or use the up and down arrows beside it, to set the order: birth order, collar color, or whatever suits you. BreederBuddy saves it, and the same order is used in the [Neonatal Check-In](https://breederbuddy.com/docs/features/core-animal-litter-management/neonatal-check-in.md) puppy picker and for the puppy rows on the AKC Litter Record and your own uploaded forms in [Document Manager](https://breederbuddy.com/docs/features/care-operations/printables.md).

To compare sizes, click **Sort by Weight** in the **Toolbox**: puppies line up heaviest first with their latest weights. It's a view only and doesn't change your saved order. Click **Return to Manual Order** to drag again.

### Vaccinating or Deworming the Whole Litter

1. Open the litter and go to the **Puppies** tab.
2. Click **Add Bulk Health Records** in the **Toolbox**.
3. Under **Select Puppies**, tick **Select All** (or just the puppies you want).
4. Under **Health Record Details**, pick the **Record Type** (for example **Vaccination**), enter the name, **Date**, and who gave it, then click **Create Records**.
5. BreederBuddy asks whether to create follow-up reminders for all of them. Set the **Follow-up date** once and click **Yes, Create**, or click **Skip**.

Each puppy now has the record on their own **Health** tab.

### Printing a Go-Home Packet

1. On the litter's **Puppies** tab, click **Print for owner** on the puppy's card.
2. In the **Print Go-Home Packet** window, tick the sections to include: **Vaccinations**, **Deworming**, **Veterinarian Appointments**, **Health Tests**, **Breedings**, **Other Records**, and **Weight History**. Untick **Include parents** if you don't want the sire and dam on it.
3. **Include upcoming to-dos** is on by default and adds a checklist of the vaccines, deworming, and care tasks still due, so the new family knows what's next. Tick **Compact version** for smaller text and plain tables that print on fewer pages.
4. Click **Generate PDF**. The packet downloads, ready to print or email to the new family.

### Litter Summary PDF

For one PDF with the litter, both parents, and every puppy's records, click the **three-dot menu** at the top of the litter page and choose **Litter summary PDF**. Tick the health record sections you want, leave **Include upcoming to-dos** and **Include photos** on or untick them, and click **Generate PDF**. (**Download PDF** in the same menu gives the litter overview PDF instead.)

### Managing a Litter

Each litter has its own detail page with tabs grouped along the side:

* **Litter** — **Details** (sire, dam, dates, status, birth method, description), **Puppies** (the individual puppies in this litter), and **Waitlist** (waitlists linked to this litter)
* **Tracking & Workflow** — **Aptitude** (side-by-side aptitude scores), **Journey** (each puppy's progress from born to gone home), **Events**, and **Whelping Watch** (the dam's temperature log, when the litter has a dam from your program)
* **Media & Files** — **Gallery** and **Attachments**
* **Financials** — **Finances** (invoices for this litter's puppies, plus expenses linked to the litter; **Other Income** doesn't show here)

### Litter Statuses

* **Planned** — breeding has been done or is planned; puppies not yet born
* **Born** — puppies have arrived; litter is active
* **Completed** — all puppies have gone home; litter is wrapped up
* **Canceled** — the breeding didn't take or the litter isn't happening

### Updating Litter Status (Planned → Born → Completed)

1. Open the litter and go to the **Details** tab.
2. Click **Edit Details**.
3. Change **Status** — and when puppies arrive, fill in the **Date of Birth** too.
4. Hit **Save**.

BreederBuddy helps keep things in sync along the way:

* If you enter a **Date of Birth** but the status is still Planned, it asks if you'd like to set the status to **Born**.
* Adding the first puppy to a litter that isn't marked Born yet also prompts you to mark it Born.
* Changing the litter's Date of Birth updates each puppy's date of birth to match.
* When you mark a litter **Completed** with **Edit Details**, BreederBuddy offers to archive it so it drops out of your active view.

There's also a one-click finish on the **Journey** tab: the **Mark Sold & Complete** step has a **Mark All Puppies Went Home & Complete Litter** button that marks every puppy **Went home (Sold)** and sets the litter to **Completed** in one go. This button doesn't offer to archive the litter, so archive it afterwards from the **three-dot menu** (**Archive litter**) if you want it out of your active view. Completing never happens automatically. It's always your click, on this button or the Status dropdown.

### The Go-Home Date

Every litter has one go-home date, and the rest of BreederBuddy reads it: the litter page, each puppy's page, the buyer's contact card, the calendar, your website, documents and invoices, and any Go-home email series.

* **Until you set it, it's an estimate**: the Date of Birth plus your go-home age (8 weeks unless you change it). The litter page shows it as "goes home \~Dec 1", and the calendar marks it **Go-home (est.)**.
* **To set the exact day**, open the litter's **Edit Details** and fill in **Go-home date** under Date of Birth. The \~ disappears everywhere, and if buyers are on a Go-home email series for this litter, BreederBuddy asks whether to move their emails to the new date.
* **One puppy going home on a different day?** Set **Go-home date** on that puppy's **Edit Details** (or **Quick-edit details** on their card). Leave it blank to follow the litter.
* **Your go-home age** lives under [**Settings → Preferences**](https://app.breederbuddy.com/settings?tab=preferences); the small **Change** button under the litter's Date of Birth opens the same setting.

### Scheduling Pickups and Marking Puppies Went Home

* **Each puppy's actual pickup or delivery appointment** is a calendar event. On the litter's **Journey** tab, the **Schedule Pickup** step has a **Schedule Pickup** button for every puppy — pick the date and time, and it lands on your calendar. You can reschedule from the same spot.

Once a pickup is scheduled, a **Mark Went Home** button appears for that puppy — click it on pickup day and their status flips to **Went home (Sold)**. You can also set it anytime via the puppy's **Market Status** (Available, Reserved, Retained, Went home (Sold)) using **Quick-edit details** on their row or **Edit Details** on their profile.

### Removing a Puppy from a Litter

* **Puppy in the wrong litter?** Open the *correct* litter's **Puppies** tab and use **Link Existing Puppy** to move them there. There's no "unlink" that leaves a puppy with no litter.
* **Puppy passed away?** Don't delete the record. Open the puppy's profile, click **Edit Details**, set **Type** to **Deceased**, and hit **Save**. They move to the **Archived, Retired & Deceased** section of your Dogs list and keep their records.
* **Added by mistake?** Delete the record: open the puppy's profile with the **open profile** arrow, click the **three-dot menu** at the top, and choose **Delete**. Deleting is permanent and immediate, so double-check you're on the right puppy first.

### Setting Puppy Sale Prices

Each puppy's sale price lives on the puppy's own profile, not on the litter page:

1. From the litter's puppy list, click the **open profile** arrow on the puppy's card (or find the puppy in **Dogs**).
2. Click **Edit Details**.
3. Enter the **Sale Price** (shown in your preferred currency). This sits right next to **Market Status** (**Available**, **Reserved**, **Retained**, **Went home (Sold)**).
4. Hit **Save**.

The **Quick-edit details** button on a litter's puppy card covers name, call name, market status, buyer, go-home date, microchip, registration numbers, color, coat, size, and generation. For the sale price, sex, or photos, open the puppy's full profile.

### Reserving a Puppy for a Buyer

A puppy is reserved the moment a contact becomes its owner. On the puppy's card, click **Reserve for a buyer**, pick the contact, and say yes when BreederBuddy asks **Mark as Reserved?** The card then reads "Reserved for Sarah Miller · goes home Dec 1", your website shows the puppy as reserved, the buyer's contact card says the same, and a Go-home email series can offer to start.

This window only lists contacts you already have. For a brand-new buyer, add them under [**Contacts**](https://app.breederbuddy.com/contacts) first, or open the puppy's profile and use **Reserve for a buyer** on its **Relationships** tab, which has **Create New Contact**. The full story, including guardian homes and partner breeders, is under [Dogs](https://breederbuddy.com/docs/features/core-animal-litter-management/dogs.md).

### Sharing a Litter

You can send buyers a private page for a litter without putting it on your website. It shows the litter's photos, the sire and dam, and a card for each puppy with their photos and details.

1. Open the litter and click the **Share** icon next to the litter's name.
2. Click **Create share link**. The link is copied for you, ready to paste into a text, email, or message.
3. Everything is on by default. Untick a section to leave it off, or click **Customize** next to it to pick specific puppies, photos, or files. Changes save on their own, and the link stays the same.

Anyone with the link can view the page without logging in. Every photo in the litter's gallery is included unless you untick it, and each puppy's own gallery photos are included too, so buyers can tap a puppy to flip through their pictures.

Links expire after 90 days. To change that, click **Change** at the bottom of the share window. To stop sharing right away, click **Turn off link**.

### Archiving or Deleting a Litter

To archive a finished litter, open it and click the **three-dot menu** at the top of the page, then choose **Archive litter**. Archived litters keep all their records and appear in the **Archived Litters** section at the bottom of your Litters page. To bring one back, open it and choose **Unarchive litter** from the same menu.

To permanently delete a litter, choose **Delete** from that same three-dot menu. Deleting is permanent — archive whenever you want to keep the history.

**Made a duplicate litter?** Deleting a litter doesn't delete its puppies, but they lose their link to it. So first open the litter you're keeping, go to its **Puppies** tab, and use **Link Existing Puppy** to move each puppy over. Then delete the duplicate.

To sort your archived litters, switch the Litters page to **List view (detailed)** with the toggle on the right, then click a column header (**Name**, **Date of Birth (Age)**, **Sire**, **Dam**, or **Puppy count**) in the **Archived Litters** table.

### Showing a Litter on Your Website

1. Open the litter's **Details** tab and click **Edit Details**.
2. Under **Display Settings**, tick **Public?**. The **Description** below it is what shows under the litter's name and photo on your site.
3. Hit **Save**.

Whether the litter reads as available comes from its puppies: any puppy marked **Available** makes the litter available. Archiving a litter takes it off your website. To publish or hide several dogs and litters at once, use [**Content Manager**](https://app.breederbuddy.com/display) in the left menu.

### Neonatal Check-Ins

Once a litter is marked **Born**, BreederBuddy gives you a daily **Neonatal Check-In** for each puppy: log weight any day, and ENS (Early Neurological Stimulation) and ESI (Early Scent Introduction) on days 3 through 16. To start one, go to your Dashboard and click **Check In** next to the litter on the **Neonatal Check-In** card. (New dashboards don't show that card until you turn it on with the **sliders icon** near the top of the Dashboard.) See the [Neonatal Check-In](https://breederbuddy.com/docs/features/core-animal-litter-management/neonatal-check-in.md) doc for the full walkthrough.

### Linking a Waitlist

Open the **Waitlist** tab on a litter and click **Link Waitlist** to connect one of your [**Waitlists**](https://app.breederbuddy.com/waitlists). Buyers on a linked waitlist show up here, so you always know who's waiting on puppies from this specific litter.

You can do this before any puppies are born: create the litter with **Status** set to **Planned**, then link the waitlist. Haven't picked the sire yet? A litter needs a sire, so add an external sire named something like "TBD" (**Select a Sire** → **Add a new outside sire**), then pick the real sire later with **Edit Details**.

### Applying a Care Schedule

You can attach a pre-built care schedule to a litter so that tasks (vet visits, deworming, etc.) auto-populate as events.

1. Open the litter and go to the **Events** tab.
2. Click **Apply Schedule to this Litter** below the events list.
3. Pick a schedule from your [**Care Schedules**](https://app.breederbuddy.com/schedules) and confirm.
4. The schedule's tasks now show up as events on the litter and on your calendar.

***

## Key Terms

| Term | What It Means |
| - | - |
| Whelping Date | The date puppies were born |
| Date Bred | The date the sire and dam were bred |
| External Sire/Dam | A sire or dam that isn't a dog in your program; saved as an outside dog in your pedigrees, not in your Dogs list |
| Journey | The visual status tracker showing where each puppy is in the placement process |
| Neonatal Check-In | Daily log of weight (any day) plus ENS and ESI on days 3 through 16 |
| Care Schedule | A reusable task template you can apply to a litter |

***

## Tips & Common Questions

> **Where do I track newborn puppy temperatures?**
>
> The daily Neonatal Check-In covers weight, ENS, and ESI — it doesn't record puppy temperatures, and there isn't a separate temperature log for puppies. Temperature tracking in BreederBuddy is for the **dam**: her **Whelping Watch** tab watches for the pre-labor temperature drop. If you take puppy temps, jot them in the check-in's **Notes** field.

> **Can I record a litter where the sire (or dam) isn't my dog?**
>
> Yes. On the litter form, click **Select a Sire** (or **Select a Dam**). Outside dogs you've used before are listed below your own dogs; click **Use**. If they're new, click **Add a new outside sire** (or dam) and type the name. They're saved as an outside dog in your pedigrees and don't clutter your Dogs list.

> **Can I filter my litter list by sire or dam?**
>
> You can't filter by sire or dam, but you can sort by them. The **Litter Finder** at the top of the Litters page filters by name (or AKC #), **Status**, **Date of Birth**, and **Date Bred**, and the sort options include **Sire** and **Dam**.

> **What happens to puppies when I mark a litter as Completed?**
>
> Each puppy's individual record stays in your **Dogs** list. Completing a litter just marks it as done — it doesn't remove any records.

> **How do I mark a puppy as held back (keeping them for breeding)?**
>
> Set the puppy's **Market Status** to **Retained** with **Quick-edit details** on their card. If you're keeping them as a future breeding dog, also open their profile, click **Edit Details**, and change **Type** to **Active Breeding Dog**.

> **I marked a puppy Went Home by mistake. How do I undo it?**
>
> Click **Quick-edit details** on the puppy's card, change **Market Status** back (for example to **Reserved** or **Available**), and save. If the puppy was archived too, open their profile, click **Edit Details**, untick **Archive from main workflow**, and hit **Save**.

> **How do I change a puppy's sex?**
>
> Open the puppy's profile with the **open profile** arrow, click **Edit Details**, change **Sex**, and hit **Save**. (**Quick-edit details** doesn't include sex.)

> **How do I change a puppy's collar color?**
>
> On the litter's **Puppies** tab, click the small colored dot on the puppy's photo (hover text: **Set collar color**) and pick a color. You can also set **Collar Color** on the puppy's **Edit Details**.

> **How do I add photos to one puppy instead of the whole litter?**
>
> Open that puppy's profile with the **open profile** arrow, go to the **Gallery** tab, and click **Add photos**. Photos on the litter's own **Gallery** tab belong to the litter. To set a puppy's main photo right from the litter, click the camera icon on their card (hover text: **Set profile photo**).

> **Where do I record puppy aptitude tests?**
>
> Open the puppy's profile and go to the **Aptitude & Neonatal** tab, then click **Record Session** (Volhard PAT or Avidog Profile). To compare the whole litter side by side, open the litter's **Aptitude** tab.

> **Where can I see early development data for the whole litter?**
>
> On the litter page: the **Aptitude** tab compares littermates' aptitude scores, and the **Puppies** tab has the **Weight tracking** chart with **Export Weight Report**. Each puppy's daily ENS and ESI check-ins are on that puppy's **Aptitude & Neonatal** tab.

> **How do I delete a weight entry?**
>
> Click **View/Add Weight** on the puppy's card (or open the **Weight** tab on their profile). In the weight history table, click the **trash icon** on that row and confirm. Use the **pencil icon** to edit it instead.

> **Where are my archived litters and archived puppies?**
>
> Archived litters are in the **Archived Litters** section at the bottom of the [**Litters**](https://app.breederbuddy.com/litters) page. Archived puppies are in the **Archived, Retired & Deceased** section at the bottom of the [**Dogs**](https://app.breederbuddy.com/animals) page. Typing a name in the search box finds archived ones too.

> **Why isn't my dog in the Sire or Dam list?**
>
> The list only shows dogs whose **Sex** matches and whose **Type** is **Active Breeding Dog**, **Retired**, or **Deceased**. Puppies and **Pet / Other** dogs are left out. Open the dog, click **Edit Details**, set **Type** to **Active Breeding Dog**, and save.

> **Can the Litters page remember my filters?**
>
> Yes. Turn on **Remember page filters** in [**Settings → Preferences**](https://app.breederbuddy.com/settings?tab=preferences). It's saved in your browser, so turn it on on each computer or phone you use.

> **How do I remove a puppy from a litter?**
>
> It depends on why. To move a puppy to the right litter, use **Link Existing Puppy** on that litter's **Puppies** tab. If the puppy passed away, set their **Type** to **Deceased** instead of removing them, so their records stay. To remove a puppy record added by mistake, open their profile, click the **three-dot menu**, and choose **Delete** (this can't be undone). To take a puppy off your website without removing anything, untick **Public?** or archive them.

> **Why does my litter show two breeds combined (like Goldendoodle / Golden Retriever)?**
>
> On your website, a litter's breed comes from its puppies' **Breed** fields. If puppies in the same litter have different breeds, all of them are listed with a "/" between. Open each puppy's **Edit Details** and give them all the same **Breed**. Before any puppies are added, the website uses the parents' breed only when the sire and dam share it. A litter share link shows the sire's and dam's breeds joined with an "x" when they differ (for example "Golden Retriever x Poodle").

> **Can I download a litter's records?**
>
> Yes. Open the litter, click the **three-dot menu** at the top right, and choose **Download PDF** for the litter overview, or **Litter summary PDF** for one file with the litter, both parents, and every puppy's health records.

***

## Still Have Questions?

We're here to help. If something isn't working the way you expect, or you'd like to have a discussion around a certain topic, please reach out to us anytime through the chat in the bottom right corner of your screen.

Thank you.


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