lactating dog

Question
QUESTION: I am concerned with our 2 year old lab who just gave birth to 12 pups on Jan 2. They are healthy and seem to be doing quite well, we have made a great effort to make sure they are rotated and are getting full. My concern is not only for the large litter of pups but for the nutritional needs of the mother. Any suggestions as to the type of food she should be receiving would be a great help. We are feeding her anytime she will eat, day or night, dry, canned food and eggs. We have chickens so we have alot of eggs and the dogs love them. But if this is not a good idea, I would like to know, and any other suggestions for maintaining the mothers health as well as the pups. Thank You for any help.  Jackie

ANSWER: First of all I want to thank you for being a good pet owner.
Your concern is well founded. What the bitch eats affects the health of the puppies as well as her milk production.

I will say that while a cooked egg once in a while is fine, raw eggs are just as dangerous to a dog as they are too us.
The most common recommendation we make for feeding a lactating bitch is to free feed her Science Diet Puppy Growth.
It may seem expensive to you to do that but in the end it is cheaper per feeding then any other dog food and it is the ultimate in high quality, digestible food for her and the puppies once they are old enough.
Free feeding means that you fill a bowl with a reasonable amount for her weight (probably about 4-5 cups) and let her eat at will. That is the only way she will be able to meet her energy needs. You will see a decrease in the amount she eats because with this food, once her immediate energy needs are fulfilled she will taper off a bit.
You can still add a cooked egg once or twice a week, but no more than that.
Once the puppies are starting to eat you can soften the puppy food with water and let them start tasting it.
Even if you are selling these pups you are building a foundation for life long health and you want it to be a strong one. I use and have sold SD for over 30 yrs now and I have never had one client complain about it or have bad results. It is truly the best food still out there. Hills has over 50 yrs of research into their foods and more veterinarians feed and sell it than any other brand.
You won't be sorry you used it.
Another thing about the puppies, when they start to feed, get them the small bites puppy growth in the Large Breed. The bitch can have the regular or large breed since she is pretty much done growing.
Once she has weaned the puppies you will need to slowly cut her back to regular mealtimes along with putting her on a Maintenance Diet. I recommend the Science Diet Adult Large breed.
The reason you put her back on Adult food is that the puppy food has too much protein for an adult dog.
This is one reason so many foods on the market are bad for dogs.
Switch her slowly so she has no digestive upsets.
The bag actually tells you how to do that.
Good luck and have fun with the pups!
Send me a photo next time!


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------


Mom and the 12 little   QUESTION: I do thank you for your advice it was most helpful, we started her on the Science Diet puppy food today and she took to it real well. The little ones are doing real well and seem to be growing well, my concern was with the mother, because just in a few days she has gotten so skinny and I am sure this will help her. All 12 are doing real well and not a one has been without. See the attached pictures. Thank you again for the help....Jackie

Answer
Jackie,
you are quite welcome. She is a nice looking dog and the pups do look good.
You will see some changes (for the good) in her coat as long as you have her on the Science Diet. I recommend it for life, but as the Adult formula. Dogs love the taste of SD no matter what formula it is.
I, and Hills, can guarantee that you will be very happy with the results after about three weeks. Her milk production and the puppies will benefit right away from it.
They get skinny if they are not getting the nutrition they need because nursing is an extremely energy-intensive activity. I was really thin when I breast-fed both my kids!
So she will put on some weight while she is still giving most of her energy to her pups. I have seen bitches half starved from not being fed properly during the last trimester and during lactation. The optimum feeding plan is to have her on the puppy food from the middle of her gestation to weaning time.
Good luck and thanks for the photo!