Information quest

Question
Hi, I don't actually know if my dog is pregnant, it's too soon to tell, she'll be going in next week to have ultrasounds done, she's only 3 weeks. This would be my first litter, and I've done a lot of reading and research, to find answers to my questions and questions I end up having when getting answers. The tie occurred only once on Dec 20th and she is currently being fed on barking at the moon solid gold brand dog food that has 41% protein, 20% fat with 465kcal/cup and she gets fed a little less then 2 cups twice a day currently. Barking at the moon is an all life stage formula dog food but it did cause a little concern for me, the catalog had mentioned to limit feeding to large breed puppies because of high calcium in the food would cause hind legs to grow too fast. Nowhere can I find out how much calcium is actually contained in the food or how much calcium is too much calcium, so, that is one of my questions. The other is, I can't find a lot of information about after the birth of puppies. Does the mother have to be constantly in the whelping box until they can walk? If not, when would she be able to have some freedom and how often should she be brought in to milk the puppies? And also about the sire. When is the ideal time to introduce him to the puppy? I was thinking five weeks, but I was also wondering, although I know the mom would keep dad away from puppies to protect them, can she hang out with dad until feeding time, feed and care for pups and then go hang out with dad again? and how soon can that happen? The puppies would of course not be unsupervised during these times, there would always be someone supervising the puppies. These were the questions I had that no matter how much i searched could not find. I was able to observe on youtube that the mom was not always in the whelping area and that dad was introduced to puppies when they could walk, but no actual information. Thank you again if you could provide the answers to these questions.

1.find out how much calcium is actually contained in the barking at the moon food or how much calcium is too much calcium?
2. When can the mom have some freedom, and when it is given, may she go outside to hang out with sire, and how often should she be brought back to care for pups?
3. When would be the optimum time to introduce puppies to the sire, and how to do so safely because I've read at too young, moms may sometimes eat the young or dad would."

Answer
Hi Laura

You didn't mentioned what breed your dogs are, but regardless I am very familiar with Barking at the Moon and the other Solid Gold products.  All excellent and a food we would and have fed a expecting dam and their pups.  The calcium your dam doesn't absorb herself, she will pass onto her pups.  This is truly one of the best foods to feed.

A whelping box should be large enough for your female to lay full out in.  It should also be high enough to keep pups in and low enough for a female full of milk can easily climb in and out of.  Your female will be the best indicator of what she can handle.   For the first week it's typical for a new mother to spend every moment in the box having to be persuaded to come out to do her business.  As the pups grow and teeth come in, a female may want to spend more time out of the box.  

For the first week keeping the dam confined to the box is a good idea as she may want to take the pups and move them to a different location.   Once the pups get older and are sleeping longer you can take her out for a few hours between feedings.  And by the time they are six weeks, just bringing her in the once or twice a day is enough as the pups can start on solids at about 4 weeks.

Please keep in mind that this is all dependent on the size of the litter.

The male can be introduced to the pups at about 5 - 6 weeks. The biggest hazard is injury to the pups from stepping or sitting on rather than eating.   Of course, this depends on your male.

Finally, you mentioned that you are having ultra-sound done next week.   Personally, I prefer x-rays.  The are performed after day 50 when bones calcify, if you have a good tech, you can count skulls and have always had an accurate number.

Good luck!