dog refuses food

Question
QUESTION: HI Renee,

The answer may be obvious, but I'm going to ask you anyways.  My pregnant bitch is at day 57 (from last breeding)  and I was having a problem with her eating her dry dog food and eventually ended up feeding her chicken and rice for almost 3 weeks, (it was the only thing she would eat) until she finally went back to a dog food mix of dry and canned.  

Now here we are again, she will not eat any of her dog food, no matter what I've added to it to entice her to eat.  I'm concerned and not sure what to do.  She will eat everything else and has nothing to do with her appetite.  Is it possible her stomache is upset or that the dry food is upsetting it and she would rather eat something else?  I did try giving her some hamburger and cottage cheese, but she had horrible direaha.  Should I just give in and go back to chicken and rice?  We are only days away from a delivery and I think I'm out of options.

Thank you again,
Patty

ANSWER: Hi Patty. Is she still giving you trouble with the food thing? :-) Some girls just get super picky. She may have decided that she just doesn't care for dog food at this moment. The chicken and rice probably tastes much better than her dog food, and it may be easier on her stomach right now as well. You only have a few more days to go. If she wants chicken and rice, it's perfectly ok to give it to her. After she has these puppies, you want her to eat as much as she can to produce milk. You may be feeding it to her for a while. :-) After she weans the pups, then switch her back to her dog food. It's ok then if she goes a day without food, if she decides to be stubborn about it. Trust me, a dog will not starve itself for long. But while they're pregnant, especially nursing, you have to get them to eat well. Still try to get her to eat some of her dog food. She may not, but try anyway. If I can help with anything else, let me know!

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QUESTION: HI Renee,

It's me again!  Silver had her pups...all TEN of them.  She and the pups are doing really well.  My question is, when it comes time to wean, what do I start them on?  Do I just use formula at first and then add grueler?  Or just start them on both?  And when this all starts, how many times do I feed them and how much at a time?  They are 11 days old today and the big ones are over 2 pounds, while the rest are over 1.5 pounds.  

Which opens first?  Their ears or their eyes?  Or is it always different?  

Thanks for any help you can give me.  
Patty Markiewicz

ANSWER: Hi Patty! Congrats on the new babies! I'm glad that all went well. The best thing to start the pups out on is a good, quality puppy food soaked in puppy formula. After a week or so on that, switch it to puppy food soaked in plain old water. Replace a feeding with mom with a pan of puppy food. Start out like that, and work your way up to just puppy food. That will help mom as well, milk wise. It may take you a couple of weeks to get them on puppy food. Some pups take staight to it, and don't want mom's milk anymore. As for how much, make up a pan of the food soaked in formula. They will be super messy with it. It's always best to make up more than they'll use at first. That way, while they're getting it all over themselves and each other, the floor and the walls, there will still be plenty to go into their bellies. When they get the hang of it, you won't have to make so much extra. Go by the bag on how much to make. Eyes usually open at 10-14 days. Ears usually open at about 23 weeks of age. Some do it early, some later. Good luck, and thanks for letting me know how it went! If I can help with anything else, let me know!

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QUESTION: HI Renee!

Thanks for the quick answer.  Got one more for you:  Do I need to give mom anything special or do anything different once they start weaning?  Will her milk just start drying up? and do I need to do anything to express any of it?  You said their ears open at 23 "weeks" of age, did you mean days?? :)

The birth did go really well.  My husband and I had to catch the first 3 and take care of them, as she had them and walked away.  By the fourth one she finally took over and we were both breathing a sigh of relief. :)  She only needed a little bit of help and everything went well.  It took a total of 7 1/2 hours, which was pretty good timing.  She had no problems with labor or giving birth and we only had to help pull the last one out, who was half way out.  It was really a beautiful experience.  As is watching them grow and change so quickly.  They are trying so hard to walk and can stand for a split second or two, even getting in a few steps.  It is just so incredible.  The miracle of life.  

I'm sure I'll have some more questions later, thanks again for all the help.  

Patty

Answer
Hi Patty! Opps. Yeah, I meant 23 days. :-) A slip of the keyboard. lol

The only thing that you really need to do for mom once the puppies start to wean is to slowly reduce her food intake. This will help her naturally dry up, as will the pups not nursing as much. A lot of people still feed mom the amount that she was eating while nursing, and the dog will still be producing a ton of milk. When the pups are completely weaned, feed her the same amount that you fed her before she became pregnant. You can also apply cool compresses to her breasts. That sometimes helps dry the milk up. Don't express it, as that stimulates milk production.

I'm really glad that everything went just fine. You're in awe now. Wait until you're cleaning up after 10 6 week old puppies.:-) You'll be asking yourself how do they poop so much for something that little?!? Oh! Is she still being picky about her food?

Your welcome! Anytime. If you have anymore questions, feel free to holler!