Diet for the Pregnant Dog

For a pregnant dog, it is imperative to feed your bitch a ‘complete and balanced’ (check the back of the bag to make sure it says it is complete and balanced), highly digestible diet. Most commercial dog foods are scientifically formulated to ensure that they have the right balance of nutrients in them to keep your dog healthy.

In pregnancy, the dog food you feed your bitch should be high in protein – it should have a minimum protein concentration of 22g per 400kcal of energy (you can find this information in the nutritional information, usually found on the back of the bag). It is important not to supplement calcium during pregnancy, as too much calcium intake during gestation can increase the risk of eclampsia (causing convulsions) during labour and parturition (the birth)

There are no increased demands on the metabolism of a pregnant dog until the final trimester (final third) of her pregnancy. As the average gestation is approximately 9 weeks, there is no need to feed your bitch extra until the 6th week of her pregnancy (the same is true for humans, so beware of the old ‘eating for two’ adage until the final third of your pregnancy – or you will just be storing the extra energy as fat!). At week 6 it is important to increase the quantity of food that you feed your bitch by about 1/3 every day. For example if you were feeding her 1 cup of food, she should now get 1.33 cups of food, if you were feeding her 3 cups, she should now get 4 cups…etc.

Once the puppies arrive, your bitch will require up to 3.5-times as much energy as a normal adult dog of the same size. I would recommend feeding your bitch a more concentrated dog food (check the energy content in the nutritional information – you want to choose a dog food with a high amount of energy per 100g). I would also recommend feeding your bitch morning noon and night during peak lactation.

Obviously the bigger the litter, the higher the energy demands on your bitch (anything over 6 puppies is considered a large litter) In bitches with large litters I usually recommend to the owners to feed the bitch as much as she will eat. Remember – the diet should be ‘complete and balanced’! Often home made diets are not complete and balanced, I would strongly suggest using a commercial diet such as Hills Science Diet or Eukanuba during pregnancy and after the puppies are born.

For more information on caring for your pregnant dog during whelping, click here.

Exercise for the Pregnant Dog

There is no need to cut back exercise in your bitch during her pregnancy and after the puppies are born. Obviously it is sensible not to overdo exercise in the final 3-4 weeks of the pregnancy. You will find that after the puppies arrive, your bitch will spend most of her time with the pups, and will not be in the mood to exercise for at least 4-6 weeks after whelping.I think the best advice is to use your common sense and let your bitch decide how much activity she wants to do.

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