Feeding a Pregnant or Nursing Dog
A nursing dog may need two to four times her normal calories. Underfeeding at this stage costs her condition and the litter's growth. Through pregnancy Keep…
A nursing dog may need two to four times her normal calories. Underfeeding at this stage costs her condition and the litter's growth.
Through pregnancy
Keep normal feeding for the first five weeks — the puppies grow mostly in the last three. From week five, increase gradually and switch to a puppy or all-life-stages food, which is denser.
During lactation
Feed free-choice or several meals a day. Water intake rises sharply; keep it always available.
The calcium trap
Do not supplement calcium during pregnancy. It suppresses the hormonal system that mobilises calcium later, raising the risk of eclampsia — a life-threatening drop in blood calcium — when milk demand peaks.
Weaning
Reduce food as the puppies start eating solids around 4 weeks, back to normal by the time they are weaned.