Pregnancy and Feeding - Page 1

I bred my bitch 2 weeks ago so I do not yet know if the pregnancy has taken.  However, over the last week she has developed a ravenous appetite.  She whelped a litter of 7 in 2009, I don't recall her being this crazy over food though.  I increased her meals a little bit since she seemed so hungry, but I also don't want her getting overly fat.  She usually eats 2 cups of Wellness Adult, I've bumped her up to 3 cups.  This is a dog that I could put food on the floor and tell her to leave it and she would comply, but now she is jumping on the counters, getting into the trash, knocking over the pet food bins, and even attempting to steal off of my plate.  She pooped out leaves today, obviously she was eating them outside.  Am I missing something here?  She is otherwise healthy and normal activity levels.  Had full physical exam and parasite check at vet within the last month, everything normal.

She's hungry. 

I AGREE WITH JENNI. BUT KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON HER SO SHE WON'T EAT ANYTHING THAT CAN MAKE HER REALLY ILL.  GOOD LUCK GGSD. 

3 cups per day or two times a day?  3 cups of food is not enough for later in pregnancy. In early stages a normal diet is recommended of their Adult food not switching to puppy food as you do not want to increase calcium during pregnancy as it can lead to dystocia in whelp. Increased calcium levels should only be given once labor has started.  How is her weight to her body type? I do not like a working weight on a pregnant bitch. If I know I am going to be breeding a female on her next cycle I try and increase her weight by 5-8 lbs. This also tells her body she has enough reserve to help carry a litter and have a healthier pregnancy. My girls here get 2 cups 2 x daily I increase up to about 6 cups per day 3 c. x2 during pregnancy.

I have had more females loose interest in foods 2 weeks - 21 days post breeding than actually want to increase food this early on. Unless she is lean weight their is no reason her body should be trying to pack on additional calories for the sake of supplying nutrients to puppies only in the later weeks so I think you are lucky to have a female who is a good eater! But if you are only feeding a total of 3 cups per day your answer is a simple one she needs more food to build up to carry those pups and have a good reserve for a healthy pregnancy.

I  would say she does not necessarily need more dog food but more calories in her food,  maybe more raw meat and a healthy dose of beef fat as well.  Cottage cheese, ground beef like a 70/30 blend;  more calories.  She probably has a lot of puppies and they are high demand on her body.

Thanks.  I guess I'll add more food/calories for her.  It's been 17 days since the first tie, I really thought her appetite would be less during this time period.  She was about 5lbs over her "working weight" when she was bred.  Guess she's gonna either have a lot of pups or they're just gonna be little piggies!

Kudo's to you for realizing this before she eats something that could hurt her or the puppies.  A good quality ground beef will help;  even cottage cheese and yogart would be good;  ground pork also good.  I have heard Honest Kitchen will help add calories and not so much volume;  just a thought  you can add any type meat you want to any of their formulas also have vit/min added in that she might need.  Good  luck  Nan  Fresh chopped liver would be good also added to her food.

Dog fetuses are still very small until the sixth week. A pregnant bitch does not any extra protein until the sixth week.

Rapid growth occurs during the last three weeks. I think this is because in the wild long period carrying extra weight limits hunting and survival. A female dog burdens the pack for shorter period of time.

I would make sure she has omega-3 fatty acids with 1-2 capsules of high quality fish oil. DHA is passed to the fetuses.

One consideration is food allurgy so I would not switch to a food of different ingredients during pregnancy and lactation.

I read that if you allow a bitch to get fat, her fetuses would get too large.

If you feed a commercial dog food, it likely will have excess calcium so supplement is never needed, except may be during lactation, not gestation.  

Hi GranvilleGSD,

 I would increase her food slightly. When I bred my female she was already eating about 5 cups of food a day, and she was in great shape. I didn't really start to increase her food until later in her pregnancy, and when Icdid it was in 1/4 cup increments. I still can't beleive she had 8 puppies cause she looked like she did the day we bred her!

I would say if she is acting that ravenous adding some more calories to her shouldn't be a problem, just take it slow :)

Good luck with the puppers :0)