[ycoetzee]

My moyen girl delivered 7 healthy pups on April 18. It took her 1.5 hours and it all went smoothly. The puppies are all thriving.

However, my girl does not want to eat. Or she is not eating nearly enough. She MIGHT eat one can of puppy food per day. She drinks fine.

She seems perfectly fine and is acting completely normal - alert, playful and all and all, herself. Her post whelping discharge is normal - no infection, her teats are fine - no mastitis. She is a great mama.

Is this just a stage that will pass? Will she naturally become ravenous as the puppies grow?

She has no extra or reserve weight on her. She has always been a very picky eater, but this is at a whole new level. I am cooking for her, I have 3 different brands of dry food, various canned food, raw food, etc. She does not want to eat satin balls.

Should I just relax and let her be as long as the puppies are growing fine?

 

[Vee]

Pups are gaining weight and thriving, sounds like you are worrying for nothing. Congratulations! Do you have any pics?

 

[Rose n Poos]

Hi,
Not that many of us have had breeding experience. What does your vet say?

 

[VanessaC]

You’d think that nutrition is important for the quality of breast milk she’s producing. Lactating dogs are supposed to require more calories than at any other time in their life. I think this is one of the only times most vets would advocate for free-feeding. Check with your vet though. I’ve also read that they require plenty of calcium so that the milk produced doesn’t take too much away from their system.

You could try adding green tripe (good source of calcium but very rich so be mindful of how much you add so she doesn’t get a loose stool) or sardines to entice her if you’re having a hard time. My picky boy also loves freeze-dried raw food rehydrated with bone broth more than anything. I usually use the freeze-dried food as treats, but it has worked to entice him to eat in the past.

Good luck and congrats on the puppies!

 

[Streetcar]

My moyen girl delivered 7 healthy pups on April 18. It took her 1.5 hours and it all went smoothly. The puppies are all thriving.

However, my girl does not want to eat. Or she is not eating nearly enough. She MIGHT eat one can of puppy food per day. She drinks fine.

She seems perfectly fine and is acting completely normal - alert, playful and all and all, herself. Her post whelping discharge is normal - no infection, her teats are fine - no mastitis. She is a great mama.

Is this just a stage that will pass? Will she naturally become ravenous as the puppies grow?

She has no extra or reserve weight on her. She has always been a very picky eater, but this is at a whole new level. I am cooking for her, I have 3 different brands of dry food, various canned food, raw food, etc. She does not want to eat satin balls.

Should I just relax and let her be as long as the puppies are growing fine?

My moyen girl delivered 7 healthy pups on April 18. It took her 1.5 hours and it all went smoothly. The puppies are all thriving.

However, my girl does not want to eat. Or she is not eating nearly enough. She MIGHT eat one can of puppy food per day. She drinks fine.

She seems perfectly fine and is acting completely normal - alert, playful and all and all, herself. Her post whelping discharge is normal - no infection, her teats are fine - no mastitis. She is a great mama.

Is this just a stage that will pass? Will she naturally become ravenous as the puppies grow?

She has no extra or reserve weight on her. She has always been a very picky eater, but this is at a whole new level. I am cooking for her, I have 3 different brands of dry food, various canned food, raw food, etc. She does not want to eat satin balls.

Should I just relax and let her be as long as the puppies are growing fine?

This could be incredibly serious, and you need to be on the phone to your theriogenologist immediately. Fingers crossed she can get the help she needs. At the very least, you need your mentor on speed dial, not a forum of pet owner who are not breeders.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

What Streetcar said. I'm sure you've been googling like crazy, but this scared me:

Dam Almost Dies 6 Days After Pups were Born, Whelping and Raising Puppies

Information on whelping puppies. Dam almost dies six days after pups are born

www.dogbreedinfo.com

 

[Vee]

A lot of bitches don’t eat much in the first few days after whelping, I know this from experience! You will find this picks up. As said I would free feed. If she is drinking but not eating try giving her soup, puppy milk, (tips from a very experienced breeders). Have you given your bitch calcium? Do you have a mentor? How is she today?

 

[Mufar42]

Its been a very long time since I bred a litter of pups and I did have a mentor at the time. I do remember I had to bring her into the vet after delivery so he could give her a shot and I had to add calcium to her diet. Some cottage cheese was added to her food if I remember correctly. I would check with my vet to ere on the side of caution. Good luck with your pups.

 

[fjm]

Maintaining calcium levels is important to avoid eclampsia ("milk fever"), but if she is being fed a suitable diet, ideally one specifically formulated for growth and lactation, it should not be necessary to add anything else. Eclampsia is more common later on, when the growing pups are making huge demands on the mother's reserves. I remember my mother's dog had a bout - fortunately she was treated in time and recovered quickly.

I hope your dog is now eating!

 

[Starvt]

It's not unusual for a dog to have less appetite for a day or two after giving birth, but you do really need to get as much energy into her as possible. Try Mother's Pudding- the recipe is at the bottom of the post here:

Four Days Old

Jane Messineo Lindquist (Killion) is the director of "Puppy Culture: The Powerful First Twelve Weeks That Can Shape Your Puppies' Future" as well as the author of "When Pigs Fly: Training Success...

www.puppyculturestories.com

 

[ycoetzee]

It's not unusual for a dog to have less appetite for a day or two after giving birth, but you do really need to get as much energy into her as possible. Try Mother's Pudding- the recipe is at the bottom of the post here:

Four Days Old

Jane Messineo Lindquist (Killion) is the director of "Puppy Culture: The Powerful First Twelve Weeks That Can Shape Your Puppies' Future" as well as the author of "When Pigs Fly: Training Success...

www.puppyculturestories.com

Thanks! I'll be making this!

 

[ycoetzee]

I just wanted to update you all and let you know that she has started eating a bit more. She ate 3 cans of puppy food yesterday, some eggs, puppy milk made with chicken broth, and a couple of handfuls of treats. I do supplement her with an oral supplement.
It's still not enough, but hopefully she will start eating more from now on. The puppies are 4 days old today.

I carefully counted placentas. And I'm keeping a close eye on her discharge - heck, I even sniff her just to make sure - all normal. She is active and lifely. I had to stop her from playing and running like her pre-pregnancy self with the other dogs yesterday.

 

[fjm]

That's good - thanks for updating us. How are the puppies doing?

 

[PeggyTheParti]

So good to hear

 

[Rose n Poos]

Thank you for the update, we appreciate it! What's your dam and sire's names, if you don't mind telling?
And, please, keep us updated on all of them .

 

[ycoetzee]

The puppies are doing very, very well. They are all on track to double their birth weight by 1 week, except perhaps for the littlest one, but she will be close.

I read somewhere to try rotisserie chicken - and lo and behold - she ate almost half the chicken. I had to handfeed it to her bit by bit, but that's ok. I'll do it for 4/5 weeks if that is what it takes My batch of "Mother's Pudding" is cooling. I will let you know how that goes.

 

[ycoetzee]

 

[ycoetzee]

6 girls, 1 boy: 2 Black Phantom, 1 Brown Phantom, 2 Brown Phantom Abstract, 2 Black.

 

[Rose n Poos]

Sounds like things are getting better every day .

 

[Lizmom]

Its been a very long time since I bred a litter of pups and I did have a mentor at the time. I do remember I had to bring her into the vet after delivery so he could give her a shot and I had to add calcium to her diet. Some cottage cheese was added to her food if I remember correctly. I would check with my vet to ere on the side of caution. Good luck with your pups.

Yea for cottage cheese. I go to Robert Hutchinson, en eminent canine OB, for breeding, and he recommends lots of cottage cheese.