What you should give to feed dog after giving birth is an important issue for all dog owners. The choice of meals you feed to your dog will impact her health in the long run. Especially after she delivers her puppies, that’s very crucial time for you. You should feed the mommy dog with very nutritious food. The food will affect the mother and the puppies. As she has just delivered her puppies and needs to breastfeed her pups, she will need meals higher nutrients and in volumes. She needs all those to help her producing milk and to keep in shape.
After the delivery of her litter, a mommy dog will experience a range of emotions that can be shown with specific behavior. For example, after the puppies are born, the mommy will be all consumed with the new litter. That means that her time with the dog owner and the time for her needs like eating and relieving herself will be put on the back burner. Because of this situation, you have to step in and force her to go outside to relieve herself. Use a leash and guide her out. Otherwise, you have to clean up her accident.
After delivering puppies, mommy dog doesn’t eat immediately. It will take 12 hours waiting before she starts to eat her first meal. However, if you see that your dog doesn’t want to leave her puppies and eat, try to tempt her with foods she likes the most. It is very important for her to fill her tummy soon as she needs energy to take care of and to feed her puppies.
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1. Food choices for mommy dogs
Pregnant dogs lose their weight after giving birth but the needs of nutritional food increase drastically. Based on how many puppies she has; mommy dog needs more or less two or three times food volume to feed the pups. Ensure that mommy dog has plenty of water to produce enough milk volume to feed the litter.
Mommy dog needs to regain her strength through her meals. It is very important to nourish her so she can produce enough milk for the puppies. She needs to eat more, double even triple her usual amount. Not only in quantity but her diet is also changed in quality. Provide her with high quality and higher calorie, vitamin, fat and nutrient. Don’t forget to treat her snacks in between her meals. For your consideration, puppy food is very good to be fed for mommy dog as the food contains high and quality nutrients she needs during lactation. Her diet should be under your supervision.
Place the food near your dog so she doesn’t have to leave the puppies to eat. As many new mothers don’t want to leave their puppies to eat, there is a high chance they don’t eat for too long after giving birth. For the first 3-4 days, you need to mix the puppy food with her normal food to avoid stomach upset. This arrangement will help mommy do to adjust to puppy food gradually.
Puppy food is very rich in calories, proteins and fats which is suitable to give to mommy dog who needs extra care during their nursing. Puppy formula powder is also another good choice to be added to dog’s normal food. It is intended for puppies but if you give it to mommy dog, it will help her with lactation and will improve the taste of her food. Mother dog can absorb the nutrients in the food more quickly when she consumes puppy food.
Other choice you can make to feed your dog is to give her cooked ground beef mixed with white rice meal. This kind of meal is very rich in fibers and protein. Or you can open a canned food and feed her as this meal supply the liquids needed to prevent your mommy dog from dehydration.
Along with the puppies’ growth, it is likely mommy dog’s appetite will increase. She needs to produce more milk to feed her litter of puppies. However, it depends on the number of the litter, she might eat almost double in quantity compared to her usual. If she loses weight continuously, you can add grease, lard and vegetable oil in her diet. The reason for her weight lost is likely because she is nursing and isn’t eating properly. If this continues, her body will use reserves that can lead to unhealthy weight loss.
As you know her needs for meal increased during lactation, it is better if you feed her high protein snacks between hear meals. You could feed her with egg yolks, cheese or plain yogur. You can also provide raw liver as it contains lots of iron and it will help her body restore the blood supply lost during her labor. Not only iron, liver also contains of high protein, so it is highly recommended to feed her that meal.
You might read this article to get enhance information about dog’s weight : 7 Advice to Treat Your Skinny Dog and Gain Healthy Weight
Another option to choose is to give her the diet of raw food. You can give her easily digestible bones, like chicken wings and legs. This kind of food will provide her with calcium and you won’t need to give her additional tablet. Her mineral needs is taken care of with this diet.
Here is a sample diet for a nursing dog or for a pregnant dog:
- 65 – 75% of raw meat bones, like rabbit, oxtail or chicken wings
- 15 – 20% alternative meat, like whole raw fish (occasional), Intestines, cows’ cheeks
- 5% of organ meat, especially liver
- 5% of vegetables
2. Liquid intake
This is very important. You can’t let your dog dehydrated as she has to produce a lot of milk for lactation. She has to drink large quantities of clean fresh water to prevent dehydration and other complications. If mommy dog refuses to have plain water, try to give her a bit of chicken broth to drink. This might be more acceptable to the dog. And after all this is more nutritious than plain water.
Another tip is to leave as much fresh water as you can for her. If the water keeps running out that means you have to give her more water.
3. Weaning
When the puppies reach five weeks old, most of them starts showing an interest in their mother’s food bowl. They will begin eating more solid food and nursing less. Gradually, mommy dog will automatically be eating less. And most puppies will be completely weaned around 8 weeks. This is the time when mommy dog’s energy is back to normal and she will be back to eating her normal diet before her pregnancy.
Reading this article I am hoping you get the idea what you should give to feed dog after giving birth. And to have profound knowledge, I recommend you to read some links below: