Not sure what to do if your dog is pregnant for the first time? While having a litter of puppies can be very exciting, it can also be quite daunting. It’s important that a pregnant bitch receives the right care and that she has a uniquely formulated diet to keep her healthy and to give her puppies the best start in life.
We’ll walk you through how to treat a pregnant dog but first, we’d like to make a very important point about breeding:
If you do not have homes chosen for the puppies that you plan to breed or cannot keep them yourself, you should not allow your dog to get pregnant in the first place. Spay and neuter your dogs if this is the case. Otherwise, the puppies may end up being euthanised at pet care shelters like the SPCA. This is, unfortunately, the sad reality.
How To Tell If Your Dog Is Pregnant
It may only be noticeable to owners that their pet is with pup towards the end of the second trimester. However, there are a number of tests to confirm pregnancy.
Dog Pregnancy Tests Available
Your vet will able to perform different tests depending on the stage of pregnancy.
1. Palpatation:
By gentling touching your dog’s abdomen, your vet can feel for small embryonic fluid-filled sacs. If you are wanting to know the number of puppies or the viability of the embryos, then this test will not be able to help.
When this test can be done: A month after conceiving.
2. Ultrasound:
This test uses high-frequency sound waves to create an image of the developing fetuses. If you’re needing to know the litter size, this test can give you a better idea.
When this test can be done: Close to the one-month mark.
3. Blood test:
This test indicates the level of the hormone relaxin in the dogs blood. A pregnant dog will have increased relaxin levels. This is one of the more reliable tests to confirm pregnancy.
When this test can be done: 25-30 days after conceiving.
4. X-ray:
When an x-ray is conducted, a short burst of radiation is administered, and this gets absorbed by different parts of the body, forming a black and white image. This image shows dense tissues like bones. An x-ray will give an acurate idea of the litter size.
When this test can be done: This can only be done at 55 days after conception, when the puppies skeletal systems are better developed.
Early Preganancy Symptoms
When it comes to the early stages of pregnancy, it’s common to not notice any signs or symptoms at all. But to the experienced observer, early signs could include the following:
- Weight gain,
- Icreased naps,
- Loss in appetite.
Mid to End-Stage Pregnancy Symptoms in Dogs
- Increase in appetite,
- Frequent urination (due to increasing pressure on the bladder),
- Behavioural changes (more affectionate or clingy),
- Clear discharge,
- Enlarged abdomen (her belly should feel firm).
End-Stage Pregnancy Symptoms
The following signs indidcate that your pregnant pooch might just be ready to give birth.
- Heavy panting,
- Poor appetite,
- Change in nipple colour,
- Drop in body temperature,
- Leaking nipples,
- Irritability and decreased affection,
- Shivering.
Nutritional Needs
Weeks 1 to 6
- At the start of the pregnancy, the puppies won’t place too much of a demand on their mother, so her regular diet will usually be sufficient.
Week 6 to birth
- At this point, the puppies are growing quickly, roughly doubling in size each week. This means that your dog is going to need a different diet to provide enough nutrients for herself and her puppies.
- We recommend moving your dog onto one of our Ultra Dog Puppy foods, in order to provide the right nutrients and extra energy to help her through her pregnancy. Remember that, because of the rapid growth of the puppies, there is increased pressure on your dog’s stomach, so you need to feed her several smaller meals for the last two weeks.
Birth to weaning
- Until her puppies are weaned, your dog will need to continue eating Ultra Dog Puppy. It provides all the nutrients your dog needs to make sure her puppies get everything they require for healthy growth and development. It is better to give her more meals per day, rather than larger meal sizes.
Andrea Westmoreland
Weaning to 8 weeks
- Weaning is the process of moving your puppies from milk onto solid food. Start introducing solid food at the start of the puppies’ 4th week. Add luke warm water and mash the food into a porridge-like consistency.
- The puppies should start eating the food quite naturally, while still taking some milk from their mother. They will need at least 4 small meals per day. Over the subsequent days, you will notice the puppies taking more and more solid food, while their mother’s milk production begins to decrease.
- The whole weaning process usually takes around 10 days to complete and you can start feeding your puppies on dry food between 5 and 6 weeks old.
- During the weaning period, the mother’s feeding amounts can gradually be brought back to normal. Therefore, you can switch her back to her normal adult dog food. However, if her general condition is poor, it may help to keep her on puppy food until she is back to full strength. If you have any health concerns about the mother or the puppies, please consult your vet.