Dog Pregnancy: What Should a Good Owner Know?

Similarly to the pregnancies of human beings, a dog pregnancy can be very exhausting on the organism of the dog. When a male dog can take care of couple of hundred puppies without much ado, dog pregnancy takes its toll on the female dog's body pretty heavily due to heavy use of energy and nutrients, which are necessary for dog pregnancy and lactation. Similarly to humans, male dogs get away from the stress related to pregnancy quite easily.

During the dog pregnancy, the dog must be given more food than usual. During this period in her life, the quality of the food is of great importance. A dog who is malnourished during the dog pregnancy may even die of deprivation or have a miscarriage. A diet lacking in essential minerals, vitamins etc. will lead to further health problems for both the mother and the puppies, too.

Poor diet can manifest itself in several ways during the dog pregnancy:

1. The just dog doesn't look normal. There's an apparent loss of body weight, which might not be noticeable until the puppies have born.

2. The dog is suffering from severe diarrhea after having given birth, and when she is lactating. This symptom can often point to the fact that the dog pregnancy diet was inadequate in either quality (lacking in minerals, vitamins) or quantity (not enough calories) or often enough, both.

3. There might be something very wrong with the dog pregnancy diet, when an otherwise normal-looking puppy is found crying away from its mother several days later having been birth. The bond between the mother and the puppy or puppies is often enough broken, and cannot be restored, as the mother will not accept the puppy after the dog pregnancy as one of its own. The puppy will be hungry and dehydrated, because it did not get any nutrients nor water from the lactation of her mother.

4. If the mother looks dull and pale during the dog pregnancy, it is most likely due to the lacking and inadequate diet that is at fault. Anemia is a serious case and can negatively affect both the mother and its puppies. Consult a veterinarian immediately after having discovered or are suspecting anemia.

After the actual dog pregnancy, when the dog has given birth, an insufficient diet can be recognized by the following characteristics:

1. Problems of lactation(agalactia). This means that there's a complete failure of the mammary glands. In this case, the mother does not produce any milk whatsoever, so the puppies cannot be fed. A bad sign is when the puppies are crying nonstop, and do not gain any weight. If no action is taken, the puppies are quite likely to die.

2. Dysgalactia. In this case, the mammary glands are functioning, yet they do not produce the necessary amount of milk to sustain the well-being of the puppies. In this case, it is quite likely that growth of the puppies is stunted.

3. Deficient milk. In this case, the mammary glands may function perfectly, yet the milk produced in the process is lacking in essential nutrients needed for the puppies.

All in all, if you are dealing with dog pregnancy, be sure to carefully observe the diet and the well-being of the puppies. It can prove very distressing for your dog, if you do not.