Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 6/3/2010

Question
I had went to get my then 10-month-old Pit fixed and was told she was pregnant.  I chose not to kill the babies and they were born three weeks ago.  Coco did wonderful during the labor and delivery and took to her eight (she had 10 but 2 were still born) babies very good.  She is a very good momma; always cleaning them and feeding them, etc...

My concern is with Coco's weight.  She does eat very good; however, she is thin to where you can see her spine and ribs. I have her on puppy food and I am feeding her three times a day so the puppies can get what they need.  It is like she is not gaining weight at all.  Will her weight come back after the puppies are finished milking?  Or, do I need to do something for her?

Answer
Congratulations on the puppies. Coco needs to be free free fed on a good quality puppy food, not puppy chow. Free fed means she is given a large bowl of food and allowed to eat as much as she wants, all day long. Now that doesn't mean that she is allowed to stick her head in the bag of food and left to go at it. That could kill her.

So get her some good food, Science Diet Large Breed puppy growth, and give her at least 5- cups in the bowl to start. Fill it back up when she is back with the puppies. She needs some catch-up time, but after a week or so she should start to gain some weight and not need to eat so much.

She is literally starving because nursing burns up all of her food intake and there is nothing left over for her. When you wean the puppies in 3 weeks you can gradually switch her to Large Breed adult food and keep the babies on the puppy food.

Do not use Purina Puppy chow because it is coated with milk and all dogs are lactose intolerant when they are weaned. It also does not have enough nutrition in it for her.
It is made with poor quality ingredients and you will spend more money replacing bag after bag than you would with Science Diet.

So get her a bag today and switch her slowly over a week by mixing it in little bit a time with what you are feeding her now.

It takes three full weeks for a food to make changes in the dog's body, but she will start to get some real nutrition in her right away. She will also make better milk this way as well.