Now The Fun Begins (5 weeks - 8 weeks)

Your dog's belly is starting to grow now. Dogs activity level should be reduced. A walk and outdoor time are still important, but don't allow your girl to jump or exert herself. She should not be allowed to get exhausted.

You can give her a vet prescribed  multi-vitamin now. DO NOT give calcium. (I can't stress that enough. Giving your pregnant dog calcium could be fatal.) I continue supplementing my dog's diet with  additional protein. By now the puppies are tiny, fully formed dogs. I stop giving my girls the folic acid at this point. Since it is only effective before the puppies are formed- it serves no purpose at this stage of the pregnancy. 

You dog may have a clear vaginal discharge. This is normal. Anything dark colored or foul smelling is not normal and a vet should be consulted ASAP. You may also notice that your bitch's vulva and nipples are swollen. This is also normal.

Over the next few weeks your dam's weight will begin to increase. She will probably be eating about 25% more food than normal. Allow her to eat as much as she wants, especially if she's on the thin side. At about the five week mark I start switching to either puppy kibble or the food for active dogs I mentioned before. Introduce it gradually, like you would when you are introducing a new brand of food.

The sixth week is when you should introduce your dam to the whelping box. You want her to have time to get used to it, and to feel comfortable in it. My dog refuses to use a whelping box. She wants to be in something with a cover. This is instinct, she wants to keep her puppies protected. So instead of a whelping box, I use a soft sided "pop up" kennel. This would not work for a large breed dog. Whelping boxes need to have pig rails to protect the baby from mommy rolling over on them. I use the soft kennel because it's a better alternative than having her hide them under the couch.

Speaking of whelping boxes. You should put yours in a quiet place. Laundry rooms are a good spot, so are bathrooms or spare bedrooms. Living rooms and kitchens should be avoided. Your dog is going to want to keep her babies away from the hustle and bustle of the house (at least in the beginning). Get her used to the whelping box, but don't worry if she doesn't take right to it. She'll come around.

You will probably begin to feel the puppies move beginning the six or seventh week. It is possible to hear their heartbeats, but if it's a small breed you probably won't be able to hear well until the eighth week. By now the puppies main job is just to gain weight. Mom will probably sleep a lot. Do not allow her to jump around, even on furniture. Two weeks before delivery is expected I separate my mom from the rest of my dogs. In a pack the moms seem to get pushed and bumped too much for my liking.

The dam will start losing hair on her belly, and it' a good idea to give her tummy a shave, especially in long hair breeds. If you don't you may find clumps of hair throughout your house.

If you are feeding your bitch puppy kibble, you should switch her back two weeks before her puppies are due. We want her to start storing calcium, and she won't do that if she's on a high calcium puppy kibble. The growing babies take up most of the room in mom's belly so she can't eat much at one time. Feed her several small meals throughout the day. My girls seem to lose their appetite at this stage so I entice them with additional meat like chicken or by soaking their kibble in broth.

Next week: BABY WEEK!

My Bitch is Pregnant, Now What? (0-4 Weeks)

So your girl is expecting puppies and now you don't know what to do. What do you feed her? What do you do with her? So many questions.

First thing is first, when is she due? I love this calculator: http://www.debbiejensen.com/date.html It will tell you everything you want to know.

Your girl should already have been on a good quality food to begin with. Check out http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com for info about picking a good dog food. (A side note about dog food: if you can buy it at a grocery store your dog should not be eating it. This goes for Iams too! Just because it costs more doesn't mean it's quality.) She can stay on regular dog food for the first four weeks of pregnancy. After that she will start eating more, and will require more calories. Some breeders switch their bitches to puppy food and that is OK, but she should not have puppy food the last two weeks of her pregnancy due to the calcium content (more on that later). I prefer to switch my girl to a high performance dog food (for active/working dogs) which is higher in protein than normal dog food. My girl doesn't like the puppy kibble anyway, so this has been a good match for us.

My dogs are shih tzus which are notorious for cleft palates. This is something I really worried about, because a puppy with a cleft palate can not live. As soon as my bitch goes into heat I start supplementing her with folic acid. Just like pregnant woman take it to prevent neural tube defects, it works in dogs as well. I give her one  pill a day as soon as she goes into heat and continue until the fourth week of pregnancy.

You may notice that a few weeks into her pregnancy your dog is vomiting. It's normal. Just like humans, dogs experience "morning sickness" from the hormone fluctuation. It's normal and should pass.

I noticed that when Rosie is pregnant she is very quiet the first couple weeks. She sleeps a lot and lays around. I make sure she still gets a walk and playtime outdoors everyday. It's important to keep her in shape because labor is hard work and I want her in good shape to push those babies out! (I never force her to do anything, but I encourage her and she usually complies.)

About four weeks into the pregnancy the dog's belly can be palpated to see if she has puppies in there. I won't lie- I did this in both pregnancies. I probably won't do it again. I feel it's something that a vet ( or a very experienced breeder) should do because of the risk of damaging the delicate puppies. At this stage the puppies are walnut sized and can be felt, and sometimes counted. I watched a video online and learned how to do it. I was able to accurately count how many puppies she would be having both times. But, like I said, I don't recommend it and I won't do it again. After four weeks fluid surrounds the fetus and you won't be able to feel them like that anymore.

You should increase your dam's food now. If your dog tends to overeat be careful not to overfeed her; you don't want puppies that are too fat to fit down the birth canal! My dog is good about that, so I let her eat as much as she wants. At this stage I start supplementing her feed with extra protein. We have chickens, and fresh eggs are her favorite. I will also give her broiled chicken or hamburger. Do not give her any extra calcium. Some people are tempted to give their dogs cottage cheese or cheese. Don't do it! Dogs are not people and extra calcium during pregnancy just ensures that she will have a difficult delivery. (Again, more on that later).

That fills you in on what you need to know for the first four weeks. The second half of the pregnancy are when the fun begins!