Dog pregnancy care

Pregnant dogs need special care and attention from their owners.



Similar to humans, a pregnant dog’s body undergoes many hormonal changes, and so their needs increase during the pregnancy. Pregnant dog care becomes necessary to ensure that the puppies growing inside are healthy and the pregnancy is normal.

Below are some tips on how to care for pregnant dog.

• The day you get to know about your dog’s pregnancy, the first thing you should do is to fix an appointment with your veterinarian to confirm the pregnancy and have a proper health check-up done for any kind of complications. Ask your veterinarian to provide you the list of medicines and food that you should give to your pregnant dog.
• You should take your pregnant dog for regular walks; however, avoid any strenuous training or any kind of activity that may cause stress to her.
  
  
  
  During early pregnancy, a female often reabsorbs many puppy fetuses due to stress. Thus, keeping the stress level under control can save the lives of the puppies.
• Take your dog for vaccination against many infectious diseases.
  
  
  
  Ask your veterinarian to provide you a list of vaccinations required during the pregnancy.
• A proper diet is very important, as the dietary requirement of your dog will increase during pregnancy. However, overfeeding might lead to weight gain. A fat deposition near the reproductive organs may cause problems during delivery. Avoid adding supplements to her diet, because calcium supplementation can suppress her natural calcium-releasing hormones that may lead to eclampsia (milk fever).
• During the final three weeks of pregnancy, you should keep your dog in isolation. Keep her away from other dogs as during this stage of pregnancy she is at risk of contracting canine herpes virus infection. While this infection usually results in a cold, for pregnant dogs, it may lead to a miscarriage.
• Start preparing a whelping box two weeks prior to delivery. The box should be deep enough to contain the puppies at 4 to 6 weeks of age. Cover the box with newspapers, sheets and towels.
• Start taking her body temperature once a week prior to whelping. The normal dog temperature is 100.5 to 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit; 24 hours before whelping, her temperature will drop a few degrees.
• Never leave your pregnant dog alone when she is about to whelp. Many dogs need help birthing puppies, and in some situations, a cesarean is necessary to save the life of the mother and puppies.