A dog will show an increase in need to eat and most pregnant dogs will gain up to 25% of their original weight. Lots of breeders allow a dog to do what's called 'free feed' and that means to always provide as much food as the dog will eat, keeping it's bowl full at all times.. Being pregnant depletes a dogs resources and they need to get as much nutrition as possible
Dog pregnancy is somewhat different than human women pregnancies. Women can take urine pregnancy tests, and go through hormonal changes to help detect pregnancy. Dog pregnancy however is different. An interesting fact about the dog reproductive cycle is that the dog will go through just about the same hormonal changes whether or not she is pregnant. There is no progesterone blood or urine test to diagnose dog pregnancy. But, there is a blood test that can be done. The blood test detects relaxin, which is a hormone that is produced by pregnant dogs, but not by non pregnant dogs
Dog pregnancy symptoms - The ideal breeder should have the pair of dogs tested for every possible disease as well as have all the information regarding the pair’s ancestors and health records on file. Should a breeder find no problem in the history of the pair, then the process can begin.
Dogs normally come into heat twice a year which is every six months. Larger dogs can come into heat every eight or ten months which usually lasts about three weeks. Vaginal bleeding is a sure sign that the dog is in heat as well as swelling in the vulva.
If you think your dog is pregnant and you plan on carring the pregnancy to term, get her to the vets now for a health exam to make sure she's healthy enough to be pregnant. Dogs need to have prenatal care done just as a woman does. Your vet may want to do blood work to check to see if she needs any supplements such as calcium or iron. 4 weeks into her pregnancy, she needs to be switched over to a high quality puppy food so her body will have the proper nutrition to help her through her pregnancy, plus it will help her with her production of milk. The puppy formula's of Innova, California Natural, Flint River Ranch, Wellness, Solid Gold
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