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Milk production is one of the most nutritionally demanding
stages in a female's life. A complete and balanced diet
for reproduction and growth, or for all life stages,
will supply the nutrition a female needs during this
time. The demand for milk by nursing puppies will continue
to increase for about 20 to 30 days (or up to 4 weeks).
Consequently, the female's food and water requirements
increase during this time. At peak lactation, the female's
food intake may be two to four times above her usual
or maintenance food intake. Very attentive females may
rarely leave their puppies to eat or drink and will
need encouragement. The same diet used during the gestation
period can be fed during lactation. In order to maintain
good body condition and to provide ample amounts of
milk for the puppies, nursing females should be offered
all the food they want.
Moistening dry dog food with water will help increase
food intake during lactation. Another important reason
for offering the dry food moistened is that at three
to four weeks of age, normal puppies will start nibbling
solid food. Acclimating puppies to a good-quality commercial
diet at an early age will help prevent finicky eaters.
Home-prepared diets should be avoided. As puppies begin
to eat more solid food, the demand on the female for
milk production will decrease. Normally puppies are
weaned between six and eight weeks of age, and by weaning
time the female's food consumption should be less than
50 percent above her usual or maintenance level. To
help reduce the milk flow and prevent mammary gland
problems, the following procedure for weaning is recommended:
On the day the puppies are weaned, the female should
not receive any food, but should have plenty of fresh
water to drink. The puppies should be separated from
the dam and offered food and water. Dry food moistened
with warm water may help stimulate the puppies' food
intake. On the day after weaning, the dam should receive
1/4 the amount of food she was fed prior to being bred.
The dam and puppies can be grouped together for several
hours on the day after weaning so that the pups can
nurse the dam dry. On the third day, the female should
receive 1/2 the amount fed prior to breeding, and on
the fourth day, 3/4 the amount. By the fifth day she
should be offered her usual maintenance level of food.
If the litter is large, the female may be quite thin
when the puppies are weaned. In this case, she should
be given extra food after the fifth day of weaning and
until her body condition returns to normal.
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Reprinted with permission by Ralston Purina Canada
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