Hi,my girl had her 2nd litter 4 weeks ago(large athletic breed)It has been a text book case all the way through,no problems at all.The pups are chunky and happy,on 3 meals a day and still being fed by mum overnight.She frquently goes in with them to clean up after them(yuk)and let them have a quick slurp during the day too.My question is,should I stop her feeding them altogether,as even though she is eating like a horse,3 meals a day,plus puppy leftovers,she is so terribly thin.It's a good job she is long haired so her frame is covered.I bathed her the other day,and was shocked to see how much weight she's lost.She's literally skin and bone.Do you think I'm worrying unnecessarily?Because apart from this,I have a contented mum and beautiful puppies.

Hi Connie,

Some bitches do lose a lot of weight. Wait until she sheds her coat too. :-D But my girl is always on 4 meals a day whilst she is feeding along with goats milk with egg yolk morning and evening, she also hoovers up after the pups too. :-) So maybe she needs another meal. My girl continues to feed the pups up until they leave, popping in and out like your girl to socialise with her pups and clean them.

Thankyou,:)

Ditto Carrington, at least 4 meals a day, and if on the lean side ad lib.

What are you feeding, I usually feed the same as the pups, unless they are loose. 

Is her toilet firm? sometimes they can be eating too much and it goes straight through and they don't get the benefit.

Adding Tripe will usually result in firm motions.

She is on the same as the pups,Pro Plan for large athletic breeds,but does get other things added,like pasta,rice,sardines,eggs,etc.Her motions always start the day normal,but by teatime are loose.Do you recommend raw or cooked tripe?

I fed my (toy) bitch about 5 or 6 times a day and weighed her every week when I weighed the puppies. I alternated puppy food with chicken / fish / mince plus mixer. She actually put on a few pounds once they were weaned as I didn't cut her back enough! My friend's bitch went to skin and bone with her puppies and I was determined not to let Ellie do the same. :-)

RAW Tripe......please don't cook

I agree, feed tripe raw (frozen blocks easy to use). I'd be feeding her as much as she wants, especially as she has lost body condition. My bitch didn't look too bad (didn't loose too much weight) after her pups, but I had a massive shock when most of her coat fell out when pups were about 12 weeks... she really did look a state then! Thankfully, she's totally regained her figure/muscle tone/coat now and looks fab.

When we had pups, mum had loads of extras apart from her regular food. I fed fish, chicken, raw tripe, eggs, goats milk. It's amazing how much the feeding of a litter will take out of them.

I know once the coat goes they look dreadful,

My Rio looked like this in 2008, and she's shortcoated so it looked horrific. She must have lost at least half her body weight. I gave her plenty of chicken wings, up to 6 times a day. I'd never have thought it but by the time the pups were 4 months old she was back in the showring again, winning RBB at a champ.show.

Ditto everyone else with regards to top ups along with the good quality puppy food, dam and pups enjoy different tastes and textures. My girl gets scrambled egg (made with goats milk) chicken, white fish, mince meat and chicken wings. (Raw) My girl starts to take her chicken wings in for her pups too, it is so sweet to watch her carry them into the whelping crate and drop them for the pups from 3 weeks onwards, not that they can eat them but they have a go at chewing and sucking and enjoy tug games with them until they eventually start to eat them along with all their other food too. :-)

I have a large athletic breed and when she had pups (10 in the litter) she fed them all no problem, I was also using proplan, but just the usual puppy lamb and rice not large breed she was fed between 5-6 times a day dependant on what she wanted to eat she also got chicken wings, lamb breasts and tripe etc in between aswell as eggs, sardines in oil and cottage cheese. I used to have to feed her away from the pups or she would take it all in to them for them to eat lol... she was very sharing :-) all the extra's were fed raw.

My Lana was terrible last year and went really thin.  Within three weeks of the pups going she had really bodied up and now we are a bit podgy bless her!  She's extremely fit though.  Carmen who had a litter 12 weeks ago, has sprung totally back into shape and doesn't look as though she's ever had a litter of pups, although she did only have two. 

Thankyou for all the helpful comments,much appreciated.

Connie, my girl looked great and then about 4 weeks was just the same, This must be the most demanding time.  I was feeding her 4-5 meals a day plus a tin of custard or creamed rice at night and puppy milk.  By 6-7 weeks she looked well again.  My pups are now 15 weeks and she once again looks like a cruelty case.  No coat at all ( long double coated breed)  She looks like a Chemo patient.
I'm sure your girl will be fine too.  :-)

> I fed my (toy) bitch about 5 or 6 times a day and weighed her every week when I weighed the puppies. I alternated puppy food with chicken / fish / mince plus mixer. She actually put on a few pounds once they were weaned as I didn't cut her back enough! My friend's bitch went to skin and bone with her puppies and I was determined not to let Ellie do the same. :-)

Ditto LucyDogs.  My tiny breed wouldn't get by on 3 or 4 meals a day. And, like you, I often find that they have actually put on a couple of pounds.  Still look rubbish though, due to the hair loss, but never skin and bones.

I had a large girl of my second breed (still toy), and she actually went up to 9 meals a day, but it was a huge litter for the breed.

Are you worming her ?

We currently have a litter of 8 and poor mum looks like a half starved street dog too, no matter how many times a day I feed her she just isn't gaining weight.  She is currently having RAW and complete (different meals) wormed, pups are just over 4 weeks and eating solids, so hopefully mum will get a bit of body condition back, the trouble was just this week she started regurgitating her food, which doesn't help, so she's now fed  away from pups, so hopefully she'll hang on to her dinner for herself!

I just wanted to thank you all.Maybe it was obvious to most,I just needed to increase my girl's feed,but to me,no.I am now giving raw chicken carcasses,and extra feeds,and everything has improved.Puppies had the trotskis for a day,but all is ok now.Thanks again.:)