hi all just need a bit of advice. my girl had her puppies 17 days ago everyone is doing well, however my girl is skinny! really she is just skin and bones at the moment. she is eating like a horse but has not put any weight on. she is eating her dog food AG and natures diet she is having 4/5 meals per day but im worried as she is very skinny. i know feeding 3 pups is taking a lot out of her she is a small breed dog but was hoping someone would have any advice about when she will start to fill out a bit again or if there is anything i can feed her extea to help. any advice much appreciated thanks. Scarlet

What is the output like, as she may not be digesting well what she is getting.  I ended up putting mine back on the adult food, but the increased volume and her motions are solid.

Mine had been getting 4 times her normal diet with 5 pups and is fat as a house now 5 1/2 weeks later, in fact my bitches have always put on weight while rearing pups as they basically get ad lib feeding.

She has cut her nursing right back now and is just on twice her normal food intake, may even reduce her to 1 1/2 times normal by end of next week.

I would start the pups on weaning food now, nce they get other food it will take the strain off her.  I uusally start mine on day 18 anyway, and soner if I feel the need.

Was just wondering which AG you are feeding her, as my girl will be put onto the Prestige as it has higher protien content. I took regular trips to the supermarket and my freezer was stocked with all the extra goodies to add to her meals. Despite this, my girl still looked like a famine victim after feeding 9 pups by week 5, even though they were eating us out of house and home!!

Well just started weening the pups OMG they got in such a mess lol though mums happily licking it all off, much  to their displeasure lol. Scarlet

(Was just wondering which AG you are feeding her, as my girl will be put onto the Prestige as it has higher protien content)

hi itsadogslife 

she is on the adult mini for small dog breeds and puppy natures diet. i will look at the AG prestige as anything i can do to put weight on would be great. i have just started weening the pups today so hopefully this will help her too. thanks Scarlet

Yep the Prestige is the way to go if she is not getting fat. ;)

Why is she on adult mini and not puppy food?  Has she not been eating puppy food since a couple of weeks before whelping?

Like Brainless, my bitches gain weight while rearing a litter.  They get RC mini junior (puppy equivalent.)  Nature Diet Puppy, chicken, fish, mince etc.  Again, like Brainless, they get fed ad lib so that they don't go down in condition.  (I always think it takes so much longer to get them back into show condition otherwise.)

Is the food being well soaked?  If not this may be preventing her eating enough as mouths can get sore from puppy cleaning.

I am sure it varies, but with an average litter of 5 - 7 mine get 4 times the amount of food that they eat when not pregnant, sometimes more.

yes her food is well soaked. the reason shes on the adult is she wont eat the dry puppy food, i do have the AG puppy and have mixed small amounts in with her adult food but she can tell and wont eat the food if its done this way, the only puppy food she will eat is the natures diet which i am giving her with her adult food. she is eating about 3x as much as her mantinance diet of dog food and also has eggs and chicken and some white fish poached in milk. her puppies are feeding consently at the moment which she is very happy with. i am still feeding her in the whelping box as she wont eat out of the box, she just becomes stressed away from her babies and crys alot so i'v been putting her food beside her. she has food availible all day and night with freash water. during whelping she was hardly eating at all, not even the amount she was eating before she was in whelp and only got her appetite back around 10 days ago. thanks scarlet

> i am still feeding her in the whelping box as she wont eat out of the box,

Most definitely the correct thing to do.  I often have to hold a dish of food under a bitches nose to get her to eat.  This is still early days, so you are right to feed her in the whelping box.  With bitches that are very maternal, they often want to just be a mum, and not take proper care of themselves. 

You may well find, as she gets enough confidence to be less protective of her babes, that her food intake may rise naturally.

Try to persevere!  :-)  :-)