me again, just a wee bit of advice, my dog her puppies nearly 5 weeks ago, at the begining she went off her food, but after a cpl a days her appetite came bk, been feeding her chicken, white fish,puppy food ect ect, but 2nite i notice she has lost weight, is it normal for them to lose a bit a weight? had her at vet 2 weeks ago when i took her and puppies to get checked and wormer, and the vet said her weight was fine, just 2nite like i said, to me she looks as if she has lost a bit, and with her nursing just want to know if its bit normal for weight lose, plus with the teats hanging down maybe thats why she looks that way.

Some bitches put everything they have into rearing their pups and this can leave them in a poor condition by the time the pups are weaned that is why it is important that food is increased and puppy kibble given as it has more calories in it, I make sure there is some available 24/7 and then give other tastier things at intervals through the day to help increase their intake.

The pups will be feeding less from Mum now they are being weaned so she won't be burning up so many calories and will gradually gain back her weight and can go back to her normal prepregnancy diet.

One of my bitches came to me when her pups were 12 weeks old, I had met her several times before but she had lost so much weight/coat she looked like a different dog, her normal pre pregnant weight was 8.5-9lbs and she was down to 7.5lbs, I was told she was also very active with the pups which burnt off the calories, with no pups to worry about at home with me she was back up to her normal weight by the time the pups were 6 months old, her coat took a bit longer.

She went on to have 2 litters for me, nearly 2yrs and 3yrs later, and although she lost a bit of weight I managed to keep on top of it, she was more laid back with the pups and let the other 2 adults help out when it came to playing/teaching them things so that will have helped too.

So provided she doesn't appear ill then I wouldn't worry.

that is why it is important that food is increased and puppy kibble given as it has more calories in it,

Except that doesn't work for all. I used to do this, now never will again. One of my bitches, Rio, had ten pups in her first litter in 2008. I switched her to puppy food (same brand as she was used to) but the result was that it gave her terrible diarrhoea. By the time the pups were 4 weeks old she had lost more than half her body weight and I honestly thought she would die. She looked like some sort of RSPCA advert of a starved dog. Nothing we did worked (obviously we had stopped the puppy food), nothing the vet suggested, the diarrhoea just would not stop, until somebody suggested giving her raw chicken wings every hour at least 6 times a day, then she started to gain weight again and her stomach settled. So now, for all my bitches, I just increase the amount of food and give up to 6 meals a day when they are feeding their pups, but use what they are on normally. They're all individuals but this was such a scary experience I won't risk it again.

Like Goldmali I feed exactally the same food to my bitches while they are feeding pups .. just more of it. I do concentrate on the better quality foods so as they are raw fed I still feed raw but get chicken with more meat on (I buy whole chickens rather than carcasses) they get extra eggs and yoghurt and they have up to 6 meals a day instead of 2. They still get tripe/minced complete and sprats, hearts/liver and lamb bones but they get the breast of lamb not just the rib racks.
Works for us !
Aileen

Mine never loose weight (all eat well whiel nursing, even one who was a poor eater previously.

They get between 4 and 6 times their normal rations (theri normal ratiosn are quite smal for teh size fo breed) while feeding in thr first three weeks, once pups firmly on solids (4 - 6 weeks) this drops off slightly to about 4 times, then 3 times and they stay on double rations until after they drop their coats, and pretty much stay on increased rations until the coat is growing back well, depending on if they are a bit chubby or lean.

I have found with some that they do well on the puppy version of their food (I start them on ti when confirmed pregnant), those ti seems to make loose I feed it mixed half and half with their usual food, and this has worked for me, but if it didn't I would do as Marianne and Merlot and increase their usual diet and add meat and calcium rich foods.

My first 2 litters I started her at 6 weeks pregnant on RC reproduction starter[think they have changed the name now] and the pups were weaned to it till they were 8 weeks old, Mum stayed on it till the bag was finished, my last litter which sadly died I used Fish4dogs[RC had got far too expensive] puppy and will do in the future as that is the brand they get normally, not had diarrhoea using either food, maybe puppy food is too rich for some adults gut to cope with.

> Except that doesn't work for all.

ditto here. My poor girl. I thought I was doing the right thing by giving her puppy food before and after the pups were born but she developed awful diarrhoea. It was so bad, it was just spurting out of her. My vet thought it was cleaning up after the pups that had caused it as he couldnt find anything wrong with her. I didnt connect it soon enough to the puppy food and she really went down the nick. Kept up being a wonderful mum  but she looked so bad and was very tired. When it dawned that it must be the puppy food, I just increased her own food plus chicken broths etc, etc, anything that would take her fancy so that she could get back to being her "normal" self. The poor girl also had a short bout of mastitis which was nipped in the bud thanks to help from this forum. Pups are now eight weeks old and ready to go to their new homes. My girl has only just got back to her normal self. She has actually started playing with the pups now. During previous litters, my girls have been up and running and wanting to play after a week or so of giving birth. Needless to say I will never put her through that again.

I agree totally with the fact that puppy food doesnt agree with all. My girl is on day 40 currently and is fed Arden Grange.  My dogs had completely gone off the Lamb and Rice earlier in the year and I was struggling to get them to eat it. After several discussions with Ness at AG and some samples, we recently settled on their Premium variety which now she has got over most of the morning sickness she is eating with gusto.  I did try her on their most recommended pregnancy diet Prestige (other than the puppy weaning one) and it just went straight through her.  Worried about changing her diet yet again to the puppy version I sent them an email this week to ask what would be the best thing to do.  She sent me this link: http://mycockerspaniel.com/mer.htm which although its not my breed, you can put in their pre-pregnancy weight and it will calculate the approximate calories needed as a starting point.  Ness told me the calories per gram of Premium so I have a rough guide for her needs at this time.  As I cant change her diet much, then I will just have to feed her more of the food she can tolerate, even if when she is feeding her pups I give her a meal in the night.