I've read about giving Mom a mix of some lovely warm milk, a very fresh, raw egg yolk and some glucose directly after whelping.  Sounds great to me, and I would love to do it (I've got a whelping coming up in under three weeks), but I'm wondering about the milk.  "They" say that goat's milk is OK for dogs, and I know that cow's milk isn't.  Once I made the mistake of thinking that sheep's milk was OK, and my poor new Mom had a terrible case of diarrhea.  Today I looked in the super market and asked if they carry lactose free milk, and they do.  Can I give this to a new Mom?  Can I give goat's milk?  Where Felicia has been so fussy about eating, it might be just the ticket if she would enjoy liquids after giving birth.  And what about powdered puppy milk for Mom?  Wouldn't that give her diarrhea too? 

I have always fed goats milk and had no adverse reactions.

I have always used goats milk, IF NEEDED!    To be honest, I don't see it being necessary to be giving mum anything other than a good quality adult dog food post whelping and on, and if she's reluctant to eat (she may be if she only has a few puppies to cater for - nature knows best) perhaps mix up some scrambled egg, poached chicken breast or even tinned Chappie .... something easily digested.

I've never given my post-whelped bitches anything like a milky drink.   Goats milk is readily digested because it's close in make-up to bitch milk.

Well, "they" say it brings in the milk, though I've never given anything milky after a whelping either!  It just sounds so cozy, doesn't it!  Reluctant to eat she IS, as you know!  Doing fine though, as far as I can tell.  She acts like she "appreciates" my feeding her!  Still eats the sausage on her own, though.  From me she gets soaked and mashed Orijen and some fresh meat for added protein, the occasional hard-cooked egg yolk.  Two weeks to go....

> Well, "they" say it brings in the milk,

I hate to say it, because even after all these years I'm still willing to learn, but the only thing that 'brings in the milk' is the puppies nursing!   And fact is you don't want her to start producing 'lashings' or milk early days because newborn puppies don't really need that much and if too much comes down too fast, she could go to mastitis.   Again, you won't know what she really needs until you see how many puppies she has!    I panicked with our first litter which due to me being a complete novice, amounted to one live puppy and one DOA, and mum totally refused to eat - she knew best.   She only had the one puppy and tons of milk.   I'd read all the books which stressed that mum needed to be eating, a lot.   Help!!    If your girl has some more weeks to go and isn't tucking in, it could be because she's stuffed with puppies and has no room for a big meal.   I backed off the bulk with my late-pregnancy bitches, concentrating on protein and offering it in several small meals a day.  

As long as your girl has no nasty discharge and is just pregnant, I'd try not to stress - she needs you to be calm and now is the time to call in your mentor, and have your vet on speed-dial.   I used to let them know as soon as labour began so if I needed them for a C.Section, they'd be ready.

Oh, I've always got my vet on speed dial when a birth is imminent!  I call the moment the temperature has dropped and let them know that things are underway.

Amazon has just sent me "The Book of the Bitch" (recommended here on the forum), and it is just great.  I didn't think I was going to add to my shelves full of breeding books, but I have!  Glad I did, too!

Felicia is on small meals and taking them well.  She seems indeed very great with child...