When my bitch had her litter and they were about 3 wks old, she did regurgitate food for them which I could understand but that behaviour stopped when 4 of the pups were homed at just over 7 wks (we kept 2 of the litter).

Then over the past couple of days, have noticed she's started doing it again (the pups are now 17 wks) and just wondered has anyone else's bitch done this when you've kept a pup (or two).

The pups are on 3 meals a day and are being fed the recommend amount and sometimes don't always eat all their food but the vet tells me they're the ideal weight and very fit and happy so sure they're being fed enough.  Both mum and babies are on the same brand of food (Purina Pro-Plus)...but obviously she gets the adult version and they're on the puppy version.

The mum is very fit, active, well-muscled and gleaming and no upset tummy or anything like that so not really sure why she feels the desire again to start feeding them...am I doing something wrong here? :-(

Juliet

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Yes it is normal behaviour, her instincts do not tell her that the food you are giving is suitable so she is doing a little pre-digesting for them.

Thanks Jackie, glad to know it's usual behaviour!  Just out of interest, how long does this usually go on for?

Different bitches, different times, not all bitches do it at all.  It may be you are giving her more food than she needs, have you tapered it off since she stopped feeding.

Yes, have dropped her food level to back to what it was before she had the pups and is now looking much fitter and leaner than before she even had the pups!  She has a feed in the morning and one in the evening and that's it.  She gobbles it all up and always looks for more!

She obviously just doesn't think much of my parenting skills with her babies! ;-)