I had always thought the same rules applies to human pregnancies that weight gain of the bitch ( exclude the weight of the pups ) should be minimal and you should not eat for two ( or how many puppies there are in the bitches case)

Excercise should also be maintained although nearer the due date and in the first few weeks reduced but gradually increased.

Therefore weight gain should be marginal and  getting back to good condition should be relatively straight forward without the need of putting a bitch on a significant weight reduction diet ?

With my only previous litter that was my thinking too, however despite feeding five small meals of a high quality puppy food and making sure that she was exercised in line with how big she got, she looked like a rescue case on the day the pups were born and for about a week after. I even increased her meals to include a middle of the night one once the pups were born. This time around (she's 6 weeks) I've upped the food a bit as she can't fit much in and she still looks like it's all going to the pups. How do you get around that? She's being fed on Arden Grange Weaning Puppy.

I have always gradually increased to 1/2 as much again as maintenance from 6th week on.  If by 8 weeks they look like it's going to be a large litter (6+) and they seem hungry I might increase to double by whelping.

After whelping I feed ad lib and find they are on about 4 - 5 times their normal diet until pups are abut 5 weeks, then I decrease the food a little so by 8 weeks they are on just double rations.

I find with my coated breed they need to stay on double rations or sometimes 1 1/2 until their coats come back as otherwise they loose condition during the post partum moult.

The earliest I have had them showable is 4 1/2 months after the litter, but generally not until around 6 months after they have their next season.

So in my breed you loose a lot of time out of the ring with a litter.

My girl who had pups in September has been out of the ring since July and her first who will be the end of April.  she has just come in season a few days ago.

I've never had to put a bitch on a diet after the birth of pups - I've never stinted on food before or after the birth, I've allowed the bitch to lead the way in this - even a greedy lab can only manage to eat so much whilst she is carrying up to 10 or more pups!  

It's been after the birth, when nursing that it has been essential to feed ad lib - but even then it hasn't been a problem - if bitches are allowed to nurse their pups at the level that both the bitch and I are happy with, and increasing exercise to that of pre-pregnancy, I've found that they regained their figures pretty quickly.    In fact, Loki was back in the ring at Crufts 20 weeks after giving birth to her litter .....although she did take her coat off before going in the ring :( - but at least the judges could see the condition.

My labs have always been working strain, so I prefer to see the slimmer lab.

Same here loki's mum, problem is keeping weight on!

I disagree. It cannot be compared to humans. I have, for the FIRST time ever, a bitch with 4 week old pups who currently is at her CORRECT weight. That is because I made sure she was a bit fat when she was pregnant, knowing how her mother and her grandmother lost so much weight during the first couple of weeks of rearing pups, that they looked like RSPCA propaganda. This bitch has obviously lost a lot as well as she's now just right -so she cannot lose any more. Even though the pups have been on solid food for two weeks now and she only feeds them 3 or 4 times a day (don't know about during the night), she still gets 3 meals a day and double portions -but she is most definitely not gaining any weight and there will be no need to worry about her being too fat. The worry is rather always that the bitch will get too thin.

No what I meant re the reference to humans was the idea that some women eat for two and put huge amounts of weight on.

I understand the need to increase food for a hitch with a belly full of pups and afterwards but it is all about not feeding the bitch up so that she waddles because she is just consuming to much food and not enough excercise.

I think it would be impossible to get a pregnant or nursing bitch that fat, as the challenge is getting them to eat at all whilst pregnant, and getting them to keep weight on whilst nursing.

I suppose that if a breeder is one of those people who wants to get a bitch back into condition to enable her to have a litter a year later, then it would be possible to let a bitch get fat, through keeping her on puppy food and cutting back on the exercise  - though I certainly hope that none of the CD-ers could be put into that category!

Our vet has a walk-in weigh your dog scheme running, and ever since Freya and Eydis have been spayed, they are trotted in there regularly!   And now, and the end of the winter Freya (aka Fanny Fatpants) is looking a bit lardy-arsed (and I hate the look of lardy-arsed labs) so she is having her food cut down a bit, and I've got to get her moving a bit more....which might also help me lose some of my lardy-arse!

I have always kept my dogs lean and fit as have seen so many labs that have suffered horrendous health issues because if being grossly over weight .

If you remember I adopted Cassie who we called Pudding as she was so obese . She could hardly walk further than a few metres without being so out of breath and her walking movement because of the strain on her joints was awful.

There is absolutely no excuse it is down to over feeding and lack if excercise

There is absolutely no excuse it is down to over feeding and lack if excercise

Exactly.    It is the owner's responsibility to ensure that any bitch is fed adequately (not excessively) and exercised properly.   That way is the way to healthy dogs, and with the proper health-testing of both bitches and dogs, healthy litters.

I wonder if the CD member will come and explain herself then

Doubt it as neither the member or her friends would be able to be quite so rude to you here on an open forum..

Wanted to also highlight that this poster keeps having dogs die young, often from heart issues or cancer yet continues to breed from the same lines and never heart tests, that is not what id call a responsible breeder at all...

For me, a pregnant bitch shouldn't be allowed to become fat.   Far better she remains on a sensible diet throughout her pregnancy, and on a good exercise regime so she's as trim as possible before labour. To a great extent, she'll dictate how much exercise she can do, depending on her girth towards the end of the pregnancy.

Once the puppies are born, then is the time to give her what she wants/needs to provide for her brood and maintain reasonable condition herself - and even then some bitches give their ALL to their puppies, coming off the litter looking rather lean.

I managed to make my bitch fat while she was nursing her first litter, but it was a small litter and she's a very greedy bitch - ate her breakfast up on the day she produced the puppies! My friend had had a litter a couple of months before (same breed) and I was shocked at how skinny her bitch had got and was determined not to let my girl get like that, and I overdid it a bit. :-)