Hi there new to this site and was wondering what you all think I should be feeding my Girl Beardie who is 4 wks in whelp??
At the moment she is on Pedigree complete (yep I know you will all poo poo that one :o) !!) and the odd egg a day what she loves.

I have started feeding her 3 smaller meals a day over the last week as she has just got over her morning sickness stage is this right??

How much more food should I be supplying her with from now on?

I know that alot of you recomend Arden Grange and also Burns why are these 2 recomended so much? Sorry as you can see I am completely green on this one so the more info the better.

Many breeders use Pedigree Complete with good success :)  I don't think I would be changing food during the pregnancy without good reason as the last thing you want is upset digestion.  I don't change feeding patterns or quantities until 6 weeks when I start to feed to demand but I suppose if your dog has been suffering nausea, three small meals a day could be sensible but I would be careful that you are not increasing the total quantity too soon.  As in humans, there are more likely to be complications if the bitch becomes overweight.

thanks for replying Isabel .. we won't have to worry about the weight gain bit as unfortunatly we have always had a real problem trying to get mabel to gain weight and even with giving smaller meals she still just picks at it and very rarely finished what we put down!

I don't fed any extra until pregnancy is confirmed at 4 weeks, I then switch them to what the pups will be eating.  I increase the food slightly from the 6th week until by whelping they are on half as much again as usual, (so 300g instead of 200g, but a richer food than their maintenance diet).  I do give half a pint of puppy milk in the last week, especially if they are being picky.

Glad you got your password sorted. 

Yep I'm with the others on this.  Stay with the food Mable likes, changing only to the puppy complete of the same make.  She is likely to become picky enough at this stage (didn't we all) so best to try and keep her feeding well. 

The only reason other foods are recommended is because they suit the dogs who are eating them.  It is true that a lot of top breeders use Pedigree they have a very supported advertising campaign and give away free samples at just about every big show.  Our own preferences are just that.  I feed Arden Grange because out of all the ones I have tried this one seems not to add to my Beardies already hyper nature. 

If it has been a difficult slog to get her to put weight on I would not even thing of changing it now.

Keep us posted with the pregnancy.

Thanks for the replys everyone will take on board what you have to say

Echo,  see ya found me then - yep I finally got on here:)

Cheers
Suzi