When your dog is going through its pregnancy, it may go through excessive mood swings and aggression. It is immensely important to take better care of your dog during this period. This can be a testing time for both you and your do, where a change of phase will enter your life.
Foremost, one needs to know when is the right time to breed your dog. most owners make the mistake of breeding their dog during the first heat, where the dog itself will be in the puppy stage. It is best advisable to breed your dog during the 3rd or 4th heat.
Taking your dog to the veterinarian prior to its breeding for vaccination is also an important thing. Besides a thorough examination you should be certain the dog is free of intestinal parasites and heartworms. A blood test for brucellosis is also a good idea.
The most important things to keep in mind when your dog is pregnant are:-
- Vaccination: - vaccination is very important when it comes to the health of your dog. immunity of your puppies will directly depend on the immunity of the dog. The mother’s immunity is passed on to the puppies through her first milk or colostrum. Vaccinating your dog with needed vaccines before its pregnancy will take care of all these aspects.
** it is recommended to avoid vaccination during pregnancy, as it can cause complications.
- Keeping the environment clean out of parasites and fleas, will help your dog stay healthy during pregnancy. Keeping your house clean of heartworms and for intestinal parasites. Mother dogs tend to pass intestinal worms to her puppies through her womb. Some dogs have parasitic encrypted on their muscles. If your dogs are involved with kenneled dogs, the puppies are supposed to be wormed at every six, nine and eleven weeks of age with pyrantel pamoate.
Flea control is important if puppies are born. During pregnancy spraying methoprene to control fleas.
- Taking care of dog during pregnancy is paramount. Late pregnancy and nursing will increase the nutritional needs of dogs. The first six weeks of pregnancy the mother dog should not eat more than its usual pre-pregnancy amount. Consult your vet and get proper guidance on what to feed and what not to feed. It is better to feed it four small meals than two big meals. And feed it water in regular interval.
- Some dogs experience a lack of appetite and something approaching “morning sickness” three or four weeks into pregnancy. This should resolve after a week or so. If it does not, see your veterinarian.
- Once the puppies are born its nutrition level should be increased. As the dog is in the lactating stage, she has to be fed more nutritious food.
- Her food consumption will steadily increase over 20 to 30 days following birth as the puppies grow and nurse more and more
- Getting a regular check to your vet during its pregnancy is very important. When your dog is 30 days into pregnancy, consulting the vet and getting a wellness examination done will help understand the condition of the puppies and to know how many puppies will be born, which will help in keeping a tab during pregnancy.
- This is either done through an ultrasound or through a X-Ray.
- Regular exercise will help your pregnant dog to keep her muscles toned and active. Lack of physical exercise, will lead the dog to become obese, causing problem during delivery. Care has to be monitored on its diet and caloric level.
- During the final three weeks of pregnancy the mother dog should be separated from other dogs in the household as well as dogs from outside the family. This isolation should also protect the mother from exposure to herpesvirus of dogs, which causes innocuous vaginal sores and nasal drainage in the mother but is often fatal to puppies.
the final stage is that of delivering the puppies. Check your dogs temperature regularly. If the temperature falls below 100 F, it's almost time for the delivery. The first few hours can be very difficult and strenuous. The dog may even get into isolation. Keep a watch whether all the puppies are delivered. If you feel any puppy is left, then take her to the veterinarian immediately.
After the delivery the dog may lack appetite, give it enough time to spend with its puppies to bond with them. Feed good nutritious diet and increase its intake by 25%.
The time from breeding till delivery can be very testing for the owner and the dog. Maintaining patience and care are need of the hour.
