The Care and Feeding of a Pregnant Dog (part 2)

There are things that I learned while trying to take care of a pregnant Zoey: She needs more than what her feed could give her. The other is that she's very picky about her food.

Dog Food and Nutrition

Pick out dog food that has "complete and balanced" on it. This means that the dog food has been approved by the AAFCO. AAFCO, or the Association of the American Feed Control Officials, stands by three standards:

1. Ensure consumer protection
2. Safeguard the health of animals and humans
3. Provide a level playing field of orderly commerce for animal feed industry.

Simply getting "recommended by veterinarians" isn't enough. It brings up the questions: who's the veterinarian? And just how many are they? It's not a regulatory board of quality, so it's better not to risk the health of the dog.

The Difference between Puppy Food and Adult Food

The same way that a child has different needs from an adult, our medicine reflects that too. Growing puppies need a lot of protein; it helps with the growth of cells and helps with their budding immune systems. Puppy food was made with that in mind and is rich with protein. Pregnant and lactating dogs also need to eat protein-rich foods so they could process the protein and pass it on to their pups.

Normally, though, it's not healthy for adult dogs to have too much protein intake, so it's not good for them to eat puppy food. Don't mix it up!

Food for the Mothers

Mommy dogs must be able to produce a lot of milk to feed their young. To stimulate healthy and increased lactation, though, a dog's diet must also have more than just the dog food fair. There are natural food and herbs that encourage lactation.

Milk thistle, for one, helps with the liver and lactation while goat's rue protects against infections. For blood cleansing and digestive aid, fennel is another good choice.

Borage and liver help with the recovery from whelping by soothing inflammations and increase blood production.

The Feeding and Care for Pregnant Dogs

Changing the routine of a dog can be difficult and can affect the health of your dog. Some dogs don't take well to changes in their diet, like switching from one brand to another. In this case, I had to do some weaning, endearing, and begging.

Getting your dog to eat an herb as-is has a success rate of zero to nil and with barely some success if you hide it in their food bowl. (I've tried.) The best way to do it is by adding a little extra treat for them.

Recipe #1
- also known as: I wish I knew how to cook for myself too…

1) Take the pregnant dog's usual dog food and crush it
2) Boil the herbs with the liver until it becomes an aromatic and edible soup. (It's yummy. Perfectly safe for human and doggie consumption.)
3) Let the soup cool down a bit - we don't want it to be too hot.
4) Mix in the crushed dog food.
5) Feed your dog.

The liver will entice her to eat it, so don't worry.

Recipe #2
All dogs love milk. It's the first food that they've ever tasted, and even if they're old and grumpy and very much hormonal from pregnancy, it remains true.

1) Get milk. Get the milk that's meant for lactating mothers or the ones meant for children of six months. It can be powdered or not, so long as it's good milk.
2) Add in the herbs.
3) Ta-da! Herbal tea for dogs.

Your dog will lap it up and will endear her to you. I know mine did. If your dog begins to have the runs, try lessening the mixture and observe for a while. That should do your dog good.