The Lactation Period

Lactation is a period of maximum stress for the bitch. Her energy requirements start at the peak gestation levels and rapidly increase to a maximum of approximately 300 percent of maintenance at about the third or fourth week. Her exact needs depend on the number, size and age of the puppies and whether they are eating on their own in addition to nursing. Eating should be encouraged as early as possible, at fifteen to twenty days.

A rough guide for estimating the increase in the bitch's food during lactation is to give her 920 kilojoules of extra food per kilogram of litter weight. The diet should be high in protein, up to 30 percent, but must have adequate non-protein calories or the protein will be used for energy, not milk production. This means a high fat percentage is necessary too.

The daily ration should be divided into three or four portions. The best solution is to self-feed a high-protein dry food (one of the commercial rations) or feed a moist food with added fats two or three times daily. Water deprivation stops lactation quickly. Don't be tempted to add fresh meat to dry and canned foods as this will disturb the calcium balance.

Suckling

The bitch should be checked to ensure she has a sufficient number of functional nipples to feed her litter. A normal large breed of dog can rear ten pups with ease providing early weaning is adopted. Many bitches of the larger breeds have litters in excess of this number.

It is very important that the pups be allowed to suckle undisturbed for the first six to twelve hours, as it is during this period that they acquire their antibodies against disease from the Colostrum. Pups deprived of this milk have a much greater risk of dying in the first six to twelve weeks of life. 

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