How to prepare for and ensure a healthy dog pregnancy and delivery?

Question

My pitbull Mastiff is going to go in heat this October and this is going to be her 2nd heat therefore I want to mate her with my other dog king who is pitbull / boxer but I just want to be very careful what are some things I should do to ensure she will have a great pregnancy and some things I should know about what I will be dealing with during her pregnancy all advice is needed. Pet's info: Dog | Mastiff | Female | unspayed | 1 year old | 65 lbs

Stephanie Echols, DVM · Accepted Answer

Ideally you should wait until Nova is 2 years of age to be bred. She is not fully grown at 1 year and can predispose to complications during delivery. If and when she is pregnant, make sure to feed her a quality and balanced puppy food- not adult. The best brands of food are Hills/Science Diet, Purina One, or Iams. Make sure she is up to date on all her vaccines prior to her heat cycle. This is her distemper/parvo combination, rabies, and ideally bordetella and leptospirosis. She should also be dewormed for roundworms and hookworms. Make sure she is free of other parasites by dropping a fresh stool sample off at the vets office. Gestation period for dogs ranges from 60-65 days. It takes 45 days for skeletons to show on radiographs. I recommend having her radiographed around that time to confirm pregnancy and get an idea of how many puppies she may have. Build her a nesting box for her to deliver, and when she does start to show signs (lack of appetite, temperature drop, nesting behaviors), just watch her from afar. If she is showing signs of pushing for more than an hour, she needs to see a vet for a possible c-section. The breeds you are breeding have large skulls and that can cause difficulties with delivery. That all being said, make sure both mom and dad are healthy- no allergies, no malformations, no diseases, no health concerns of any kind. There are thousands of healthy dogs that are euthanized everyday because there aren't enough homes and you are breeding mixed breed puppies. As a vet, I highly recommend spaying and neutering all pets. Good luck and kisses to King and Nova!

How to prepare for and ensure a healthy dog pregnancy and delivery?

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