My pregnant dog eats a lot. How much food should I give her?

Question

My dog eats alot because of her pregnancy should i give her more food when she wants or this is wrong she eats 400 grams in normal now she eats 700 and needing more. Pet's info: Dog | German Shepherd | Female | unspayed | 1 year and 2 months old | 59 lbs

Andrea M. Brodie, DVM · Accepted Answer

A dog's pregnancy typically lasts around 63 days. Pregnancy is divided into trimesters. A healthy, pregnant botch will usually gain around 15 -20% beyond her weight at breeding. You should neither over- nor underfeed your dog during pregnancy, as overfeeding will cause obesity past the pregnancy and underfeeding can cause thee puppies to be underdeveloped, abortion or stillbirth and a small litter size and/or low birth weight puppies. During the first two trimesters (approx. up to the 40th day of pregnancy) you should feed her her normal amount of feed, observing whether she is losing weight or condition. If so, increase her food as needed, During the third trimester, after about day 40 of gestation, the puppies wil start growing rapidly and exponentially and so the bitch will need extra nutrition. Feed her an about 30-60% higher ration depending on the size of the litter and general condition. This may mean you have to feed her several times a day as she will have less and less room in her abdomen due to the space the growing puppies are requiring. So, if her normal amount of food is around 400g/day and she now eats 700g, that should be plenty provided she does not start getting fat (from feed) nor lose weight. Feeding a good quality dog food ensures proper development of the puppies as well as keeping their mother healthy.

My pregnant dog eats a lot. How much food should I give her?

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