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As an owner of a female dog one of the most exciting/scariest things to hear is that your beloved family pet has become pregnant. The questions start to come up. What am I going to do with all the puppies? And what should I be doing to make sure that she stays healthy?
Besides making sure that she gets plenty of rest and lots of water the best thing you can do is to feed her a high quality dog food. It is true that not all dog food is created equally and some can do more harm than good. A pregnant dog, like a human will go through changes during pregnancy that tax the body and require more nutrients to feed and nourish the growing baby (or 4 to 8 puppies).
Ideally your dog's diet should already consist of high quality protein and essential fats but that doesn't always happen. The fact is that dog food can be expensive, especially if your dog is a large breed or you have 2 or more of them. Sometimes costs wins out over quality, pregnancy is no time to be buying cheap garbage quality dog food.
Here are a few things to look for on the label of most dry and wet dog food. If you see them listed high up on the list on ingredients you should avoid them or at least use them sparingly.
Fillers - Fillers are basically what you might think they are, worthless ingredients that are mixed in to add bulk to the food and in some cases make your dog want to eat more (meaning more trips to the grocery store for you. These fillers are usually corn and soy products or wheat (not the whole grain either).
By-products - This is such a loose term and can literally mean any part or parts of an animal. Including, beaks, claws etc. Also allowed under the "by-product" label is the fact that these animals don't have to be healthy. They can be cancerous or previously dead (of natural causes) and sick/dying animals. Most of these by products consist of "meat: that isn't fit for human consumption, so why would you want to feed them to your "best friend"?
Tragically some if not all of the major brands of dog food contain these garbage ingredients. Try some of the healthier brands including Buffalo Blue, Wellness, Iams, and Taste of the Wild to name a few.
Also as the time for your dog to give birth get closer try supplementing her diet with yogurt and other calcium rich
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