By Joe Spoo DVM

Too often in veterinary practice we hear the comment, “My dog is doing fine on his current food,” as justification for feeding a lower-quality pet food. While this may indeed be the case for many pets, there are two groups of dogs that require an extremely high level of nutritional support: working dogs and breeding females. These two groups cannot settle for a food that is ok; they require the best nutrition in order to stay in optimum condition. The stresses and demands placed on these dogs go well beyond those of your typical family pet, and, as a result, the nutritional needs of these dogs are also very advanced.

In this article we’ll look more closely at the breeding female, though many of the same rules will apply to a dog undergoing extreme levels of activity. With dogs, it is important to remember you are feeding individual animals, and it is impossible to successfully feed dogs as a large group, or by free-choice. An important concept throughout this article is the need to evaluate individual animals and their changing needs over the course of a year.

One of the most overlooked areas of breeding management is the body condition of the bitch prior to breeding. It is important to ensure the bitch comes into heat at an optimum body condition to avoid any potential problems. Bitches that are too thin often have problems adequately maintaining the litter and themselves through the pregnancy and start a detrimental cycle of losing body condition and quality of life. Considering the stresses involved and the negative impact, it is better to skip a breeding with an underconditioned bitch rather than put her through the pregnancy. This will allow her to further recover her body condition and have a better overall pregnancy.

Females that are too heavy coming into heat also have their own share of problems. With these bitches you will see lower ovulation rates, smaller litter sizes and decreased fertility. If the dog remains overweight at whelping time, they can present with large fetuses and dystocia (trouble birthing) problems.

Goldielocks would have made a good judge of breeding females, because you are looking for dogs that are “just right.” The best way to accomplish this is to have a quality nutrition program by individually feeding the bitches and not allowing them to self-feed. By feeding a high-quality, super-premium food you are ensuring your bitch is coming into its heat cycle in optimum condition. This also allows their body to have all of the tools necessary for a successful breeding, pregnancy, litter and post-weaning recovery.

During the first two-thirds of pregnancy, the bitch’s energy requirement does not drastically change, as the fetuses are slow growing and the maintenance diet likely provides enough energy. However, during the last 2-3 weeks, there is a large increase in fetal size, and consequently, an increase in the bitch’s energy needs. At this time, it is important to switch the dog to an energy-dense food that can provide enough nutrition and building blocks for growth. This is accomplished either with a puppy formula or one formulated for performance.

It is at this time in the pregnancy that the bitch is not only trying to maintain her own body but also developing the individual bodies of the growing and developing pups. It is vital to provide a high-quality diet that has a highly-available protein source, as well as readily-absorbed minerals and nutrients. If the female cannot adequately provide for the growing pups, she will begin to use her own bodily reserves and will go into lactation in poor condition. As the bitch gets closer to whelping, the pups occupy more and more space in her abdomen, and some dogs will need to have their feedings divided up into multiple feedings to ensure they are intaking adequate amounts of food.

After the pups are born, the bitch begins the lactation period, which places nutritional requirements on the bitch that are greater than at any other time in her adult life. This is why it becomes vitally important to make sure the bitch comes into the breeding process in optimum body condition and receives the best nutrition during the pregnancy.

Lactation is the one time where free-choice feeding may be necessary to ensure the female is receiving adequate amounts of food to support her and the litter. Fresh water is also extremely important to help with the fluid lost during milking. Peak lactation usually occurs at around 3-4 weeks, often the period immediately preceding the weaning process.

Females need to be kept in optimum body condition to aid them in recovery after breeding and to maintain themselves and their litters during the process. The problem is that too many people accept adequate nutrition and success as opposed to optimum nutrition and optimum success. By supplying your dog with the best nutrition, you can help to give her the best chance at the highest quality of life, as well as increase her reproductive success and the quality of her productive years, both in the field and as a mother.

The dog food you give your dog every day is the one thing you do each day that affects that dog today, tomorrow, six months from now, and through the rest of that dog’s life. By feeding the highest quality product, you are giving that dog all of the tools necessary to lead a full and healthy life.

It is important to choose foods wisely when making these nutrition decisions. Ideally, feed foods that have high-quality animal-based protein sources to ensure you are giving the dog highly-available protein. Vitamins and minerals also are important, as they play key roles in reproduction, growth and development. Chelated minerals are in a form that is most-readily absorbed by the body, which allows the dog to be able to use them. One important note to remember is that dog foods are balanced with vitamins and minerals and any supplementation can throw this balance out of whack and negatively affect the dog.

Nutrition is probably the most vital component to a healthy dog’s life, and too often the first one overlooked. Dog food cannot be looked at as a total at the end of receipt but as a vital component to a successful and healthy dog. The key is to be able to look at quality nutrition in terms of the bigger picture over the years of a dog’s life and not just as a necessary expense.