Nursing Dog need help with weight gain and supplementing!!

Sorry for the long post.

My dog had 14 puppies on the 14th on Saturday. We had no idea until she started getting milk in, we thought she was just swollen in her teats due to heat. Our vet has seen her for this in her last heat so we assumed this is what it was. So up until the last week she was only getting normal amounts of her food, now she looks like she is starved. So I have been giving her 4 large 22 ounce cans of Pedigree a day with 2 scoops of puppy formula as a dressing. Well I read online that you can grind wet dog food into dogmeal and mix it with Green beans, brocoli, rice etc to help with weight and health. So she is now getting 11 ounces of canned pedigree per feeding ( VERY low protein) but it is low in protein so I got some of her and my LGD 27/11 protein feed, they are both very active dogs so this is what the vet wants them on I will put the feed info, gound it up and added ground up Green Beans and give her 4 cups of this at each feeding I also top dress this with the puppy formula. She is a large dog I would say normally 75+ pounds not one of the smaller airedales. I just want her to be getting enough to make milk ( I can't tell as there are always puppies nursing unless she is out for a walk) I assume I would be being driven crazy by hungry whines but just want to make sure. I am feeding her every 3 to 4 hours around the clock ( I am an Isomniac ). If you can think of anything else I can be doing to get her to be able to maintain milk and hopefully gain back some of her weight, dang I wish I had goats in milk right now but they are all dry. I will start to supplement the puppies if necessary I check tummies frequently.

This is the food that I am grinding adding broth and water and some veggies to plan to add rice when I can get to town, ( on meds from back surgery 6 months ago, that I refuse to drive with my children in the car and hubby works 12 hours a day)

Crude Protein, minimum 27.00%
Crude Fat, minimum 11.00%
Crude Fiber, maximum 4.00%
Moisture, maximum 10.00%


INGREDIENTS
Meat & Bone Meal, Ground Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Wheat Middlings, Ground Whole Wheat, Animal Fat (preserved with BHA, Citric Acid, Propyl Gallate), Dried Beet Pulp, Poultry Digest, Wheat Flour, Brewer's Dried Yeast, Salt, Wheat Germ Meal, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin Supplement, Folic Acid, Riboflavin Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Biotin, Choline Chloride, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Yucca Schidigera Plant Extract, Polysaccharide Complex of Zinc, Polysaccharide Complex of Iron, Polysaccharide Complex of Copper, Polysaccharide Complex of Manganese, and Calcium Carbonate.



This is the puppy formula that I got just in case I had to supplement but I am also using it as a top dressing per directions on back of can. Also on the back of this can just in case I do have to supplement it states. After feeding, hold the puppy's head on your shoulder and rub his bgack gently until he burps. LIKE A BABY? I was shocked when I read this.


Crude Protein, min
29.0%

Crude Fat, min
28.0%

Crude Fiber, max
0.2%

Moisture, max
5.0%

Ash, max
8.0%


Ingredients: Corn oil, non-fat dry milk, sodium caseinate, corn syrup solids, soy protein isolate, dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, carregeenan, maltodextrin, dipotassium phosphate, colostrum milk powder, sodium ascorbate, potassium bicarbonate, natural and artificial flavors, choline chloride, zinc oxide, dl alphatocopherol acetate (vitamin E), magnesium sulfate, ferrous sulfate, mono-diglycerides, calcium pantothenate, l-arginine, dl-methionine, niacinamide, manganese sulfate, wheat starch, thiamine hydrochloride, cupric sulfate, vitamin A palmitate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, biotin, menadione, folic acid, cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12), potassium iodide, sodium selenite, cholecalciferol (vitamin D3), BHT and propyl gallate (preservatives


The pedigree wet food

Crude Protein Min. 8.0%

Crude Fat Min. 3.0%

Crude Fiber Max. 1.0%

Moisture Max. 82.0%

Linoleic Acid Min. 0.7%

Vitamin E Min. 25 Iu/kg

I would get her a good quality dry puppy food to eat for as long as she is nursing. Try to go with one that doesn't have the corn and wheat middlings mentioned in the ingredients you listed in the Pedigree, since those are just filler ingredients and don't have any nutritional value. Best wishes with those babies!

Edited to add...

Are you near a Tractor Supply? They carry both Blue Buffalo and Nutro brands of dog food and both are good quality, and they're both a little less expensive there than at pet specialty stores.

Oh dear... that food is very poor in nutrition, it is full of filler and non-digestible by products, grains and junk

Avoid unidentified "meats", avoid by-products, avoid corn, avoid soy, avoid wheat, avoid an overload of grains. You are basically overloading your dog's system with empty calories that end up in massive amounts of poop. It wears a body out really fast - it's like eating nothing but Froot Loops cereal and Burger King!

I would get a grain-free quality dog food (which is high in protein), and then give supplements such as raw meats and bones, fresh eggs, a bit of cooked oatmeal, organ meats, etc. She needs all the bio-available nutrition she can get to feed those puppies and bounce back to health after the birth, caring for puppies, etc.

Also avoid bulking up the meals with vegetables, which are poor in nutrition for a carnivore.

Give the lady meat, real meat, and lots of it!

Good luck!

find a good kibble with no corn and the first ingredient shoudl be MEAT of identified form, chicken, beef, lamb, turkey, something with a name...
meal is ok, Byproducts are bad...
chicken meal= good
chicken byproduct = bad.

blue buffalo, solid gold...if your in a bind and have a costco neerby costcos own kirkland chicken and rice is a great food for a low price.
avoid colors, chemicals and fillers (like corn) which dont digest...

i add scrambled egg (nothing added) and plain broiled chicken (raw if shed eat it) a little cottage cheese or yoghurt was well recived also but those should eb kept in small amounts.
in natural form the only vegatables a canine would eat are already pre partially digested, they dont NEED veggies and there generally just used for the fiber...as they go out the exact same way they whent in...

feeding pedigree, science diet, old roy, eukanuba ect is like feeding your kid nothing but mcdonalds burgers...
your not sure what meat is realy in there and its all fat and salt...
they may like it...doesnt mean its good for them.

14 is a HUGE litter, youll likley have to rotate and supliment feed with formular. make sure each puppy gets a couple feedings from mommy by rotating who gets the bottle at certain feedings.

She needs real food to feed that brood.

Eggs, soft scrambled or sunny side up
Cottage Cheese
Whole milk yoghurt
canned mackerel or salmon
20% or higher ground beef, make into a patty, sear in a hot pan on both sides so it is raw but warm in the middle
Organ meats that you can find, chicken hearts, gizzards, if you can find beef kidney or heart. Give the organ meat in small amounts that might equal one meal in 7 days or so, or you can divide and give a small amount each day.

I would immediately be on the Nature's Farmacy website and get their vitamin supp, and talk to them about what would be good for your girl.

Good luck!

She also need carbs, but good ones.

Quick oats soaked in hot goat milk or water
brown rice
whole grain pastas

And yes yes on the meat.

We have a whole smallish pig in the freezer the meat got freezer burned and I was going to give it away for raw feeders If I was able to figure out how to get it cut up would I feed it raw on the bone or broil boil and take it off the bone. There are many articles on weight gain for lactating dogs some saw raw meat some say cooked I would assume the chicken is cooked and taken off the bone as the small bones can choke.

The top food which is 27 percent protein while it does have corn is the same brand that my vet's office has for sale and he recommended it to us for our dogs due to weight loss on wal mart brand food, even though he knows we would not be buying it from him as she go to the coop and get all of our animals feeds there.

The no veggies is very interesting as many dog recipes call for green veggies.

This food was recommended by the people at TSC to my hubbie the local TSC does not carry Blue buffalo or Nutro This is a puppy food so I am trying to figure out the kcal for a lactating dog

http://www.tractorsupply.com/pet-ca...lamb-amp-rice-formula-dog-food-40-lb--2800139

I am thinking I will be talking to the neighbor about child support from his stinking dog.

I figured I would need to supplment already have the formula but can said to try to let pups nurse off mom for first 2 days. The can said to burp the puppies ( really?)

The ingredients of that food are about as bad as it gets BHA and BHT are also known carcinogens.

If cost is an issue, 4Life sold by Tractor Supply isn't too bad, or Diamond Naturals. I'd add some ground beef and eggs to either, but nothing too rich in calcium (such as the puppy milk). Suddenly increasing calcium can cause eclampsia (low blood calcium), as the dog's body thinks it no longer needs to produce its own.

You probably should feed the puppies some supplemental milk, but again those ingredients do not look good.

Puppygro (www.puppygro.com) or raw goat's milk are good choices.

I have a case of yogurt that sopmehow got buried in the bottom of the chest freezer it was frozen before the use by date would it still be good? I have to say she is feeling somewhat better today while we were out walking her a stray walked along the road and she went balistic growling and barking ( she is very protective of the kids and I )

Hijack..is that diamond food from TSC any good? i was thinking about it for mine..