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How to Feed a Nursing Dog – Diet, Macronutrients & Schedule

↯ Key takeaway points

  • A nursing dog needs a lot of energy and nutrients to feed herself and her puppies.
  • Commercial dry food for pregnant dogs is a good source of healthy fats and proteins, but homemade puppy food is the best source of fat and calories.
  • The food for a nursing dog should be easily absorbed, high in calories, fat, vitamins, and minerals, and can be fortified with vet-approved supplements.
  • Nursing dogs need twice the quantity of food they regularly eat, and should ideally have a bowl full of kibble accessible at all times.
  • To change a nursing dog's diet after she gives birth, reduce her regular meal gradually over a period of 15 days.
Breeding Business is passionate about all sorts of domesticated pets. They have written dozens of articles across the web.
Zoo and wildlife doctor in veterinary medicine passionate about animal welfare and preventive medicine.
Published on
Sunday 3 February 2019
Last updated on
Monday 19 June 2023
How to Feed a Nursing Dog
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A healthy pregnancy followed by a fit litter is only a battle half-won. The real challenge begins now when the nursing dog needs enough energy to feed herself and then her pups.

At a time like this, as a pet parent, it is your duty to ensure that the bitch is well taken care of and has the necessary food and drink supplements by her side. Dogs tend to lose a lot of weight after giving birth and so first things first, make your pet gain the weight back.

What Should I Feed a Nursing Dog?

Nursing dogs require a larger amount of food compared to their regular diet. In fact, they may need 2.5 to 3 times more food than usual.
New nursing mothers need a significant amount of food to nourish their puppies. Some trainers and veterinarians even recommend free feeding, where the dog has constant access to a bowl full of kibble. During this time, you should allow your dog to eat as much as she wants, without worrying about overfeeding.
However, the challenge lies in the fact that nursing dogs often have a reduced appetite. Encouraging them to eat more can be difficult. An effective solution is to provide them with calorie-dense food.
If you prepare homemade, fresh food for your dogs, it’s important to feed them frequently and serve fresh meals. Unlike kibble, which can be left out all day for the dog to graze on, homemade food needs to be given at regular intervals. Ideally, a pregnant dog should consume about 1/5th of her body weight in food every week.
What is the best feeding schedule for nursing dogs? As a general guideline, a nursing dog should be allowed to eat as much as she wants, whenever she wants. However, breeders should consider dividing her meals into smaller portions and feeding her at frequent intervals. Instead of two large meals a day, offer her small, nutrient-rich meals every 2-3 hours.
This approach ensures that the mother remains satiated without overwhelming her stomach or causing her to become excessively full at once. It’s important for her to stay active, and a frequent feeding schedule helps achieve that. Of course, this means more effort on your part, as you’ll be feeding her frequently and she’ll need more bathroom breaks. However, this feeding schedule benefits both the mother and the puppies.
While it’s helpful to provide suggestions, dogs are capable of making their own choices regarding when and how much to eat. So you can even let the dog decide her own feeding schedule.
How should you change a nursing dog’s diet after she gives birth? When the mother dog is weaning her puppies, her diet undergoes a significant change. It’s your responsibility to make this transition smooth for her. Start by reducing her regular meal quantity by 1/4th after weaning. A few days later, decrease it to half of what she used to eat while lactating. Gradually, over a period of 15 days, bring her back to her regular portions.
A pregnant dog begins gaining weight around the sixth week and then experiences rapid weight loss within days of giving birth. If your dog has lost a significant amount of weight, adjust her diet accordingly.
If you’re switching between kibble and homemade food or vice versa, make the transition gradual after the puppies have been weaned. Don’t expect your dog to immediately start eating dry food after being fed meats. Introduce smaller portions of the new food into her meals and gradually increase the quantity while decreasing the amount of her pregnancy food. After 2-3 weeks, she will have transitioned to her regular diet.
Ensuring the health of both the litter and the mother is your responsibility, so it’s essential to do it right!

Bioavailable Food

Most importantly, the food you feed a nursing dog bioavailable dog food. This means that the nutrients in the food should be easily absorbed by the dog’s system; otherwise, there is no point! Poorly absorbed nutrients will get excreted through feces and urine and your dog will still remain undernourished (while your garden will flourish).

bioavailability of dog food
Nutrients such as proteins, fats, carbs, and vitamins get digested by dogs, but not all of each one will be used. Raw feeding and premium dog foods have better bioavailability than cheap foods.

Homemade Nursing Dog Food

If you don’t want to feed commercial dog food, a few homemade alternatives would include meaty bones, oxtail, chicken or even rabbit. Healthy meats of cows, pork and game birds are also recommended, but in lesser quantity. Lastly, feed small amounts of organ meats, leafy vegetables, whole grain, and eggs.

A few things to keep in mind while feeding a nursing dog:

  • Food should be high in calories and fat
  • It should have nutrients that are easily absorbed by the dog’s digestive system.
  • The digestibility should be high
  • It should be high on vitamins, minerals, calcium, and protein
  • It can be fortified with vet-approved supplements
  • Add fish oils to keep her fatty acids balanced
  • She should be supplied with enough fresh, drinking water to generate milk.
  • Check with your vet before giving her milk or any other product that you have not fed her before – most dogs are lactose intolerant

Don’t worry about overfeeding your nursing dog. During this time, she needs enough energy, calories and fat to be able to produce milk to feed her pups while keeping herself fit. Let her eat as much as she wants to.

How Much to Feed a Nursing Dog?

Nursing dogs need twice the quantity of food that they regularly eat. Sometimes, even 2.5 or 3 times more food than usual.

New nursing mothers need a large quantity of food to keep their puppies fed. Some trainers and vets even suggest that a nursing dog should have a bowl full of kibble accessible at all times (i.e. free feeding). So ideally, you should let your dog eat as much as she wants. This is one time that you simply cannot put a limit to how much she eats – and don’t worry about overfeeding her.

However, what you must worry about is that while nursing dogs require large quantities of food, they have very little appetite. So getting them to eat more is a problem. An easy solution to this is to feed her food that is calorie dense.

For those who feed their dogs homemade, fresh food – the number one rule is to never leave any of it out. Contrary to the kibble, that can be left out all day long for the dog to keep eating, home cooked food needs to be given frequently and fresh. Ideally, a pregnant dog will eat 1/5th of her body weight every week.

What is the Best Feeding Schedule for Nursing Dogs?

As a general rule, a nursing dog eats as much as she wants, whenever she wants. However, breeders should consider breaking down her meals into smaller portions that are fed at frequent intervals. Instead of a large meal twice a day, feed her a small, nutrition dense meal every 2-3 hours.

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This allows the mother to be full at all times without any chance of upsetting her stomach or getting too full at once. She needs to be active and a frequent feeding schedule will ensure that she is. Of course, this means added work for you, because not only will you be feeding her all the time, she will also need to go to the loo more often. It is the best of the mother’s and the puppies’ interests though.

Suggestions apart, if you don’t know how to make a schedule for your dog – let her decide for herself. Dogs are perfectly capable of making choices on when and how much to eat. So you can even leave it up to her.

How to Change a Nursing Dog’s Diet After She Gives Birth?

From eating calorie dense meals while nursing, the mother dog’s diet changes drastically when she is weaning her puppies. It is upon you to make this transition easy for her. After the weaning, lower the quantity of her regular meal by 1/4th. A few days later, reduce it to half of what she used to eat when she was lactating. Slowly, bring her to her regular portions over a period of 15 days.

A pregnant dog will start putting on weight after the sixth week and start losing it fast within days of the birth. If your dog has lost a lot of weight, adjust her diet accordingly.

If you’re switching from kibble to regular homemade food or vice versa, once the puppies have weaned, make that switch gradual. Don’t expect your dog to suddenly start eating dry food after feeding her meats. Slowly introduce smaller portions of the food to her meals and gradually keep increasing the quantities of it, while decreasing the quantity of her pregnancy food. At the end of 2-3 weeks, you will have switched her over to her regular diet.

Ensuring a healthy litter and a healthy mother is totally in your hands. So make sure you do it right!

2 comments on “How to Feed a Nursing Dog – Diet, Macronutrients & Schedule”

  1. daisy nadome nakut

    not much to say but thankyou

  2. Lori Halderson

    You can tell by looking at the nursing dogs and other animals on YouTube that the veterinarians are doing nothing for animal health. When I was processed through their mongoloid inbred/hybrid slums I told them torso mineral injection, torso dialysis and mineral supplements before and after their abomination rituals would help them live saner. The mongoloid said they could not do that, and I had to watch them torture every animal on the earth as well as human babies and other…you should just really shut down…the food is destroyed…and everything else…

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