Good Breeder Center

FTBT Lesson 8: Early Lactation

Birth to Day 21

In This Lesson

Early Lactation Introduction

Your pups are here and hopefully, your bitch is a doting mom after the whelping. In this module, we are going to discuss what you should be doing with regard to physical fitness and nutrition during the first three weeks of the pups' lives. From the birth of your pups until they reach 21 days of age, your bitch’s primary function is to mother, care for, and feed her puppies. Her body is recovering from the whelping, whether it was a natural birth or a Cesarean section. Even in natural whelpings, her uterus must heal from each placental site, rid itself of any debris remaining from the birth, and involute or shrink back down to its normal size.

At the same time, she is nursing the pups, first producing colostrum over the first few days after birth and then her body shifts to milk production. Milk continues to evolve over the first seven weeks of the pups’ lives so this places special demands on the bitch’s body.

In the first week after the pups’ birth, milk production may be pretty low. Neonates don’t need a lot of milk initially but as they grow and development, lactation demand can become a massive drain on her body. By 21 days, she is putting a massive number of calories into milk production, particularly if she has a large litter.

Early Lactation Nutrition

Early Lactation Exercise

In a word, don’t! The last thing a bitch with neonates needs is exercise. Limit her activities to short on-leash or in-yard walks for the first week. Do not do any skill training and no flexibility, balance, proprioception or strength exercises. You want her to put all of her energy, focus and time into her puppies and her own body.

As the pups’ eyes open around Day 10, you may find your bitch getting bored with hours in the whelping box. At that point, you can try some very short Good for the Soul walks in safe places. Safe not only means away from other dogs so she doesn’t bring disease back to her pup but also that she doesn’t get injured, especially her enlarged mammary glands. Areas with briers and harsh grass can scratch her breasts, increasing the risk of mastitis.

At the same time, many bitches will start to get stir crazy towards the end of the pups’ first three weeks. Despite her pleas, do not start skill training with her! Do not swim her since her cervix may not be fully closed yet. Use short, safe walks or perhaps car rides to give her something safe to do until the pups hit 3 weeks.

Early Lactation Skill Training

Do NOT do any skill training during the Early Lactation stage.

There is no safe training or competing during this period.

A Word About C-sections

Bitches are remarkable in their ability to withstand a c-section. Pain meds these days are quite safe for puppies so she should get an injection before she leaves the clinic and will likely be on a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID), Gabapentin, Tramadol or some combination for a few days. You can also ask your vet to give a shot of oxytocin (0.25-1 unit total dose, SubQ every 2 hours) to trigger mothering and one of metoclopramide hcl (0.1-0,2 mg/kg, subQ, every 12 hours) to promote milk production (Baker and Davidson, 2009)

C-section incisions are made down the center line of the abdomen and then stitched. Her breasts will fold over the incision so the pups will not bother it. Incisions rarely get infected and usually heal quickly, though obviously you have to monitor it for heat, redness or seepage of pus or blood. In addition, take your bitch’s temperature twice daily. It is likely to be higher than normal but it should not be at or above 103°F. If you see any of these signs, head back to the vet’s office.

Your biggest post-c-section challenges are likely to be your bitch’s response to the pups and poor milk production. When she wakes up, she will have no idea those are her puppies. This is usually a bigger problem with maiden bitches than experienced mothers. She has no idea what has happened to her, does not recognize the puppies as hers and does not yet have the hormone levels needed to help her make sense of the situation.

Your girl may ignore or even hate her puppies. She may be terrified by them. She may attack or run away from them. Plan to have someone’s hands on her for 24 hours after the surgery. You may not need to do it that long but it is worth the extra measure of safety.

During this c-section recovery period, give her lots of calcium and intranasal oxytocin to help settle her and bond her to her pups. Dr Stuart Mason has effectively used a compounded instranasal oxytocin spray for many years to improve maiden bitch behavior and mothering after c-sections. His article is in the Appendix but here are a few details.

  1. Have your vet order an oxytocin solution from a compounding pharmacist to a dilution rate of 10 IU oxytocin/0.1 mL and administered via a human nasal spray bottle (0.1 mL/spray).
  2. Dose your bitch every 2 hours (Lopate C, personal communication) until the bitch is mothering well, usually within 12-24 hours.

You should limit exercise to short potty walks for 10 days after the c-section to allow the incision to heal. Even after that, it can take many weeks for the internal wounds to heal and internal stitches to dissolve. Go very slowly recovering your bitch’s fitness, adding at least a week to each period, from Early Lactation to Recovery.

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