So Phoebe is now, officially, in whelp. In addition to all the genetics tests/ vet checks/ OFA cert, we have some things we need to do to try to help make this as easy as possible for her.
First, we continue to let her exercise- but a different kind of exercise. She no longer gets to maul Asta, our German Shepherd for hours every day (yay)- that job has now been taken over by our new male, Charlie (boo). Asta has the patience of Job. She has always let them do pretty much whatever they wanted to her, and somehow managed to not squash them like bugs.
Phoebe’s exercise is now mostly restricted to walks, tearing around the back yard like a lunatic and doing a jig every time she sees her food bowl. As soon as we found out she was, in fact, having puppies, we also forbade her from jumping off the furniture.
We’ve now increased her food intake. Our dogs are all on Big Country Raw- we save a lot of $$$, and the dogs do VERY well on it. We increased her food by 50%, but I spoke to one of their techs, and they advised us to DOUBLE her grub. She’s gone from 1/4 cup twice a day to 1/3 cup 3 times a day. Her mid-day meal consists of pure beef- also at the recommendation of Big Country. Early morning & evening meals are their chicken meal, with the addition of 1/2 teaspoon of Thrive- their Herring oil blend. She’s now what can only be described as “hugely pregnant”, and has been nicknamed “Lumpy”.
Are we doing everything right? I hope so. As with everything, everyone has an opinion. From what we can glean, I like our approach.
We’re now 8 days back from her due date. In 6 days, we take her for a final check-up and X-ray to count spines.
Then things are going to get messy.
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