Slightly Increase Liver & Select a Ruminant Liver
The need for vitamins and microminerals, specifically iron and copper, increases during the third trimester and lactation. These essential nutrient levels are necessary for the mother dog to produce nutritionally adequate milk for her developing puppies.
The liver ratio in the diet should increase to support the essential nutrient requirements during this time. On average, a PMR and BARF diet for an adult dog calls for 5% liver. However, during the third trimester and lactation it is recommended to increase the liver ratio to 7%.
It is recommended to feed a liver from a ruminant animal (e.g. beef, lamb, goat, bison, etc.) over poultry or pork liver. Ruminant livers provide a higher mineral density, specifically in copper, than poultry and pork liver which makes it ideal to use in a raw diet for a pregnant or lactating dog.
There is one exception to this guideline. Duck and goose liver are both high in copper and can be utilized in the diet as well. Below are copper values for livers per 1oz (28g):
1oz (28g) = 2.7mg
1oz (28g) = 1.99mg
1oz (28g) = 1.7mg
1/ Building little carnivores is easy..
Building little carnivores is easy. Bar a few minor tweaks here and there, when raw feeding a pregnant bitch you will simply be ramping up what you normally offer her as time goes on. Know why? Because a well-balanced raw meal has everything Mum needs to build mini copies of herself. She will soon need more meat muscle to build their muscles. She will need more cartilage and bone to fuel the construction of their little joints and frames. She will need more organ meats to fuel the construction of their various organs. She will need a touch more fat for the energy to do it all. While the industry will use its favourite tool of fear to try draw you back into the kibble realm, I assure you it’s about as complicated as that.
3/ Feed the best Meat you can
This doesn’t take much explaining. Good food builds good pups. This means feeding the pregnant dog a fresh, species-appropriate raw dog food, made on the very best meats you can find. This means organic meat and bone. Those animals will hopefully have had a better life and death and have been fed the most natural diet with little to no chemicals used on them. If buying a pre-made in the UK this means buying Paleo Ridge. If in the US, something like Darwin.
If you want to go with another brand, here’s how to pick a good pre-made raw dog food and avoid the pitfalls.
How do I feed a pregnant bitch raw?
The average dog diet is built at a ratio of 5:1:1, which makes it 5 parts of raw meat on the bone, 1 part of fresh organ meat (liver, heart, kidney), 1 part of vegetables.
Raw feeding a pregnant dog is easy, just give her more of everything! It is building mini-versions of itself and they need the same thing as their mother. So feed her more meat on the bone, more muscle fresh meat, and organ meats.
Muscle meat feeds their muscle meat, cartilage helps to form stronger joints, fresh bones lead to optimum bone growth, and organ meats are broken down to form organs. Organ meats are probably the most important thing, nutritionally, for dogs. Their diets should consist of 10 to 15% organ meat.
Include as much variety in their diet as possible; liver, heart, eyes, spleen, etc. Avoid including too much of one thing as different body parts are beneficial to different parts of the dogs system.