How to Exercise a Mother Dog
Take the dog on walks., Play catch., Avoid strenuous work., Weigh the dog., Stop exercise in the last three weeks., Leave her alone for 24 hours., Take her on short walks., Keep food and water close., Lengthen your walks., Encourage her to play with...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Take the dog on walks.
You should take your dog on daily walks.
If you walked your dog regularly before pregnancy, you may continue with this schedule.
If not, start taking the dog on fifteen minute walks once or twice a day.
After the first month of pregnancy, you may need to shorten the length of these walks to prevent overexerting your dog.If you have other dogs, you should start taking the pregnant dog on separate walks beginning during the last three weeks of pregnancy.
This will prevent her from picking up diseases or germs from the other dogs that might put the puppies at risk. -
Step 2: Play catch.
You can still play games with your dog, especially during the first thirty days of pregnancy.
This allows your dog to maintain muscle tone, which can help make the delivery easier.
Catch and fetch are good games to play, as they are not too strenuous, but they still provide exercise.
After a month, however, you should stop playing any games that require jumping or running., While your dog can play gentle games in the first month of pregnancy, you should stop any heavier activities as soon as you find out that she is pregnant.
This includes any working dog activities (herding, guarding, etc.) or competitive activities like agility course training., Weight loss should not be a goal during pregnancy, as dogs should gain weight in order to provide adequate nutrition to the puppies.
That said, pregnant dogs are at higher risk for obesity, and being overweight can cause complications.
Weigh your dog once a week to make sure that she is gaining the proper amount of weight.
If not, adjust the amount of exercise per day.While the amount of weight a dog may gain varies by breed, in general, your dog will gain about 15-20% of her body weight over the course of the pregnancy.
During the first two-thirds of the pregnancy, your dog will not gain much weight.
However, you should still weigh her regularly to make sure that she is not losing weight.
If she starts to lose weight, stop exercise and contact a vet.Your dog may rapidly gain weight during the last two or three weeks of pregnancy.
This is normal.
Carefully monitor her weight to make sure that she does not gain more than 20% of her pre-pregnancy body weight. , Your dog will need to be isolated from other dogs and animals during the last three weeks of pregnancy.During this time, she may also not be able to exercise as much because of her enlarged abdomen.
Take her outside on short walks.
If you have a fenced yard, you may also let her outside for a short period to let her relieve herself and walk around.
Avoid any activity that might overexcite or exhaust her. , For the first day after giving birth, your dog will not want to leave the puppies’ side.
She may not eat or go outside to eliminate.
Do not force her to leave her puppies during this time.
Let her stay with the puppies to nurse and bond., Between 24 and 48 hours after birth, you can take the mother dog outside to eliminate.
She may be anxious to leave her puppies, but you should still encourage her to out and relieve herself.
This will also provide a little exercise.
If she does not want to go, put her collar and leash on, and take her out anyways.These walks may only last five to ten minutes as she will not want to leave her puppies for long.
Try to avoid interacting with other dogs while out.
This is a good time to check your dog’s nipples for signs of swelling or redness.
These are symptoms of mastitis, a problem which may make nursing painful for your dog.
If it is summer time, avoid taking the dam near grass where fertilizer or pesticides have been used.
In winter, avoid salty patches.
These can irritate her teats., For the first week after giving birth, your dog will not want to stray far from her puppies.
Make sure to keep food and water close to the whelping box.
She will get up to eat and drink as she wants during this time.
If you keep these too far away, she may decide not to leave the whelping box at all.
Do not worry too much about exercising your dog during this period.
Since she is protective over her pups, it is important that she can access food and water without going far from the whelping box., After about a week, the mother may be more comfortable leaving her puppies to take walks.
You may try taking her on longer walks to make sure that she gets enough exercise.
If you have a fenced in yard, you can also let her outside to eliminate and stretch her legs., Around three or four weeks of age, the puppies will be more active.
They may start exploring their living area, and you may notice them playing with each other.During this period, you should still continue walking the mother, but you can also encourage her to play with the puppies.
Use baby gates to block off a room, and let the puppies explore with their mother.
Typically, the mother dog will start playing games with them to teach bite inhibition and important social behaviors.
You can also take the family outside to run around together.
Make sure that you have a fenced-in yard with no holes to escape through.
Supervise the family while they are outside. , A good way to exercise both mother and puppies is to start placing puppy-friendly toys near the whelping box and living area.
As the puppies begin to play, they will investigate these objects, and the mother dog can teach them how to play with them.
Thick rope toys can let your mother dog play tug-of-war or other games with her puppies.Playing fetch can help exercise both the puppies and the mother dog.
Make sure that the ball or toy that you throw is not small enough to be swallowed by the puppies., Once the mother is no longer nursing and has returned to her normal diet (typically between four and five weeks after birth), you can start up her old activities again.
This might include work activities, running, swimming, agility training, or strenuous play.
You may want to introduce these slowly as she may be a little out of practice, and she may still be exhausted from caring for the puppies.
The timing for this can vary from dog to dog.
Your dog should have returned to their normal diet by eight weeks, and they should be able to return to normal exercise by this point. -
Step 3: Avoid strenuous work.
-
Step 4: Weigh the dog.
-
Step 5: Stop exercise in the last three weeks.
-
Step 6: Leave her alone for 24 hours.
-
Step 7: Take her on short walks.
-
Step 8: Keep food and water close.
-
Step 9: Lengthen your walks.
-
Step 10: Encourage her to play with the puppies.
-
Step 11: Give puppy-friendly toys.
-
Step 12: Reintroduce old activities.
Detailed Guide
You should take your dog on daily walks.
If you walked your dog regularly before pregnancy, you may continue with this schedule.
If not, start taking the dog on fifteen minute walks once or twice a day.
After the first month of pregnancy, you may need to shorten the length of these walks to prevent overexerting your dog.If you have other dogs, you should start taking the pregnant dog on separate walks beginning during the last three weeks of pregnancy.
This will prevent her from picking up diseases or germs from the other dogs that might put the puppies at risk.
You can still play games with your dog, especially during the first thirty days of pregnancy.
This allows your dog to maintain muscle tone, which can help make the delivery easier.
Catch and fetch are good games to play, as they are not too strenuous, but they still provide exercise.
After a month, however, you should stop playing any games that require jumping or running., While your dog can play gentle games in the first month of pregnancy, you should stop any heavier activities as soon as you find out that she is pregnant.
This includes any working dog activities (herding, guarding, etc.) or competitive activities like agility course training., Weight loss should not be a goal during pregnancy, as dogs should gain weight in order to provide adequate nutrition to the puppies.
That said, pregnant dogs are at higher risk for obesity, and being overweight can cause complications.
Weigh your dog once a week to make sure that she is gaining the proper amount of weight.
If not, adjust the amount of exercise per day.While the amount of weight a dog may gain varies by breed, in general, your dog will gain about 15-20% of her body weight over the course of the pregnancy.
During the first two-thirds of the pregnancy, your dog will not gain much weight.
However, you should still weigh her regularly to make sure that she is not losing weight.
If she starts to lose weight, stop exercise and contact a vet.Your dog may rapidly gain weight during the last two or three weeks of pregnancy.
This is normal.
Carefully monitor her weight to make sure that she does not gain more than 20% of her pre-pregnancy body weight. , Your dog will need to be isolated from other dogs and animals during the last three weeks of pregnancy.During this time, she may also not be able to exercise as much because of her enlarged abdomen.
Take her outside on short walks.
If you have a fenced yard, you may also let her outside for a short period to let her relieve herself and walk around.
Avoid any activity that might overexcite or exhaust her. , For the first day after giving birth, your dog will not want to leave the puppies’ side.
She may not eat or go outside to eliminate.
Do not force her to leave her puppies during this time.
Let her stay with the puppies to nurse and bond., Between 24 and 48 hours after birth, you can take the mother dog outside to eliminate.
She may be anxious to leave her puppies, but you should still encourage her to out and relieve herself.
This will also provide a little exercise.
If she does not want to go, put her collar and leash on, and take her out anyways.These walks may only last five to ten minutes as she will not want to leave her puppies for long.
Try to avoid interacting with other dogs while out.
This is a good time to check your dog’s nipples for signs of swelling or redness.
These are symptoms of mastitis, a problem which may make nursing painful for your dog.
If it is summer time, avoid taking the dam near grass where fertilizer or pesticides have been used.
In winter, avoid salty patches.
These can irritate her teats., For the first week after giving birth, your dog will not want to stray far from her puppies.
Make sure to keep food and water close to the whelping box.
She will get up to eat and drink as she wants during this time.
If you keep these too far away, she may decide not to leave the whelping box at all.
Do not worry too much about exercising your dog during this period.
Since she is protective over her pups, it is important that she can access food and water without going far from the whelping box., After about a week, the mother may be more comfortable leaving her puppies to take walks.
You may try taking her on longer walks to make sure that she gets enough exercise.
If you have a fenced in yard, you can also let her outside to eliminate and stretch her legs., Around three or four weeks of age, the puppies will be more active.
They may start exploring their living area, and you may notice them playing with each other.During this period, you should still continue walking the mother, but you can also encourage her to play with the puppies.
Use baby gates to block off a room, and let the puppies explore with their mother.
Typically, the mother dog will start playing games with them to teach bite inhibition and important social behaviors.
You can also take the family outside to run around together.
Make sure that you have a fenced-in yard with no holes to escape through.
Supervise the family while they are outside. , A good way to exercise both mother and puppies is to start placing puppy-friendly toys near the whelping box and living area.
As the puppies begin to play, they will investigate these objects, and the mother dog can teach them how to play with them.
Thick rope toys can let your mother dog play tug-of-war or other games with her puppies.Playing fetch can help exercise both the puppies and the mother dog.
Make sure that the ball or toy that you throw is not small enough to be swallowed by the puppies., Once the mother is no longer nursing and has returned to her normal diet (typically between four and five weeks after birth), you can start up her old activities again.
This might include work activities, running, swimming, agility training, or strenuous play.
You may want to introduce these slowly as she may be a little out of practice, and she may still be exhausted from caring for the puppies.
The timing for this can vary from dog to dog.
Your dog should have returned to their normal diet by eight weeks, and they should be able to return to normal exercise by this point.
About the Author
Brandon Scott
Brings years of experience writing about organization and related subjects.
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