When your female English bulldog called dam has successfully mated, it means she has entered a phase called pregnancy. English bulldog breeding is one complicated, expensive and labor intensive process. Always give extra care and plan to render the most effective and safe way of assisting your pregnant bulldog without risking her life. Read on to know what you ought to do in this crucial and memorable phase of your English bulldog’s life – her pregnancy.
Pregnancy Term
We determine the birthing date from the date of first mating. Pregnancy of a pregnant dog lasts nine weeks. Some pregnant English bulldog will deliver puppies termed as whelp, anytime from day 59 to 63. If you’re confused whether your English bulldog is expecting is to get an ultrasound scanning to confirm pregnancy around four weeks. An English bulldog with hook worms or round worms may infect her puppies. Administer a wormer to your English bulldog before mating or ask your veterinarian to choose a safe wormer once your pregnant dog is in whelp. From the time she is bred, do not use any flea treatment on her as this could produce a disastrous effect on the unborn puppies. Instead, use a flea comb and rub your pregnant English bulldog.
First Five Weeks
As the owner, you should not at all costs change her diet for the first five weeks. There is a little or no need to alter any of your pregnant bulldog’s routine for the first four or five weeks of pregnancy. A pregnant bulldog unlike human gets stressed when her routine has been changed. Feeding during the first month of pregnancy should be of the same quality and kind that the pregnant dog is accustomed to. The usual mistake most pet owners make is increasing the food intake too early in the pregnancy. Avoid making your pet gain excessive weight since it could lead to possible whelping pregnancy. If your pregnant dog has a good quality and well-balanced diet, there is no need to neither change her diet nor administer dietary supplements. You can have your pregnant dog have a simple blood test to determine the risk of anemia and her level of blood protein. When needed, the English bulldog’s diet should be gradually shifted two weeks prior to breeding to a diet composed of 30% high-quality and highly digestible meat and 20% fats or lipids mixed with usual complement. This change should contain high amounts of soluble carbohydrates and a low fiber content to avoid hypoglycemia. You will notice some physical changes of your English bulldog such as an enlarged vulva that doesn’t return to the normal size it was before mating. Note that there should not be any discharge during a pregnancy. Take your pregnant English bulldog to a veterinarian when you observe a suspicious discharge. This discharge may indicate an infection, risk of losing her litter or have developed a case of Pyometra. These are urgent conditions that require prompt treatment or else will risk the life of your English bulldog. Do not introduce any vitamin supplements in the first month of pregnancy. A case of too much vitamins A and D will cause birth defects. Always ask medical advice from your veterinary especially with giving medicines to your pet.
Week 5 – Week 7
During week five, you will observe some physical changes in your pregnant dog. Her nipples will become deep pink on color. The mammary glands start to be filled with milk about 1 to 2 weeks prior to whelping. You may also see that she is starting to get thicker around the waist and broader around the rib cage. Ask your Veterinarian the recommended daily Vitamin supplement. In this development phase, it is not the time to scrimp on her feeding formula. It is important to provide proper nourishment to a pregnant English bulldog since developing puppies (whelps) will take the needed and lacking nourishment from the mother’s body, making her body depleted. Aim to set aside a time for a daily to make sure all her muscles are in top condition, especially uterine muscles. At week 6, increase her feeding by 25% at this time because a pregnant dog requires additional food to support the growth of the fetuses and milk production to feed the pups after birth. You can start feeding a little extra by increasing the amount of food gradually to reach whelping time when she is eating about 1.5 times her maintenance diet. For instance, she is normally fed 400 grams then increased by 100 to 200 grams and divided over two meals. Calcium supplementation is not necessary when your English bulldog is on a quality diet. Overdosing on vitamins and minerals may do more harm than good. At week seven, increase her feeding again by 25%. You will also notice that your pregnant English bulldog is sleeping a little longer than usual.
Week 8 onwards
At eight weeks, her meal should be divided into three meals daily in order to avoid pressure and bloating. You may also give Omega-3 supplements in codliver oil form about three times a week. When your dam develops constipation, small amounts of mineral oil added to her food may help relieve her. During this last week of your dam’s pregnancy, the English bulldog puppies take up so much room that your pregnant dog prefer to eat small meals every 3 to 4 hours.
About a week before the estimate time of delivery, begin making preparation for the arrival of the litter of puppies. Your dam should be carefully observed for signs of whelping. The gestation period may last until sixty-one to sixty-five days. Among the signs that your pregnant English bulldog is ready to deliver her puppies are: she urinates much more often than normal, she looks uncomfortable or nervous while looking for a right spot to whelp, she may start to vomit, shiver or pant, or scratch paper or blankets, trying to nest. Your pregnant English bulldog should be introduced to her whelping area and the whelping box. The whelping area should be secluded, quiet, warm and dry. If you plan to put the whelping box in a basement, buy a heavy weight plastic drop cloth from the ceiling or beams to stand as “walls” to keep the heat inside the whelping box area. Decide how you will heat her whelping area where her new puppies will be. It should be about 85 degrees until they grow at 3 weeks old. A baseboard heater is a good choice as an artificial heater for the newborn puppies as long as it is out of reach. Prepare reams and reams of newspaper for the puppy box to serve as lining of the whelping box and whelping area.
Chart your English bulldog’s temperature by taking her rectal temperature two or three days before the expected day of parturition. Approximately 12 to 24 hours before labor begins, her rectal temperature drops from a normal 101.5 degree Fahrenheit (38. degrees Celsius) to 99 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius). Don’t be too worried with this drop in temperature as this indicates your English bulldog begin whelping. Most English bulldogs do need C-sections as the birth canal is often not wide enough for the heads to pass. It is best to decide with your veterinarian whether your pregnant dog should undergo C-section or free-whelping is the better option. This decision should be made beforehand. Whatever decision you take, it is always a wise move to have your pregnant dog examined by your veterinarian and have the English bulldog puppies checked at the same time. If you chose a natural delivery provided your pregnant dog can handle it, get an ultrasound scan of her and count the number of English bulldog puppies. In this way, you will how many puppies to expect in turn tell you when your pregnant English bulldog has finished delivering. Never expect your pregnant bulldog can deliver her litter of English bulldog puppies all by herself. Pregnant dogs and puppies frequently die when left unattended by the pet owner during this crucial period. Bring your English bulldog to the veterinarian when she isn’t passing a pup within an hour.
As a word of advice, careful not to breed your English bulldog dam each season. Even though an English bulldog comes into season every six to eight months, doesn’t follow that you should breed her as often as you want her to. Give her ample time to recover from the health effects of the previous pregnancy and whelping. After all, all female English bulldogs ovulate only once a year. Much more caution should be acknowledged when your English bulldog has undergo C-section more than three times in a lifetime.
