Dr. Emmanuel Fontaine, DVM
Dog Lactation and Milk Production Resources for Breeders
Science-backed articles to help you support the nursing dam, protect her milk supply, and give every puppy a strong first feed.
Keyword: DOGLACTATIONMilk is the whole job in the first weeks. Start with the essentials, then explore the latest research below. Every article here is available in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
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What to Feed a Nursing Dog to Increase Milk
What a nursing dam eats sets her milk supply. The one rule: free-feed a growth or gestation-lactation diet from whelping through weaning.
Read article →How Do You Watch a Postpartum Dam’s Recovery in the First Three Weeks?
The first 21 days after whelping are where metritis, mastitis, and eclampsia show up. Your daily eyes catch them before they break the litter.
Read article →Colostrum Secrets: Boosting Puppy and Kitten Immunity
Colostrum is the first feed and the most important one. Get every newborn nursing in the first 8 hours, before the gut closes.
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The most recent posts on this topic, newest first.
How Do You Watch a Postpartum Dam’s Recovery in the First Three Weeks?
The first 21 days after whelping are where metritis, mastitis, and eclampsia show up. Your daily eyes catch them before they break the litter.
Read article →What Sows Teach Breeders About Maternal Probiotics and Colostrum
The cleanest data on maternal supplementation sits in the sow literature. What the dam eats in late pregnancy reaches the colostrum and the milk.
Read article →Maternal Supplementation in Pregnant Dogs: Where Live Yeast Fits and How to Use It
One live yeast strain, S. boulardii CNCM I-1079, given from day 28 of gestation, produced richer colostrum and higher-protein milk at day 7.
Read article →Newborn Puppy Colostrum: Daily Weighing Beats Picking the Best Teat
Colostrum IgG varies by about 42% between teats on the same dam, and you cannot pick the best one by looking. Daily weighing tells you the truth.
Read article →More resources are being added
New lactation and milk-production research is added here as it publishes.
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Once the milk supply is steady, the next challenge begins: the weaning window, moving puppies from milk to solid food.
Puppy Weaning ResourcesEvergreen resource hub. New articles are added automatically as they publish. Bookmark this page.
DR. EMMANUEL FONTAINE 