# Feeding Pregnant Great Dane



## danesandhorses (Sep 14, 2008)

I just bred my Mantle Female with my Harlequin Male. I have had a litter in the past but the last one was 9 years ago. We have never fed our Dane puppies puppy food. I have had a couple people that sell Solid Gold tell me I should start feeding my female that we just bred Wolf Cub by Solid Gold. And then when the puppies are old enough we should continue the puppies on this. I know the maker of Solid Gold breeds Danes herself and that this is considered a large bred puppy food. But most companies make large breed for Labs etc. which I dont consider large breed.

Does any one have any opinion for me? Is it OK to now feed Dane Puppies a specialty puppy food?

Any other ideas on feeding my female while she is pregnant? She is in great shape and a easy keeper for a Dane.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

danesandhorses said:


> I just bred my Mantle Female with my Harlequin Male. I have had a litter in the past but the last one was 9 years ago. We have never fed our Dane puppies puppy food. I have had a couple people that sell Solid Gold tell me I should start feeding my female that we just bred Wolf Cub by Solid Gold. And then when the puppies are old enough we should continue the puppies on this. I know the maker of Solid Gold breeds Danes herself and that this is considered a large bred puppy food. But most companies make large breed for Labs etc. which I dont consider large breed.
> 
> Does any one have any opinion for me? Is it OK to now feed Dane Puppies a specialty puppy food?
> 
> Any other ideas on feeding my female while she is pregnant? She is in great shape and a easy keeper for a Dane.


I just had a litter of 11 healthy great dane pups in the beginning of July. It was my first litter and it was a total success! I read many, many books and websites and found that if you feed a *high* quality dog food, no particular brand, is best. The higher quality foods provide a pregnant mother with enough nutrients to carry a litter to term. 

I would recommend letting her decide on how much she needs instead of measuring out meals for her. Bailey, my female dane, did not gain any weight, other than puppies, during her pregnancy. I fed her Canidae ALS formula all the way through her pregnancy, letting her dictate how much she needed. Towards the end of her pregnancy, I started adding just a bit of puppy formula (milk replacement formula mixed with water) to her food for extra nourishment in the last phase of pregnancy. This is not necessary, but its a good way to give her some extra protein. 

All of the sources I have come across have said that you should use caution when dealing with supplements, so I stayed far away from them. Most of the sources said that a high quality dog food will have the necessary vitamins and other supplements too. There are many different sources out there, so it is best that you read up on the subject and make your own standard from them 

How far into pregnancy is she?!? Good luck with controlling your nerves...is seems like you have to wait forever until its puppy time. 

Like I said before, I just went through caring for a pregnant dane mama, delivering 11 healthy beautiful puppies, and raising them all so if you have any questions or concerns don't hesitate to ask!!!


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## danesandhorses (Sep 14, 2008)

I am very excited about the litter. She was bred October 4th and the 6th. It has been so long since I have had a litter! My male Magnum is almost 38" at the shoulder and has huge bone and head. He comes from champion lines with Riverwood and Meisterseinger. His uncle is Gibson (Guiness book of world records tallest dog). Hemi my female just turned 2 and is a beautifull mantle. She has a great build and is a little over 33" at the shoulder. Both have the best temperments and big builds. I cant wait to see what kind of babies they will have. I have had a waiting list of people wanting puppies for over a year. 

I am going to continue with the Solid Gold but am leary of even the big breed puppy food.


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

It's great that you have people in mind before you breed instead of just hoping that someone will want the pups after they come out. Kudos to you!


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## danesandhorses (Sep 14, 2008)

Thanks, Great Danes grow so quickly I dont want to be stuck with a lot of big children that are expensive to feed and care for. They also need so much attention! When I go out of town even if my husband is home my babies get depressed! My number one prioriety aside from breeding a quality dog is finding them quality homes ahead of time. When the pups turn 4 weeks I allow the families that I have pre-approved to come and pick out a puppy with a deposite. First come first serve. With my last litter just over 9 years ago I got to know the families well ahead of time and created some great frienships. I still talk to many of them today. And the best part about getting to know the people you sell the dogs to is you get to see your children as they grow up!


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

danesandhorses said:


> I am very excited about the litter. She was bred October 4th and the 6th. It has been so long since I have had a litter! My male Magnum is almost 38" at the shoulder and has huge bone and head. He comes from champion lines with Riverwood and Meisterseinger. His uncle is Gibson (Guiness book of world records tallest dog). Hemi my female just turned 2 and is a beautifull mantle. She has a great build and is a little over 33" at the shoulder. Both have the best temperments and big builds. I cant wait to see what kind of babies they will have. I have had a waiting list of people wanting puppies for over a year.
> 
> I am going to continue with the Solid Gold but am leary of even the big breed puppy food.


As far as the food goes, just stick with what you are most comfortable with!

Bailey, my female is from Champ Meistersinger and Riverwoods bloodlines too. She stands around 32" at the shoulder and PD, papa, stands around 37" at the shoulder and is 1/2 Euro so he has a huge, blocky head and a big build. I agree with you that its important to get to know the families that take puppies! I had to turn away two families because they just didn't come across as responsible enough to care for a giant breed dog. I set up a time each week to get all the puppies together and play so they learn how to play well! Its so much fun to watch them continue to grow each week. Some of them come up to my work for vet care too, so I get to see them when I am at work.

PD was just gastropexied! He did just fine through surgery, but I still worried about him. Since Bailey went into heat again, we decided this would be a great opportunity to get him pexied since we had to board him anyway to keep him away from his girlfriend lol!

Let us all know when you find out for sure if your female is pregnant :biggrin:


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

Oh I know what you mean about people not being responsible enough to take care of giant breed dogs properly. I met a person in PetCo once with an 8 month old Great Dane puppy they were feeding Pedigree Adult food to because "they have sensitive systems and can't stand puppy food." Ugh, be that as it may, I can imagine Pedigree probably wreaks havoc on sensitive Dane tummy, my guess is that they were simply too cheap to want to feed a high quality food to a giant breed that has to eat a lot more than smaller dogs.


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## danesandhorses (Sep 14, 2008)

Thank you, I will! I am very excited! Luckliy a couple of the puppies will be going to families that have horses at the same boarding facility that I keep my horses at so I will get to see them often!


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## danesandhorses (Sep 14, 2008)

I still dont understand why any one would feed Pedigree etc. when there are alot better choices like Kirkland brand dog foods out there.


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