Labrador Retriever Forum
We had been having a discussion about feeding the bitch during pregnancy and I promised to post what I thought. So here goes - remember, this is just one anecdotal example, not a scientific study.
I changed my bitch feeding practice for this litter. Previously, I'd feed adult food for the first 5-7 weeks, then switch over to puppy food for the last few weeks. After some of the discussions on this forum about calcium, I began to think that switching to puppy food before whelping might actually be a bad thing in terms of the ability of the bitch to mobilize calcium.
So this time I fed her ProPlan Performance (what I feed all of the Labs) throughout pregnancy. This particular bitch had three puppies last time - delivered one and had to have a section for the other two due to dystocia, and it turned out she had strictures which is what prevented the pups from moving down. We had scheduled her for a section this time.
Her temp didn't drop, her appetite never changed, she never vomited or had diarrhea, and generally showed no signs whatsoever of labor. I went to sleep on Saturday, and awoke to find that she had delivered three puppies, all over 17 oz, with apparently little effort. She gobbled down breakfast just like she gobbled dinner the night before, and proceeded to take care of the pups just fine. I took her in for a post whelp x-ray, and there was one more pup, and we decided to go in and do a section. The pup was up in one horn, intact placenta, but the sac had broken some time earlier. She had a heartbeat but we weren't able to revive her. She was normal-big as well. She was apparently above a stricture, but the pup(s) in the other horn, which also had a stricture in the previous pregnancy, were delivered just fine. At the time of the surgery, the uterus was contracting down so well that we didn't even feel the need to give her a pit shot.
Observations...
1) This must have been the easiest labor out of any whelpings that I have attended. She delivered all three overnight with no assistance, and no pre-labor panting, digestive difficulty, etc.
2) The pups were larger than I've ever had, even with similar sized litters.
3) She didn't gain a lot of weight.
4) She recovered almost immediately - within 24 hours you wouldn't have guessed that she had pups or surgery except for her udder.
I am planning to continue with this feeding plan. It makes sense to me because puppy food would has more calcium in a different balance, geared towards lactating bitches and puppies. According to research on many species, giving extra calcium during pregnancy makes it harder for the body to mobilize calcium during delivery and early lactation. So giving her regular food allowed her body to be able to mobilize calcium when needed. Muscles need calcium to contract properly, and I believe that this may have contributed to the ease with which she delivered.
And yes - I'm going to try to stay awake 24 hours a day to keep watch on any of my bitches for the last week of their pregnancies! 
