The good news is that litter size and puppy health aren’t left entirely to chance. With the right preparation, you can give your dog and her future Richmond, TX litter and puppies the best possible start.
Start With the Dam’s Health Long Before Breeding
A healthy litter begins months before the breeding date. We always recommend bringing your dog in for a pre-breeding wellness exam so we can check her weight, run bloodwork, review her vaccination status, and screen for issues like brucellosis or hereditary conditions common to her breed. A dog who is even slightly underweight, overweight, or carrying a low-grade infection often produces smaller litters and weaker pups.
Nutrition Makes a Bigger Difference Than People Think
If you want to know what to do to improve litter size and puppy health, look at the food bowl first. Feeding a high-quality, AAFCO-approved diet formulated for reproduction provides the protein, fat, folate, and DHA that growing puppies need in utero. We often suggest transitioning to a puppy or all-life-stages food during the second half of pregnancy, since calorie needs climb sharply in the final weeks.
A few simple steps that help:
- Maintain a lean, athletic body condition before breeding
- Add folic acid supplementation in breeds prone to cleft palate
- Avoid raw diets during pregnancy due to bacterial risk
- Keep parasite prevention current with a vet-approved protocol
Time the Breeding Correctly
This is one of the biggest factors in how to improve litter size, and it’s where we see breeders missing out. Progesterone testing pinpoints ovulation within a day or two, which dramatically improves conception rates and the number of viable embryos. Guessing based on day counts alone often means breeding too early or too late.
Don’t Skip Prenatal Vet Visits
Ultrasounds around day 28 confirm pregnancy, and radiographs after day 55 give us an accurate puppy count, so you know what to expect during whelping. Knowing the number ahead of time has saved more than a few litters in our clinic, simply because the breeder realized a pup was still inside and called us in time.
Set Up for Healthy Puppies in Richmond, TX
Once the puppies arrive, the first 72 hours are everything. Keep the whelping area warm, watch for nursing on every pup, and weigh each one daily. Any puppy who isn’t gaining or who feels cold needs to be seen right away.
If you’re breeding in the Richmond area and want a veterinary team that genuinely cares about your dogs and their puppies, give ProK9 Veterinarian a call. We’re here for the planning, the pregnancy, the whelping, and every wag that comes after!