Physical Wellness Month on April, 2024: how many months are dogs pregnant for?

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57-63 days.

here's some info-

Looking After a Pregnant Dog

The pitter-patter of puppy paws. Nothing is more precious than a litter of newborn puppies. However in order for mum to give birth to a healthy litter, her owners have to take proper care of her before and during her pregnancy.

Prior to Breeding

There are only two legitimate reasons to breed a dog, according to author and Veterinary nurse, Charla Dawson. “Number one is to better the breed, number two is for the love of the breed. If your dog is not up to breed standards, then please do not breed her.”

When planning to breed your female dog, there are a lot of pre-pregnancy checks that need to be made in order to ensure she has a healthy pregnancy.

Take her to the veterinarian for a wellness examination, which should include: her weight – if she is overweight she should be put on a diet one to six months prior to breeding; a faecal examination for parasites – she must test negative for hookworms, roundworms and heartworms, as well as intestinal parasites. If she tests positive, she must be de-wormed twice, by the vet, prior to breeding. Bitches must be parasite free because they will pass the infections on to their puppies via the womb and milk, and as puppies have little or no immunity at birth, the consequences of infection can be severe.

It is also recommended that dogs not be bred until they are at least 12 months old. “Many dogs are accidentally bred on their first heat when they are not much more than puppies themselves, “reports Ron Hines, DVM (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine). “Breed dogs on [their] second or third heat period. By this time, the length of the dog’s estrus cycle will have been established and you can plan for the event.”

Is She Pregnant?

Just because a male and female were bred together, does not mean she will become pregnant. But there are a couple of ways to tell if she is. One method is to check her vulva – it becomes swelled during breeding/her heat cycle and will remain so if pregnant. Another way to check is via a blood test. The test can be done 28 to 30 days into the suspected pregnancy. The test checks for the hormone relaxin, which is produced when the implanted eggs become fertilised.

During Pregnancy

A dog’s gestation period is about 63 days and it is important to keep your dog in good physical condition prior to and during her pregnancy as obesity can create blood-sugar irregularities, as well as delivery problems, which can put the puppies at risk.

Take her for regular walks, but avoid obedience training or any other type of activity that may cause her stress.

During the final three weeks of pregnancy, she needs to be placed in seclusion, this includes cutting off contact to other dogs in the household. At this stage in the pregnancy, the mother-to-be is at risk for canine herpes virus, which can cause a cold in non-pregnant adult dogs, however, it can cause a miscarriage to pregnant dogs.

Nutrition

Around week four or five, add premium puppy food to her diet, but not one formulated for large breed puppies.

Do not add supplements to her diet, especially calcium. “Supplementation can suppress her natural calcium-releasing hormones so that when she really needs extra calcium during nursing, she will not have the proper hormone balance to get it,” according to the Mar Vista Animal Medical Center.

At around the six-week mark, her appetite and weight will begin to increase. At this time, increase her food by about 25 per cent. Because the puppies are pressing on her internal organs, she will most likely not be able to eat the one or two large meals she did prior to becoming pregnant. Therefore, it will be necessary to feed her smaller meals more frequently throughout the day.

Prior to Delivery

A couple of weeks prior to her due date, create a birthing/whelping box that is located in a draft-free room that is also away from a lot of household traffic. Provide her a box that is lined with blankets, towels or old clothes, is easy to clean and that has sides to it.

Introduce her to the box about one week prior to delivery so she can get accustomed to it.

Delivery Day

You know your dog is going into labour when she becomes nervous, pants, shivers, loses her appetite, vomits and starts to nest. This phase usually lasts about 12 hours. Contractions also begin during this first phase.

As the contractions increase, she will expel a watery fluid and the first puppy will enter her pelvic canal, causing her to push more. About every 30 to 60 minutes a puppy will be born. Between each birth, the mother will rest and care for the newborns.

Each puppy will be born surrounded by a thin, white membrane the mother will normally break. The membrane surrounding the nostrils must be broken to avoid suffocation.

After each birth, a placenta will usually be expelled. The mother will likely eat the placenta – it contains required protein and nutrients – she will also chew the umbilical cords to separate her from her pups.

Post Delivery

Your vet must examine the puppies shortly after their birth. Puppies cannot regulate their body temperatures, therefore, their whelping box needs to be heated with pads and lamps that the puppies can move away from in order to avoid becoming overheated.

Puppies must stay with their mother until they are fully weaned– at about six to eight weeks of age.

Lose 10 pounds a month?!?

There's no "secret" to losing weight. The problem is that every person that gives advice does so from a very biased perspective: a nutritionist will always recommend that you completely rearrange your diet (and plug their service at the same time), a personal trainer will always recommend going to the gym (and they will probably offer their services), and a wellness advisor will always recommend a complete routine change.

Losing weight, however, is unique to each person. Not everyone, unfortunately, will respond to each different type of method- some people have slow metabolisms, others simply can't work out. This leads to a lot of frustrations as people trying to lose weight lose their motivation. There's no clear-cut guide to losing weight, but there is a standard idea on making it happen.

Weight gain (and loss) is all about calories. You gain weight when you consume more than you burn, and you lose weight when you burn more than you consume. I can't tell you exactly how to lose a few pounds, but I can tell you how to get started (and lose ten pounds your first month).

1. Regulate your metabolism. For many people this can be as simple as going for walks every night or cutting the junk out of their diet. Others, however, might benefit significantly from taking a supplement to help regulate their metabolism. There are numerous products on the market that can do this. Of all of the options, I recommend Phentramin because of its quality and price. Phentramin contains ingredients that have been proven to help regulate your metabolism and promote weight loss.

1. Eat healthy foods. I know that everyone and their mother is always telling you to eat healthy- and for good reason. You are what you eat. If you dine exclusively on McDonald's and deep-fried foods you should expect it to be impossible for you to lose weight. As a matter of fact, you should expect to gain weight (and plenty of it).

1. Go for a walk every now and then. Physical activity elevates your heart rate, releases crucial hormones, and reduces stress. If you are taking a supplement (such as Phentramin) it will compound the effects and promote rapid weight loss. Now, when I say rapid, I don't mean that you're literally going to lose inches every day. What I mean is that as your body adjusts to its new routine you will begin to lose weight. You will be lighter, healthier, and almost certainly happier.

1. Drink lots of water. Water cleanses the system of toxins and junk that's not supposed to be there. Water also suppresses your bodies hunger pains and, as a result, helps you lose weight.

Not a de facto guide to losing weight, I know, but following the advice above will almost certainly help you lose weight. If anything, you'll at least feel better as you remove the gunk from your body.

And hey, that's always a good thing. Check out my fitness blog for more fitness info and ideas:

Does anybody have some good ideas on what I should write me gym report on?

--Why Physical Education is Most Important in the Early Childhood Years

Research has shown that early childhood physical education improves more that just physical wellness, but it also assists and improves mental and emotional developments.

--Components of Physical Education:

The components of physical education stress the instruction of physical activities designed to strengthen the human body. Courses in schools focus on topics like general physical health, coordination, team sports and hygiene. Early childhood physical education involves more game play and general education while junior high and high school focus on team sports and physical fitness.

--Functions of Physical Education:

The health components of a physical education focus on four specific areas of physical fitness. The first, cardiovascular fitness involves endurance. While children do not benefit from workouts on cardio machines, they do run, play ball and ride bikes. Strong cardiac health and lung capacity means a person can exercise for longer periods of time.

The second health component of physical education focuses on muscular strength while the third focuses on muscular endurance. Muscular strength refers to the amount of force muscles can exert and endurance refers to how often a muscle can be used without exhausting. The last component focuses on flexibility and range of motion. These four different components are important to the functioning of a healthy human body.

--National Physical Fitness and Sports Month:

May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month. This is a great opportunity for educators to inform students about physical fitness and play some fun games, too. In many schools, PE has taken the back seat to academics. While academics are important so is health. This month and every month encourage students to participate in a wide array of physical fitness and sports. These games are good for students in second to sixth grade.

Builders and Bulldozers - This is fun game that needs a lot of small cones to work. Basically, you spilt the class up into two groups. Half of the group are bulldozers and half are builders. Tip half of the cones over and half should be right side up. The bulldozers knock over cones and the builder puts them straight up. Blow a whistle to start and stop the activity. Give kids three minutes. At the end, everyone needs to freeze. The teacher can count how many cones are knocked over and how many are still standing. Change up the game by telling kids they can only touch the cones with their left foot, right foot, left elbow or other body parts.

The Mouse Trap - Half of the class holds hands and makes a circle. They are the mousetrap. The other half of the class runs in and out of the circle. They are the mice. At the teacher's signal, students squat and "close" the trap. Everyone left inside is caught. Repeat this proess until there aren't any mice left.

Over Under - This quick and easy game needs only kids and two balls. Kids stand in lines. At the command of go or a whistle, teams reach the ball over the heads and then through the legs. Whoever gets through the line first, wins.

Stopwatch Fun - Kids like to be timed. Using a stopwatch, allow students to participate in different challenges like how many times they can throw a ball back and forth in a set amount of time.