Gun Dog Forum

My GSP Gabe birth to 9 healthy pups on August 27. All pups were healthy and she stayed healthy through the whole process. She is now losing lots of hair. She is virtually bald on her belly and her sides, neck, and ears are very thin with hair and some skin showing. I have been feeding Kinetic 30k, 30/20, for the better part of the year and she has always maintained her weight very well with a nice shiny coat. Could this be her blowing her coat after the whelping(I’ve read this is common in some dogs)? Or should I be looking further into it? Has anyone had this happen to your female GSP after whelping? She is healthy in all manners with good stool and loads of energy. I noticed this happening more significantly after weining the pups.

All bitch's do it after having a litter.

Usually the result of the fever they go through, especially if they were not cut back on feed before and after the whelping process.

ezzy333 wrote:Usually the result of the fever they go through, especially if they were not cut back on feed before and after the whelping process.

What fever ezzy? Pregnant bitches have a lower body temperature prior to whelping. And why cut back on food prior to whelping and after whelping? The female needs all the nutrition she can get right before whelping to get her through the process. And the food needs to be increased to support milk development for the new puppies. Especially after they really start growing several days after birth. However, that does not mean that she should be obese. She should be kept as fit as possible.

First of all, ALL dogs including wolves, coyotes etc, shed their coat after whelping. It has nothing to do with what you're (ezzy) comments are referring to. It is caused by hormone changes where the bitches hair follicles enter a resting phase in order allow her to nourish her puppies. You'll notice new hair growth started before she sheds her coat, so technically she will not be bald. I actually prefer the nice clean look of a new coat.

SCT wrote:

ezzy333 wrote:Usually the result of the fever they go through, especially if they were not cut back on feed before and after the whelping process.

What fever ezzy? Bitches in heat have a lower body temperature prior to whelping. And why cut back on food prior to whelping and after whelping? The female needs all the nutrition she can get right before whelping to get her through the process. And the food needs to be increased to support milk development for the new puppies. Especially after they really start growing several days after birth. However, that does not mean that she should be obese. She should be kept as fit as possible.

First of all, ALL dogs including wolves, coyotes etc, shed their coat after whelping. It has nothing to do with what you're (ezzy) comments are referring to. It is caused by hormone changes where the bitches hair follicles enter a resting phase in order allow her to nourish her puppies. You'll notice new hair growth started before she sheds her coat, so technically she will not be bald. I actually prefer the nice clean look of a new coat.

Thanks, SCT you saved me the trouble of writing the same post.
I do run my females right up to whelping to keep them in good physical condition.................Cj

She is very healthy. Not fat. Her hair is starting to come back I believe. I had read it was fairly common but hadn’t found any cases of it happening to a GSP. I feed her high quality dog food and give her an egg twice a week with a little coconut oil.