How safe is it to nurse puppies from a different mother?
Allison asked:
A woman my mother knows just recently had a litter of puppies with her dog, although one survived. Our dog had puppies, too, and one has also survived out of a litter of six. The woman’s dog won’t nurse her puppy, but our dog is nursing ours. How safe would it be to take the woman’s puppy and have her nurse on our dog instead?
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A woman my mother knows just recently had a litter of puppies with her dog, although one survived. Our dog had puppies, too, and one has also survived out of a litter of six. The woman’s dog won’t nurse her puppy, but our dog is nursing ours. How safe would it be to take the woman’s puppy and have her nurse on our dog instead?
July 28th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
You could try it. Your dog may reject the pup as well- it may have something wrong with it that is not readily apparent to humans.
July 31st, 2009 at 10:56 am
well, it isn’t “dangerous” or “unhealthy” if that is what you are asking. the point of nursing is to the get the nutrition primarily. and the nurturing too. so if it comes from someone other than the natural born mother, not a problem. nourishment and love are what are important.
August 2nd, 2009 at 6:04 am
Very safe. Never heard of anyone having any problems with it.
You should take a washcloth or a rag and rub it all over your dog/her puppy to get your dog’s scent on the rag. Then rub the rag all over the new puppy to get her scent on that puppy. That makes it a lot more likely for her to nurse the new puppy.
Worst case scenario, your dog doesn’t like the new puppy and refuses to nurse it, so you send it back.
August 2nd, 2009 at 2:32 pm
I had a cat, and the original mother wouldn’t take care of her kittens, so my other cat did.
I know it may be different, but I’d think that the dog would take care of another dog’s puppy.
August 6th, 2009 at 1:23 am
Do you mean safe for YOUR puppies?
As long as the pup and it’s mother are free of disease and parasites, and as long as YOUR b*tch accepts the pup, there is no reason why you can’t do that.
When my Rainbow had her c-section, Mouse had a 5 day-old litter of three. While Rainbow was under and recovering from the anesthetic, I gave the 7 pups to Mouse to look after. Later on when Rainbow was looking after her own pups, I gave a couple to Mouse to look after, since she was a big girl with only 3 pups, and Rainbow was smaller and looking after 7.
August 9th, 2009 at 8:20 am
If the your dog will accept the puppy, it will be fine for her to nurse it, and much better than trying to bottle feed the pup.
Take your dogs’ puppy and the orphaned puppy and “rub” them together, GENTLY, to get some of the scent on the new puppy, then put both pups with your dog, watch her closely, she will probably accept it right away. If you see any signs of aggression toward the puppy, get it out of there. It should be fine though, lots of *itches foster orphaned pups, and even other species, I’ve seen cases where a *itch will take orphaned kittens, and even a squirrel!
August 11th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
It is hard to say.Are the pups about the same age and size?It depends upon your female.You can try.I’ve done it before.You need to take the blanket the mom and other pups are on and rub it on the other pup to get the scent on it.You then talk to the mom and say here is your puppy.Let her smell it and watch her reactions.You must be very careful and pull the pup away if there is any sign of aggression.If all is fine put the pup on a nipple.You need to observe for a while to see if she starts to clean pup.I have found if the mom starts to clean the pup it will be fine.Remember you have to be watchful and very quick to pull pup away if any growling,ect.I have a had a rottweiler nurse springer pups.And I also had a female who would have nothing to do with any other young pups while nursing.
August 13th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
its perfectly ok… but dont be surprised if the pup gets pushed away…
August 16th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
it is not unhealthy or dangerous at all although the other mother may reject it but i would give it a try
August 19th, 2009 at 1:25 am
Be VERY careful!!!!
Some bitches may accept a stranger,others will KILL IT!!!
If you’re not QUICK & able to “read” a dog……don’t even try it. Mangled carcasses aren’t pleasant to handle.
August 22nd, 2009 at 9:34 am
your female may or may not except the pup all you can do is try.i have seen other dogs foster pups that were orphaned.
August 23rd, 2009 at 8:43 am
We have had good success with mothers fostering pups from other litters. the main thing is to watch them very carefully when the new pup is first introduced to make sure the mom is willing to accept the newbie. If she accepts it right off, there should not be any problem.
August 24th, 2009 at 9:18 am
this depends on your dog some will accpt anything and others will attack and kill
take a blanket or cloth and get your dogs sent on it then rub it on hte pups slowly introduce them YOu should know within a short time if she will accept teh pup