First, FunnyLooking giving birth to her puppies ...
Then Ducky (FunnyLooking's mom) getting all excited when she smelled and saw her new grandpuppies ...
Two days later, Ducky started whining when she wasn't allowed to get near the newborn puppies ... (we were afraid this might trigger the new mom's protective reaction so we had to put the two other doggies, Ducky and Teddy, on leash).
Third day, we woke up to see the puppies curled around Ducky ... (yes, she was on leash in her own space inside our home, some five meters away from FunnyLooking's nesting place and we don't know how the puppies got to be there!). Worried that the puppies might be hungry already, we slowly brought each one back to FunnyLooking's breast.
Ducky started whining again ...
Four days later I was starting to get a bit irritated with Ducky's whining. Being the only one left at home, I didn't know what to do and decided to call up the vet for advice about this ... and the vet said:
"Oh, sometimes that really happens, when a female dog wants to be a foster mom to another dog's puppies. You can let her stay with the babies, but try to stay nearby for a while and observe what happens ... and see how FunnyLooking reacts to this. And by the way, you can check later if there is milk that may come out from Ducky's teats."
Upon hearing this, I immediately let Ducky off her leash and she hastily ran to the babies. But the moment FunnyLooking approached her puppies, Ducky started to growl.
Uh-uh, I guess the vet forgot to tell me to observe how Ducky actually reacts to FunnyLooking getting near her own babies. After an hour or two, I had to pull Ducky out so that FunnyLooking can feed her babies. And made a resolution to myself to try to ignore Ducky's whining again. I didn't want the puppies to go hungry at all.
For the next few hours, all went well, with some intermittent whining from Ducky.
Fifth day, as adviced by the vet, I slowly pinched Ducky's teats to see if there was milk that will be coming out. Whooooh, I started laughing because I couldn't believe what I saw there. I didn't believe it when the vet told me about this but there was milk coming out indeed!!! Quite a surprise and what a relief!!! Now we can let Ducky and FunnyLooking take turns to stay with the new babies without worrying that they might get hungry!
For the next few days both dogs took turns in feeding and keeping the puppies warm. But still Ducky wouldn't allow FunnyLooking to get near when it was her turn to be with the babies. This seems to be nice break for FunnyLooking and gave her the chance to be as frisky as she used to be.
Every now and then, FunnyLooking would sneak in to stay nearby Ducky and her babies. This went on until a time that Ducky stopped growling at her presence and simply allowed FunnyLooking to lie down beside the puppies while it was still her 'turn' to care for them.
Things went on smoothly for the past week ... and we just laugh it off whenever we find the two 'mom-dogs' race each other to be the first one to be with the puppies, after having their own meal. Imagine two dogs racing each other like this!!!
Three days ago (the puppies must be around 3 weeks old by then) ... we saw FunnyLooking and Ducky lying down together, with their heads touching pa nga. Strange but they were lying there comfortably. No growls, no quarrel at all. We were extremely curious what happened.
When we looked closer, we found out that while FunnyLooking was feeding one puppy, Ducky was also feeding the other puppy!!!
Ha-ha! Took a while before they came to accept that this was not a competition after all. That they can both be moms to the babies, can stay to keep the babies warm, and take care of them as well, together.
Oh, amidst all these, Teddy appears to be cool and even seemed to be 'sympathetic' to both female dogs. Not indifferent at all. Whenever Ducky starts her whining, Teddy just 'bumps' his head on Ducky's face in a playful manner as if telling her, "Oh please, tone down your voice!" Then turns to FunnyLooking and starts their 'tag' game all over again.
And he is even helping take care of the babies --- learned to clean them, and sometimes pushes their behind to keep them 'walking'.
One thing I noticed here ... while both mom-dogs are caring for them, and while Ducky is the more 'confident' mom between the two, the puppies seem to know who their real mom is. I often see them run, or should I say, crawl, towards FunnyLooking.
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