hi, I have 2 female dogs, a mother and daughter, the daughter gave birth to 9 puppies, one still born on october 8th, the mother exhibited very concerned behavior while her daughter was in labor, kept laying next to her as if she was concerned for her, we've made a house on our front porch for the mother and pups, very warm and cozy, we live in an apartment that does not allow inside dogs, anyways.. the other dog , officially the puppies grandmother has been inside the box, and today she was nursing puppies, a few things i have read says this is not possible.. i checked her for milk and she does have milk much to my surprise, i called the vet and he said its very uncommon but not impossible, she does for some reason act like these are her puppies, we even put up a gate to our front porch so she does not have access to them, but she cried and then managed to jump it, it is impossible to separate her, my main concern is that this is affecting the mother, they actually got into a pretty serious fight today over the puppies ..i am not sure which one instigated it though. most of the time when i check on them the mother has 4 puppies and the grandmother has 4 puppies, as if they divided them, im very concerned about the actual mothers emotional well being ..having another dog take over her pups, and im worried what will happen to the grandmother if i remove her permanently from the pups since somehow shes developed this maternal bond with them.. i have no idea why she has done this, except that she comes from a line of dogs with strong maternal bond..her mother continued to treat her like her baby for years after she was born, before she dissapeared she bathed her, kept up with her, protected her, and these two have had a similar bond, but to take over her daughters puppies??? its so strange to me, I have never seen this happen before.. I need advice I am not sure what the appropriate action is to take..the vet said as long as the puppies were being adequately fed and gaining weight then they were fine having 2 moms, and these puppies are being fed well alright, they are butterballs, they are way way fat, maybe getting too much milk.. i don't want this to have a negative affect on either dog.. im stumped..

I think you should let the dogs figure it out and stay out of it.

[lulusmom]

I have a very good friend that is a professional breeder and several of her momma dogs will share in nursing each other's puppies. It's the weirdest darned thing I've ever seen. This has saved puppies. I remember one time that for whatever reason, one momma had no milk and another bitch that had just weaned her own pups stepped in and took over. I agree with your vet and splinters. If the pups are thriving then let the mom and daughter share the work. However, if they are having vicious fights over the pups, then you really should keep grandma away.

If they've worked it out so they aren't fighting, leave them alone. The birth mother isn't going to suffer any emotional damage or health problems from having another dog as a wet nurse for her puppies.

And get them spayed!