Flower’s milk supply did not come in right away after she whelped her litter. It did finally come in but her puppies are still very small; much smaller than an average three-week-old puppy. It’s almost like she’s producing skim milk instead of cream!

So we’ve been doing what we could to supplement her to help her milk production. (She’s had herbs that help, puppy pudding (which she turned her nose up at!), canned added to her kibble, chicken, etc. The puppies have had supplemental feedings too (tube, bottle, sponge, and I even plopped Oakley down a couple times to share her milk; although she wasn’t really willing.

Then a couple days ago while I was changing her bedding and the puppies were outside of their crate on the old bed, Joy walked up and started nuzzling and licking the puppies! So I “volunteered” her to lay down and share some of that cream she has been producing for her puppies. And now we have a new routine since Joy is slowly weaning her own pups they don’t need her as much. So after the moms go outside for a potty break, I open Flower’s crate up and Joy walks right in like it’s her own and will stay in there and let the puppies nurse! Flower doesn’t even seem to care. And since Joy stepped in as a wet nurse, the puppies have been making some significant weight gains (at least compared to what they had been doing).

They’re still really small, especially the one little peanut, but I’m confident now that they are getting filled up with Joy’s good milk that they will continue to grow and flourish.

And even though they’re just a bit over three weeks old, I’ve introduced some milk replacer/goat’s milk/baby food slurry to them. They dove in eagerly. And made quite a mess.

Joy, you are the best!