Adorable Dog Mommies With Their Pups Will Melt Your Heart

Ready for emotion overflow?

Damjan
  • Published in Animals
Adorable Dog Mommies With Their Pups Will Melt Your Heart

Dogs are, as a rule, wonderful parents. They will never maltreat or abandon their young ones. Newborn pups need special care – they can't see, hear or walk, and their moms need to help them with everything.

After a while, when the pups grow a bit, it's mom's job to teach them how to be a proper dog. Of course, they do that through play and with a lot of love.

People honor that love by sharing wonderful pics of proud dog moms and their puppies. We have selected 50 of the most adorable photos (it was a tough job, though), and you will love them....

1. Wow. who is going to clean after them?

1. Wow. who is going to clean after them?BlackBox8995

2. "This Is The Exact Amount Of Puppies I Need In My Life"

2. Quiraily1

3. Happy mom

3. Happy momanapaulagrillophotographer

4. "Luz's Sympathy To Give Birth To Two Princesses"

4. marina.brito.39

In the shelter setting, if moms and puppies are physically housed at the shelter, we have to balance the benefits of keeping them together with the risks of infectious disease that are higher in that setting; ideally, mothers and litters are housed in foster homes, and not on-site, as this reduces disease risk and provides a much better environment for important socialization for the puppies through exposure to new experiences and to people," dr. Katribe says.

"If moms and puppies must be housed on-site at the shelter, starting the weaning process and separating puppies from mom earlier will allow them to be adopted earlier; then they can experience socialization in their adoptive home. Even when puppies are housed in foster homes, sometimes it makes sense to wean and separate toward the earlier end of the ideal range – if we move them through faster to adoption, then that foster home is now available to save the lives of other mothers and puppies, dogs that might not have a chance without that foster home."

5. Today My House Went From Zero Dogs To Eleven Dogs In The Span Of A Few Hours. Meet Emmy Lou And Her Pile Of 10 One Week-Old Puppies"

5. Today My House Went From Zero Dogs To Eleven Dogs In The Span Of A Few Hours. Meet Emmy Lou And Her Pile Of 10 One Week-Old PuppiesQQueenie

6. "This Proud Pibble Mama And Her Sweet Pups Made My Day"

6. Dangerous_Upstairs

7. "Like Mother, Like Son And Daughter, And Son, And Daughter, And......"

7. stengebt

8. You are safe with mama

8. You are safe with mamaYoungCasanovaaa

9. "Mama And Her Sweet Little Babies. Can You Believe She Was Going To Be Euthanized?"

9. windycityfosters

10. "When Ravioli Saw His Pups For The First Time"

10. figuringout25

11. "Even As A Surprise Pregnancy, She Is A Proud Mom"

11. Sexualchocolate42

12. So happy

12. So happyYucked

13. Just perfect

13. Just perfectvladgrinch

14. "Loulou With Her Little Boy"

14. daninger4995

15. "This Mama Dog Comforting Her Puppy On It's First Day As A Police Dog"

15.

16. Wonderful family

16. Wonderful familyjeffhext

17. Hello there

17. Hello there

18. pups and their mom

18. pups and their momYeet69lasagna

19. Proud mom!

19. Proud mom!RockGamingReal

Katribe emphasized that pups should remain with their family until at least seven weeks of age to reach the full mental and emotional development they can reach only through interaction with their moms, brothers, and sisters.

"The ones that are separated from their mother and litter earlier are more prone to behavior disorders, including separation anxiety and increased fear responses," the doctor explained. "Puppies that remain with their mother and litter longer, particularly if they're being exposed to new experiences, tend to respond better to novel experiences later in life and become better-adjusted pets."

Sadly, pups that are bred specifically for sale at pet stores, for example, are separated from their moms while very young. That implies limited exposure to new sights, sounds, and experiences.

20. Dinnertime

20. Dinnertimeall_u_need_is_luv

21. "Proud Mama. 9 Golden Retriever/Rough Collie Puppies Born This Saturday"

21. Lyin-fish

22. Mom smiling

22. Mom smilingred93093

23. Dalmatians

23. Dalmatiansledasg

24. "Rowena With Her Babies Roz, Harvey, Pru & Brina"

24. bluewonderfrenchies

25. Good work

25. Good work1Apart

26. Mama Pug

26. Mama PugSabby

27. Not Quite What We Were Expecting - Our Foster Dog And Golden Mix Gave Birth Yesterday. To Baby Cows. She Is One Proud Mama

27. Not Quite What We Were Expecting - Our Foster Dog And Golden Mix Gave Birth Yesterday. To Baby Cows. She Is One Proud Mamakatendy

28. Love is in the air

28. Love is in the aircommonvanilla

Erin Katribe, a Medical Director at Best Friends Animal Society, says that pups receive all the nutrients they need from their moms' milk before they switch to solid food (weaning).

"Weaning naturally begins around 4-6 weeks of age when puppies begin to show interest in food," Dr. Katribe says. "This early, however, they should still have access to their mom to be able to nurse as their transition to solid food is gradual."

This process is very important to puppies; they learn about these activities from their mother and littermates, and the natural progressing order must be kept. Otherwise, some problems may arise when the pups get older.

29. "This Is Jessie. A Proud New Mama Of Ten"

29. fstall303

30. "Managed To Take This Cute Picture Of My Husky And Her Pup Snuggling Up Together (She's A First-Time Mom And Had 8 Cute Puppies)"

30. MemeCrit

31. How many?

31. How many?aussiesdoingthings

32. "Our Dog Just Had 9 Puppies And She Is Ecstatic"

32. joshborup

33. "So Today I Was Taking A Photo Of A Litter Of One Week Old Puppies When I Got Photobombed By My Other Dog"

33. hazzamadazzla

"The social interaction of the mother with puppies is critical until at least 7 weeks of age, and ideally longer. They learn how to interact with one another – how to 'speak' dog," Dr. Katribe explained.

"For example, through biting and mouthing during play, mom and littermates will signal to a puppy when things get too rough and will end the play – this is how a puppy learns bite inhibition, that mouthing or biting too hard is not OK. This is an important skill for later in life. Puppies also learn about different body postures and types of vocalization, key components of canine communication."

While overwhelmed with this cuteness, it's easy to forget that caring for pups or moms and litters requires a lot of work. "Fostering a mom and puppies or fostering an older puppy (until it is old enough for spay/neuter and adoption) for your local shelter can be a great way to get a small taste of what that's like, without making a longer commitment," Katribe emphasized.

"Fostering also saves lives for shelters that are otherwise stretched for housing space or resources."And, on some occasions, we can't control when a pup is separated. The orphan puppies are the best example.

But there are things that can make socialization easier -"In those situations, it's important to seek advice from an experienced trainer or veterinary behaviorist to have the best chance at achieving social development," Katribe said.

34. "During This Time Of Panic, Here Is Chilli Pepper And Her Baby Peppers Born Last Night"

34. bensolo12

35. "Foster Mama Ellie, Wondering If There’s A Return Policy On Her Lab Samples"

35. DisgruntledPlebian

36. "Keeping Eye On The Newborns"

36. beagles_lovelife

37. Proud mom

37. Proud momdog_appledore

38. Confused

38. Confusednuggs4lyfeee

39. "6 Hours + 9 Puppies = 1 Tired Mama. Our Sweet First-Time Mama, Ellie Mae And Her Babies"

39. McAngel8

40. "May I Present To You, The Beautiful And Rare Dogtopus"

40. zainraza12

41. Full house

41. Full houseimgur.com

42. "My Foster Mama Ellie Had Her Babies Yesterday - Apparently, She Came With A Whole Lab Sampler Pack"

42. DisgruntledPlebian

43. "Proud Doggo Mama Of 8 Young Rascal Puppers"

43. baked_olive

44. Happy family

44. Happy familypapemaker

45. Ten pups....

45. Ten pups....amutualaddiction

46. Hey, welcome to the world

46. Hey, welcome to the worldetymologynerd

47. "Mother-Daughter Bonding"

47. TeisTom

48. "Last Week She Gave Birth To 8 Babies In A Shelter. Last Night She Got Her Own Room, With Her Own Bed And All The Cuddles! She's One Proud Mom"

48. sfreeman8875

49. Happy mom

49. Happy momcincinnatichili

50. I did a good job, right?

50. I did a good job, right?FrankRizzo55
Damjan