ok...........I love my dogs, but.....

[mamabear_34]

Now I have heard it all!!! I found this on a dog website.

Hawke's Bay woman breastfeeding her pet dog

17.11.2004 12.33 pm

A Hawke's Bay woman says she is breastfeeding her staffordshire bull terrier pup because she wants the dog to protect her baby girl as the pair grow up.

Kura "Kat" Tumanako said she started breastfeeding the pup after her own baby stopped taking her milk. Her nipples were too big for the baby and she had to pour her milk away.

"I didn't want to waste it so I gave it to Honey Boy," she said.

The pup was instantly hooked and has been having two feeds a day for the past week.

Ms Tumanako said she would probably wean the puppy off in six weeks time. Her baby, Honey Pauline Philomina Flo, was born on August 29 and is now on bottled milk.

"I wanted to raise it (the pup) with my baby," Ms Tumanako said today. "I wanted to bring it up with a baby. It will protect her as they grow up."

The pup came from a litter of 10.

"He drinks more than the baby. It doesn't hurt, but it's a little bit ticklish," she said.

Ms Tumanako who is two months' pregnant, said she did not care what people thought about her breastfeeding the pup.

"It's my life, my responsibility. I make my own choices," she said. "I'm going to look after me, my baby and my puppy."

Hastings veterinarian Sharon Marshall said it was uncommon, but not unheard of, for one species to provide milk to another.

"But from a veterinarian viewpoint it's always better for any species to have its own milk. If a bitch was available that would have been better," Ms Marshall said.

She knew of instances where a sow had given milk to puppies and dogs giving milk to cats but had not heard of a human breastfeeding another species.

"It's not going to hurt the puppy. I would be more concerned for hygiene issues for any baby sharing the milk," she said.

Victoria University associate professor of anthropology Jeff Sissons said he was familiar with a practice among women from Papua New Guinea hill tribes who breastfed pigs, but he had not heard of any other instance of a human breastfeeding another species.

The national president for the SPCA, Peter Mason, said there was nothing in the Animal Welfare Act that applied specifically to a case like this, but he had some concerns that the dog could develop long-term behavioural issues.

"It doesn't sound like the animal is suffering. It's not a cruelty thing as such," Mr Mason said.

The director of La Leche League, a support organisation for breastfeeding mothers, Rosemary Gordon, said she had heard of anecdotal cases involving mothers giving their milk to household pets or sick or elderly relatives, but she felt the matter was "beyond the league's area of expertise".

[loves-da-pits]

WOW!!!! I thought I was a little nutty with my dogs. That one takes the cake.

Not to mention, a dog s**k on my nipple sounds just a little bit too risky, if you know what I mean. WEIRD!!!

[4Dogsihave]

Ok that is a little wierd. Ok a lot wierd. But hey to each his own!

[lil96]

THat is definitely weird, I can't even imagine even thinking about breastfeeding a dog! But I have known people (in LLL coincidentally, which I generally think is a good club) but these people were very into the breast feeding thing, who would babysit for a friend and after the baby could not be quieted the babysitter (a mother with a child about the same age) would breastfeed and calm the baby down. In one case my sister told me about someone who had a nipple yeast infection (I forget the mother or the babysitter) and it spread to the other mother through the babies mouth.
But can not believe that someone would really breast feed a dog. What type dog was this again? Because it said her nipples got too big for her baby. And obviously this women knows nothing about breast feeding as she wouldn'T have to "throw away" her milk, they have specially made bottles for when you want to breastfeed, but have to work. They are the ones with the plastic bag bottoms.

[Jamiya]

It's a little nutty, but the part I found strange is that she would give up so easily on nursing her human child. Species-appropriate milk is the best thing possible, so while it may be okay-ish for the dog, it's perfect for her baby. LLL should have been able to help her overcome any problems nursing.

[Sara]

Weird but who ever heard of a Staffy Bull being a "guardian" type breed??? Not I so the idea is completely perposterous alltogether... A guradian breed like a Great Pyr is better suited for the job and will not end up on a BSL list for doing his/her job. Sorry the breast milk thing came in second when she mentioned that the dog would protect her baby...

[Jamiya]

I am also unclear on why she thinks raising the pup and the baby together will result in the dog protecting the child. I think SHE should protect her child, LOL!

[Samsintentions]

ok thasts just S**k!!! Granvel and I get into this argument all the time (ok not about a dog nursing me) but a real child. He says he want's me tob breast feed. Uh NO!!! I might give up milk and then bottle feed it to him....but he aint chewin on my twins!! OUCH!! That and my Unckles girlfriend breastfeeds, She can never leave her alone. And she wont' take a bottle. So if I wanted to get away for the week end or have a babysitter, how would they feed him????

Anyhow. thats just plain wierd....

[honeybears]

wow, shes nuts

[Jamiya]

Good thing I have time to work on you, Sams. Breastfeeding is the best by a longshot. Formula is expensive and stinky and inferior. Breast milk is free, portable, and has barely any smell at all. Baby's diapers are nasty and smelly on formula but much nicer on breastmilk. You don't have to sterilize bottles or pack a giant bag when you go out if you are breastfeeding. My sister bottle-fed her first and breastfed her second and she liked it SO much better. My first nursed until I was 7 months pregnant with my second and weaned himself at 19 months old. My second weaned herself at 2.5 years (since I never got pregnant again).

It doesn't hurt to breastfeed, not even after they get teeth. You don't bite when you s**k. And if a child experiments with biting, you tell him no and put him down. They learn faster than dogs.

If being able to leave baby with a sitter is a big issue, then you pump some milk into a bottle and give it to him so he learns to take it from a bottle. My first never would take it very well, but I didn't work on it. I was going to with my second, but then I realized that I never really needed to. We never went out much where we couldn't take the kids, and if we really wanted to, we could always go in between feedings. You can usually fit a movie in while the baby sleeps, and we even took our daughter with us to the movies when she was a newborn. She slept in my lap the whole time and woke up once, nursed, and fell back to sleep, all without a peep.

We went on a trip to NY once with my parents and my sister's family. We both had small babies with us. My sister had coolers full of formula and every time we stopped for the night she had to boil bottles and nipples. She also brought bottled water to mix with the formula just in case different city water bothered the baby. I just brought myself - have milk, will travel.

Toddlers are hard to leave whether you are nursing or not. They are VERY attached to mommy usually. And bottlefed babies can also be hard to leave.

I could have NEVER gone away for a whole weekend when my kids were babies. Babies change your life. My in-laws wanted to take my son for the weekend when he was a toddler and I wouldn't let them. You THINK you'd want to do that, but get used to the idea of losing a lot of freedom for a few years before you even consider getting pregnant. They grow up all too fast anyway, and you'll have your freedom back before you know it.

Imagine how protective you feel about your dogs and multiply it by about 5-10x. That's a baby.

[lil96]

When I read Sams post, I was about to tye some of the same stuff as Jamiya, but Jamiya got alot covered. Then one more thing is that babies not only while the are babies have less ear nose and throat infections, (which is a real B***h) but also when they get older they are more likely to be healthy. It is something to do with the s**k of a real nipple is better than the motion of s**k a plastic one. And all the antibodies in your body help to make your baby more immune to the things you are already immune to.
I know it sounds really disgusting to breast feed, I really get disgusted by it, but growing up with 4 sisters and a mother who were all in LLL, I do have to agree it is the better choice and I will have to not think about the grossness of some baby s**k away. And from what I hear when you have the baby in your arms, you don't even think about it, it is just a totally natural feeling. (although I have no children, so I can't say)
But back to the dog thing, I told my husband today and the first thing he said was gross she let some dog lick her nipple after it cleaned its butt, what next she licks his butt to clean it?

[Samsintentions]

Hey, I just recently discovered the "plug" That thing is GREAT!!! This baby was crying away at the grocery store and its mom just popped a plug it its mouth and it shut up!! It was great....now only if they made that for grown men and dogs...

I have a lot to learn about babies. I havent' the slightest clue on anything since I've never been around one....so I wouldn't know.

Thanks Jamiya great info. I printed it so I have it as a refrence. I do want children, but I want to finish school, get a good head start on my carreer and stuff before I go that far....

[Jamiya]

I really didn't know much about babies until I had one. I got pregnant on my honeymoon. It was an "oops" moment, but at least we were married! LLL saved my life. It was a wonderful support group.

I'm not sure why you would think it's gross to breastfeed. Perhaps you have some Freudian repression sort of thing going on in your lives.

My kids wouldn't take a pacifier. But I had friends who carried their babies in one of those slings and the baby could easily nurse while lying there and no one was the wiser. It's nice if it works, because your hands are totally free, then. I was able to just carry the baby in one arm while she nursed while I worked around the house, like getting food for the toddler, etc.

I got tired of hiding to nurse after just a few weeks with my first baby. Going into a back room at someone's house or finding a bathroom (where if there's no chairs or couch you end up sitting on a toilet) was just too much of a pain. I nursed anywhere, anytime, and if someone had a problem with it, they could go somewhere else!

[GinaH]

I breast fed all three of my children the closeness I felt with each one is indescribable. But a human breast feeding a puppy? That is just weird!

[honeybears]

Jimiya, "I'm not sure why you would think it's gross to breastfeed. Perhaps you have some Freudian repression sort of thing going on in your lives. "


or this!
I was at my stepdaughters baby shower last week-end and she got this basket of goodies and was going thru it, and when she got to this cream and said whats this, Her sister said thats for when your ni***les bleed and boy will they! thats to make them feel better, there was this young gal in her twenties sitting next to me who about fainted. All I could think if she ever has a baby, she will never BF.


honeybear

[Jamiya]

Oh for pete's sake!! Bleeding is NOT normal! That's when you call LLL or a lactation consultant and GET HELP! Breastfeeding should not be painful or uncomfortable and if it is, you find someone who can help you fix the problem. Too many people just say "Oh well!" and give up. I rank this the same as saying "Oh well!" and giving a dog to the shelter because it peed on your floor.

[Samsintentions]

LOL... I showed Granvel a print out of this thread...he told me "I told you so!!" But said "That woman is a freek of nature. Now if she looks good, then go dog, but if not, thats just inhumane...."

I died laughing...

I was doing some research, Cuz Jami has me going now....and they said that its best to continue feeding until the baby is 2 years old!!! I though you weaned them at 6 weeks???

[Jamiya]

Ummm, Sams, they are not puppies. LMAO!!!

Babies will wean themselves when they are ready. A lot of people pick an arbitrary date, like 6 months, to wean them. But contrary to popular belief, a baby WILL wean themselves when they no longer have the need. Nursing fills needs beyond just nutrition, and the longer you nurse the more benefits there are. Extended nursing has been shown to widen the dental arch, for instance.

My first nursed for 19 months and weaned himself when my milk changed back to colostrum because I was 7 months pregnant at the time. I think he didn't like the taste then. My second nursed until she was two and a half years old.

[honeybears]

Jimiya, I was just the messenger I have no experience with this since I dont have kids. And have no clue as to whats going on when you BF and do agree its the best thing the baby

honeybear

[Samsintentions]

WOW!!! Are you serious!!!!!
hmm......I've got alot more research to do.......

Ok. So they can't just live off milk...and they don't have teeth i gather...So I take it thats what baby food is for? What do you do stick it in the bottle? God that stuff looks nasty!