A mother is a mother no matter what the specie. A mother dog searching for food for her puppies faces many dangers and hardships. Unlike a pet dog that receives regular meals, a stray or abandoned mother must often rely on whatever food she can find while still caring for her vulnerable babies.

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• Hunger and exhaustion: Nursing puppies requires a great deal of energy. A mother may be hungry herself while still producing milk for her litter.
• Traffic accidents: Searching for food may force her to cross busy roads and streets, putting her life at risk.
• Other animals: She may encounter territorial dogs, aggressive animals, or other animals competing for the same food.
• Human cruelty: Sadly, some people may chase, hit, frighten, or deliberately harm a dog that is simply looking for something to eat.
• Unsafe food: Garbage may contain spoiled food, bones, plastic, chemicals, or other materials that can cause poisoning, choking, or serious illness.
• Extreme weather: Heat, rain, flooding, and cold can make the search for food even more difficult, especially when she must eventually return to her puppies.
• Competition for food: Other stray dogs may drive her away from food sources, leaving her with little or nothing to eat.
• Injuries and illness: Cuts, infected wounds, parasites, mange, infections, and other illnesses can make it difficult for her to travel and find food.
• Leaving her puppies behind: Perhaps the most difficult part is that she has to leave her babies temporarily. She may be constantly anxious about their safety while she is away.
• The risk of not returning: A mother may be injured, trapped, poisoned, or killed while searching, leaving her puppies completely dependent on one another.

What makes her struggle especially heartbreaking is that she isn’t searching only for herself. Every step she takes may be driven by the need to keep her puppies alive.

A mother dog can endure hunger, exhaustion, fear, and danger simply to bring something back to her babies. This is why leaving food and clean water for a nursing stray mother can make a genuine difference. One simple meal may help a mother survive another day—and give her puppies a better chance of surviving with her.

Hena’s Blog For Paws © 2019 by Hena Osman is licensed under CC BY 4.0