How far would you go to save man’s best friend?

This woman decided to save her puppy after it stopped feeding from its mother by feeding it herself.

‘I put the puppy to my breast and it started taking milk,’ she tells TLC’s Extreme Breastfeeding. ‘We made the decision to save a life. And thank god, we have Gauchita here today.’

Gauchita is now five, along with her little boy Cris who she was breastfeeding as a baby at the same time as Gauchita the puppy.


‘My mum did not agree with what I was doing at all but then she got over it because it was my choice,’ the young mum says.

‘I would drink from this [breast] and Gauchita this one,’ Cris says of how he and the dog shared his mother’s milk.



The dog and the woman from Buenos Aires are inseparable, as is the dog and the little boy. His mum describes their ‘special bond’ and says Gauchita is ‘like a daughter’.

Gauchita as an adult (Picture: TLC)

Although you’re probably thinking this is the weirdest thing you’ve seen in a long time, Dr Fiona Giles explains it’s more common than we realise.

‘In history puppies have saved new mothers. Breasts could become too full of milk, become infected and the woman die. Puppies were used to relieve this.

‘Cross-species breastfeeding is for spiritual or religious reasons, but sometimes it’s because they depend on the animal. If a goat dies they need to look after the kid. So they’ll breastfeed it to ensure their future.’

A woman breastfeeds her goat and her baby (Picture: TLC)

But Gauchita’s ‘mum’ has faced backlash for her decision to breastfeed her puppy while breastfeeding a baby.

‘I went on a TV show and breastfed the dog. Many thought it was disgusting I was feeding a child from the same breast.

‘The people who did not agree were worried about the health and cleanliness for my child. But I would explain I would sanitise myself. I’m sad about criticisms, it’s my body.’

She is now pregnant with her second baby and she says if she needed to breastfeed another puppy, she’d do it.

‘If the same situation came up I would breastfeed an animal. I’d do it again out of love.’

Extreme Breastfeeding airs on TLC Monday, 9pm

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