They say it “takes a village” to raise a baby, and a viral TikTok video suggests the same might be true for dogs.
Angela Hillman (@teamaxall) captured the moment her dog carried her puppies into Hillman’s bed one by one, earning 1.2 million views.
Text layered over the clip reads: “When your dog has puppies and you wake up to her putting them in bed with you,” which has gathered over 113,000 likes. Another line follows: “I guess I’m on babysitting duty today.”
Both dog parents appear to be poodle mixes. According to the American Kennel Club (AKC), a standard poodle typically has around seven puppies, while miniature poodles average five and toy poodles average three.
The caption struck a chord with viewers: “She said ‘I did this all night, now it’s your turn.’”
TikTok Reacts
One user joked: She said “good you up, now take care of your grandchildren so I can get some sleep.”
Another viewer asked: “Why’d they have to be parallel parked?” referring to how the puppies were placed neatly behind one another.
Hillman replied: “She has [six] so she was lining those pups up.”
A third commenter added: “I would cry of happiness waking up to puppies parallel parked on me.”
A fourth shared their own experience: “My dog was the best mom the first two days after giving birth. She was done after that and hid under the bed the rest of the time unless she had to feed them.”
A fifth commenter joked: “She [is] dropping them babies off at grandma’s.”
Are Dogs Maternal?
The AKC explains that newborn puppies can’t see, hear, or walk, so they rely completely on their mother during the first few weeks of life. This early stage, called the neonatal period, lasts about 10 days. During that time, puppies spend roughly 10 percent of their time eating and the other 90 percent sleeping, while their mother handles everything from feeding them to helping them go to the bathroom.
By the third or fourth week, puppies begin transitioning to solid food, and their urge to nurse decreases. As they rely less on their mother’s milk, her milk production naturally declines. The AKC notes that this stage is also about growing independence.
As puppies become more independent, their activity increases and they start exploring their surroundings while forming stronger social bonds with people. Experts emphasize that the first 16 weeks are the most impressionable, making early exposure to people, animals, sights, and sounds essential.
As the puppy grows more self‑reliant, the mother’s role shifts from constant care to encouraging independence. By around eight weeks old, most puppies are ready to move to a new home. The mother may seem unsettled or down for a short time after the separation.
For the puppy, leaving its mother and littermates can be stressful at first, and crying or whining is normal. With affection and continued socialization, they typically adjust quickly to their new environment.
Newsweek reached out to @teamaxall for comment via TikTok. We could not verify the details of the case.