THESE two orphaned greyhound pups are settling in to life with their new mum - a bearded collie.

Six-year-old Jess is unable to have puppies, but when the homeless hounds were introduced to her basket, the prize-winning bitch wasted no time and started mothering them.

"She absolutely loves them, she licks them and sleeps with them and she has also started producing milk for them," said owner Liz Jay.

"The puppies belong to my friend, Jackie Teal, who has kennels in Norton. Soon after they were born, their mum, Queenie, haemorrhaged and died."

Jess has only ever produced one pup before, and is unable to breed after her last attempt ended in a miscarriage.

Six weeks ago Jess' kennel mate, Silver, a four-year-old bearded collie, gave birth to a litter of four.

"Jess was really jealous, and the poor thing was getting very frustrated," said Liz, who lives in Crambe, between Malton and York.

"She even tried to steal one of Silver's puppies to look after it, but the puppy's mum wouldn't have it - it was very sad.

"Then a couple of weeks later, Jackie gave me a ring telling me how devastated she was because Queenie had given birth but had died.

"We talked about what she was going to do with the two puppies, and on a hunch I suggested it might be worth giving Jess a chance to mother them.

"Jackie brought them round and Jess took to them immediately. It was lovely to see her looking after them.

"For the first day or two, Silver helped look after the two puppies, feeding them until Jess's milk came through."

The orphaned puppies have now been with their adopted mum for a little under four weeks.

"We're expecting the puppies to grow quite big, and because they're greyhounds, it won't be long before they're sprinting much faster than Jess," said Liz.

"Jess is a prize-winning dog, not a racer, so it will be quite interesting to see them play together.

"For now, though, the puppies are happy and contended in their new home."

Updated: 11:47 Wednesday, May 01, 2002