A Great Dane has been raising hundreds of puppies and none of them are hers.
Shelby is sheltered by Dogwood Animal Rescue, a non-profit organization that focuses on rescue and placement of animals into safe and nurturing forever homes.
Shelby was surrendered in a California rescue shelter. She was nearly blind and was in chronic pain due to congenital eye problems.
At 8-months-old she was already partially blind.
The organization took her in and nursed her through four eye surgeries. She was listed to be adopted out, but with the bond she formed with the Dogwood team, she became one of the permanent residents of the shelter.
In Shelby’s stay at Dogwood, Shirley Zindler, President and Founder of the shelter, noticed that the Great Dane has a particular fondness for puppies.
She shared with The Dodo:
“A lot of times she’ll lick them and she’s very curious about them.”
Zindler was talking about the orphaned puppies they bring in after a rescue. It was during these moments that Shelby truly shines as the shelter’s “dog auntie”.
Zindler shared that she would always approach her the moment she knew that new orphans would come in.
“I foster a lot of the orphans. She naturally will crowd around the minute I walk in with anything new and want to interact.”
And Shelby wouldn’t be far. She would watch Zindler feed the puppies through a bottle, with her nose just an inch from the little furballs. Even if the curious puppies would lunge and bite onto her hanging jowls, Shelby would always show them tenderness and warm affection like they were her own.
Even if she’s a hundred pounds bigger than her “children”, Zindler notes that Shelby is always the most engaged and the one who’s regularly present around the puppies.
The little puppies would run around and under her feet. They climb onto her like she’s a mountain. And she would be at the receiving end of their juvenile curiosity.
Zindler described her to The Dodo:
“She’s so careful and gentle and she’ll just freeze there until they let go.”
Shelby has interacted with hundreds of puppies, but these are not the only animals she raised as her own.
Shelby’s love knows no bounds. She also helped foster dozens of kittens. Some of the newborns were raised by her as well.
Zindler explained that Shelby’s tenderness is a critical process in raising these younglings.
The puppies learn socialization through her and in turn, it will make adjusting to their forever homes easier. As for the kittens, they learn how to live with a household with dogs through their interactions with Shelby.
This remarkable story of a foster dog teaches us a lot about compassion and love.
She fostered these puppies the way she is fostered, and thus, continuing the chain of love when these puppies finally get adopted.
She may not be their mom but they certainly felt being raised by one.
Find out more about how Shelby’s care became one of the most important parts of the adoption process by clicking on the video below.
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https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=504198317572657
