One woman was excited to have her dog deliver a litter of her own little puppies. As if the situation is not stressful enough, especially when you want to make sure that your dog is healthy and delivers healthy puppies, it can be completely terrifying to see that something altogether strange happened to one of the puppies that she delivered. It is still hard for her to believe what happened. Louise Sutherland from Scotland was in the room to see how everything took place on July of 2017.
It was hard for her to understand what she was seeing, let alone try to calm the dogs owner who was not sure what was happening. Dogs almost always deliver multiple puppies when it is time. While this did indeed happen, it was not at all planned when the delivery went strangely awry.
Louise Sutherland, who hails from Golspie in the Scottish Highlands, is an avid animal lover. When her beloved dog was found to be pregnant, she was overjoyed!
Louise loved nothing more than her family and her pets, so the more the merrier in her book. When her beautiful golden retriever delivered her litter, she was so happy but also did not expect to have this learning curb ahead of her.
Louise housed many dogs in her home. However, she had a very sweet spot for Rio, her golden retriever. This story focuses on Rio in particular, who was three years old at the time.
Rio welcomed her first litter of puppies a year ago. When Rio was about to welcome her second litter, Louise thought she was ready for anything. The pregnancy was easy and and everything was going very smoothly.
In regards to Rio first pregnancy and delivery, she delivered five adorable puppies that would be sold to loving families who would take care of them and give them their individualized attention and love that they deserved. Giving away the puppies was hard but they knew it was the right thing to do for the dogs in the long run.
The next litter of puppies, however, would have an unforeseen complication.
Louise was under the impression that the second time around would be the same - pregnancy, delivery, care, and selling off when old enough. When Rio was pregnant again, Louise prepared everything as she did last time.
She had no idea that there was going to be a puppy there that was never going to leave their home. Things were not going to go the same way the second time around.
Rio gave birth to her second litter in July 2017. Her pregnancy was perfectly normal and there were no red flags to worry about... yet. Rio gave birth to nine puppies during the home birth that was planned.
Rio looked very happy and proud as her puppies were working their way to their mothers milk. As the puppies were suckling, Louise and her daughter noticed that something was off with one of the puppies. They noticed it because the puppy was very different than the others.
Louise and her daughter were there to have a first row view of the beautiful moment that is birth. They were there to see Rio welcome all nine of her puppies into the world.
They did not get in the way but rather wanted to watch it happen naturally. However, eventually they realized something was wrong and so they went in to help Rio and her puppy.
As they were watching Rio, Louise and her daughter, Claire, noticed that her labor was not going as well as they had thought it would. Rio looked very uncomfortable, and noticed that one of the puppies was stuck as they went closer to inspect.
At this time, the women decided to step in and help Rio and not risk her own health in the process.
As soon as the women saw their dog in distress, they knew they had to step in together and help her deliver her puppies safely. They put on gloves and went to work.
Louise helped Rio deliver her first puppy, after which Rio was able to deliver all eight other puppies on her own and with no help from the women.
Louise would not help but get emotional at the sight of her dog giving birth. She had seen it before but this time, because of the difficulties, it was that much more of a powerful moment to witness.
As soon as the puppies were out of her, Rio took to mothering instincts and started licking them. In that moment, Louise noticed something off about one of the puppies - the puppy was a totally different color than the rest.
Golden retriever dogs are all approximately the same color, even from birth. It is easy to recognize their breed and their color so when one was not the same color, it was very easy to spot.
The puppy in question was born not golden but green in color. Louise and Claire were not sure what to do about this but they were sure it could not be normal, especially since there is surely no green in the family!
The women were very worried about the puppy as they were sure that something was wrong with it. How else would you explain green fur on a dog that is meant to be golden?
They were not sure if the color was an indication of something far more serious. The women took to the internet to figure out if this was dangerous and what could possibly be the reason.
A short internet search told the women that there was nothing to worry about and that the green tinge to the fur was not a risk to the puppy or them. However, what they also found out was that what this puppy had was as rare as can be.
They never imagined that their beloved Rio would deliver such a special puppy into the world.
Rio's green baby was more rare than ever imagine. There are only a handful of green puppies born around the world. The number of any animal born with a green tinge to their fur or skin is very very low, making this a very exciting discovery.
The green effect, thankfully, is not due to a medical condition or some defect. The reason for it is far different...
Biliverdin is a green bile pigment that is found in a dog's womb. While we are not sure as to the exact function this has for the mother or the puppies, the mother does carry it in her womb.
Biliverdin is said to provide nutrition and developmental assistance to the puppies in the womb. It is thought to be vital for their survival.
You know when you get a bruise and it goes from purple, blue, and green to yellow as it heals? The green you see is Biliverdin in us. For humans, too much Biliverdin is bad.
Too much of it can make us jaundice and affect our functionality. This kind of risk is higher in children than it is in adults, which is why as babies we are monitored and treated for jaundice.
There are many other species who have Biliverdin in their systems; marine fish have them too. Butterflies and moths also have Biliverdin in their bodies, not to mention frogs and their eggs.
While many of us have it, we do not normally see it or use Biliverdin in any other function other than carrying an offspring, so why did the Biliverdin take effect on the puppy's fur?
Biliverdin is not seen in anything but a microscope usually as it is spread within the bloodstream and not externally. Very rarely does this phenomenon take place, where Biliverdin finds a way to mix in the amniotic fluid within a womb.
Rio is one special dog to have this happen to her. This has only happened a few times throughout recorded history.
As cool as the green is, it is only a temporary color shift. As the weeks go by, this puppy is going to be less and less green and more and more golden like his other siblings and mother.
Over the weeks of licking and loving with his family, the puppy would strip himself of the green tinge and right into the normal color that he would have been born in otherwise.
While Louise and Claire knew that their puppy is perfectly fine and will eventually not be green anymore, they knew that what they had witnessed was something exceptional. They said it was quite a sight to see, especially when comparing the puppy to his brothers and sisters and the coloring being so different from that of everyone else.
The name they gave him would be to commemorate how special he was at birth.
The women wanted to honor the green color he was born with, as well as their native Scottish highlands that are beautifully lush with greenery. After a little searching, Louise and Claire decided to name the puppy Forest; everyone loved the name!
At this point in time, the women started thinking about what to do with the puppies. They knew they could not keep them all.
Louise and Claire wished they could keep all nine of the puppies but that was out of the question. Just as they did with Rio's first litter, they decided to sell off her second as well.
While they knew they were going to sell the puppies, they could not bring themselves to sell Forest - they had a special connection with him and felt like they needed to keep him.
While Forest ands green fur is very rare, he is not the only puppy out there to be born that way. Over the course of recorded history, there have been a few more cases of puppies being born green.
The media is almost always all over these stories as they are so rare and the public interest is very high.
Another dog named Buttons who belonged to a woman named Naomi Grimes and her husband Kyle Murray, was another example of a green birth. This was the first time Buttons was pregnant so it worried Kyle and Naomi more so than they ever knew possible when they were faced with a green puppy.
Buttons just wanted her puppy healthy and with her.
With the help of her owners, Button delivered eight beautiful and healthy puppies into the world. Everyone was very pleased with the delivery and how everyone was doing post-birth.
The first delivery was easy, one golden head, but the second puppy was the one to worry about - the puppy came out green, much to the dismay of Button's owners who had no idea what to do.
Kyle and Naomi had more of an idea than Louise and Claire when it came to the green tinge. They thought that it had to do with the amniotic fluid in the womb and that much like how a human baby is born with a layer on them, so was this one.
However, this was not just going to wash away.
When the couple could not remove the green from the puppy, they took to Google for answers. They did not now if this mean that the puppy was ill or dying.
Just like the other women, they read that the puppy is just fine and that the pigmentation issue will resolve itself very easily with a little bit of time.
Again, just like Louise and Claire, this couple was not able to part with their green puppy. They would sell the rest of the litter but would keep the green one and name him Hulk.
He was named for his green features of course, but we are also going to say that he is probably stronger than most and therefore Hulk fits very well.
This can also happen to dogs that are not golden! A woman named Elaine Cooper was overjoyed when her chocolate Labrador, Milly, was pregnant.
Milly was pregnant with five puppies and would deliver them safely, one of them being a green puppy of her own! The green puppy would be a girl and the look of her would be rather interesting.
This was even more disturbing because the contrast is that much more than that of a golden retriever. Milly's delivery was going very well until her green puppy arrived.
Elaine was not sure what to think as she saw her. Here you see the little puppy suckling at her mother, Milly, and the stark contrast between their respective fur; Elaine was sure something was wrong.
Milly went to town licking her puppies clean. Elaine was sure that the green would come off the puppy as the mother would lick it, but nothing happened.
The green kept its grasp on the puppy and Elaine thought she was going nuts at the green she was seeing, it made no sense to her that this would happen since her dog is a chocolate lab!
Just like the other owners, Elaine went online to get some answers. She was happy to learn that no harm was going to come to any of the dogs and so relaxed and decided not to call the vet.
Elaine was now going to name every puppy in the litter that was just born. Elaine named the green puppy Fifi, referencing Princess Fiona from Shrek, who was green.
While welcoming a green puppy is disconcerting for sure, it is harmless for those involved thanks to the research that everyone did online and have now taught us. It is strange, that is for sure, but the green fades and only photos will be the ones to remind us of what was.
The bile that makes the puppies green is totally harmless.
While these owners were calm enough to pause and research the green fur issue online, there are others who were too terrified in that moment to think of doing anything but call the vet and completely freak out.
A green puppy would be treated differently than the others given the opportunity and it is recommended that that is not necessary.
Now that the internet is everywhere - on your computer and on your phone - many have a moment to stop and find out quickly why this happened to the puppy and not to immediately jump to the vet.
The owners are there to see something incredible happen - the birth of a puppy dog, and while seeing a green one is unique, it is a gift nonetheless.
Now that you know that a green puppy is not the end of the world and is actually rare and very cool, it is a reminder that doing the quick research in that moment can prevent a lot of drama and unnecessary veterinarian costs.
Now that it is becoming a little more common, perhaps it will not be as taboo as it once was.