Mum, Dad, my brother Michael: everyone in the family got more affection from our ridgeback-staffie cross. And guess whose bed she used to poo on…
I think the tone was set when Ella threw up over me on the way back from the Dogs Trust. She was three months old, rolling around on the back seat between me and my twin brother, Michael (we’d just turned seven), and wasn’t enjoying her first trip in a car. She could have been sick anywhere – over the seat, over the floor – but for some reason she decided to climb on to me first.
It was the start of a beautiful but strangely one-sided friendship. Ella, a ridgeback-staffie cross, was the perfect dog: playful, energetic, naughty and tolerant. She would let us poke and prod her without complaint, turn her ears inside-out or dress her up in T-shirts or the thick woollen poncho my Greek Cypriot grandma knitted her for the British winter. And she was endlessly loving, at least to the other members of the family. Me? Too often it was as if I didn’t exist. If Michael and I were sitting on the sofa, she’d bound up to him. If I came home after a day out with my dad, he was the one she’d jump at. If I tried to take her for a walk by myself, she’d drag her feet and insist that I fetch my brother.
To add insult to injury, about once a year she would do a poo in the house. Not just anywhere, though: she’d climb the stairs to my room and leave it in a neat pile on top of my bed.
I can’t pretend I wasn’t offended by Ella’s attitude – I loved her just as much as anyone. But it took me a while to realise that in her eyes we were both bitches fighting for our place in the pack. I read that dogs are 98.8% wolf, even yappy little chihuahuas. Ella was a definite she-wolf and my mother (she who opened the tin of dog food every night) was the undisputed alpha female. Ella could handle that fact, but she didn’t want to be the omega female. That was me.
Working out the reasons for Ella’s lack of sisterhood, understanding that her indifference was atavistic and not just casual, didn’t make me any less jealous of my brother, who always took great pleasure in the fact that Ella seemed to prefer him. But I resigned myself to the situation. And then one day (happy ending, anyone?) everything changed. I must have been 16 or 17, we’d been away for a fortnight in France, and when we got back it was me she ran up to first, whining and twisting with pleasure at seeing me again. After that it was like all those years of competition had never happened. We were best friends for ever, or at least for the couple of years she had left. Ella finally loved me.
An example of maternal love and protection, a stray mother dog wraps up in a box with her puppies to provide warmth.
Mama dogs are very protective of their puppies. They will go to tremendous lengths to defend their puppies, even if it means sacrificing their own comfort, as long as their puppies are safe.
This is just what a stray mama dog did for her puppies.
She and her puppies resided in a box beneath a car. The temperature is chilly in the video, and she is cuddling with her pups to keep them as warm as possible.
Fortunately, a guy notices them and goes out to rescue them from their precarious living situation.
It’s not easy to approach a dog for the first time, but he took his time to demonstrate that he meant no harm. First, he provided food to the mother dog.
You can imagine how difficult it is for her to leave her pups to go food shopping.
She began eating and took food directly from his hand, indicating that she was beginning to trust him. He tried placing a leash on her after a time, but she refused to wear it and instead went out.
The puppies were then gently relocated from the box to a kennel by the man.
He did it carefully so their mother would know he wasn’t hurting the puppies.
Mama dog stood back and observed him until he successfully transported all of the puppies. When the man left, she returned to check on her infants and ensure their safety.
She laid down again under the car after she was confident that her puppies were safe. The man approached her with care.
He finally grabbed her up in his arms and carried her to a waiting van after caressing her for a time.
He carefully moved the puppies to a larger kennel and rejoined them with their mother. The puppies began to feed again, relieved to be reunited with their mother.
The most striking aspect of this video is the man’s concern for the dog.
You can tell he genuinely wants to assist the mama dog and her puppies.
The man is from Mladenovac Dog Rescue Shelter in Serbia. It is a non-profit, non-governmental rescue group that operates the area’s largest no-kill animal shelter.
He drove them to the shelter and saw to it that they were warm, fed, and comfortable.
The man even kisses the dogs and puppies to make them feel loved and appreciated.
“This man is the finest,” one netizen said. He is always polite and compassionate to the dogs he saves.”
“These extraordinary gestures of compassion give us all hope for mankind,” added another. “Excellent work!”
The mama dog and her puppies will remain in foster care at the shelter until they are ready to be adopted.
This happy mama dog will be able to live with a loving home rather than in a cardboard box, thanks to those who actually care about abandoned and neglected animals.
Mladenovac Dog Rescue Shelter conducts excellent work rescuing and caring abandoned animals. Please give on their website if you can.
Watch the video below to discover how this man rescued this mama dog and her puppies.
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