One September day, animal control officers in Alabama picked up two skinny stray dogs who needed help. They brought the pups over to Monroe County Alabama Animal Shelter. The staff named them Sookie and Dino.
After observing them for a while, the staff realized they were mother and son.
Sookie quickly adjusted to life in the shelter, but her son Dino had a much tougher time in his new environment. He was terrified of every sound and all the people around him.
Dino cowered next to Sookie, never letting her out of his sight. The two spent all of their time curled up together on the bed in their shared kennel.
“He leans into her, and tucks his head underneath hers. He will not let her out of his sight, and he has to be touching her. If he is not physically touching her in some way, he is very stressed,” Edi Kelley, director of Paws Crossed Dog Rescue, told The Dodo.
There was just one problem: Sookie was heavily pregnant and would soon deliver a litter of puppies. For her safety, the staff had to put Dino in his own kennel at night before they closed the shelter.
Poor Dino hated being separated from his mom.
He would howl for hours on end, wanting to be with his mom. In the morning, the staff would let him back into Sookie’s shelter, and he would immediately calm down. Sookie also seemed happy to have her son by her side.
“The mother dog is very socialized, so somewhere along the line, she’s had contact with people,” Kelley said. “She wags her tail and enjoys being pet. Dino is very skittish around people. He doesn’t show aggression, and he doesn’t growl or bear his teeth, but anytime a person comes to him, he hides under her.”
The shelter staff knew Dino would do better in a foster home, a place where he could learn to socialize with people.
The shelter contacted animal rescue group Paws Crossed Dog Rescue Network. The rescue agreed to take the dogs in, and they soon found the perfect foster home for Sookie and Dino.
Soon after arriving at the foster home, Sookie gave birth to a litter of six healthy puppies. Dino was excited to meet his new little brothers and sisters!
Dino is starting to come out of his shell—he’s enjoying spending time with his new foster parents, and he’s found his favorite place to sleep in the house.
This little pup is finally learning to trust humans again.
Sookie, Dino, and the puppies stayed in their foster home until the puppies were weaned. Then, once the puppies were ready, it was time for all the dogs to go to their forever home.
It didn’t take long before Sookie and all her babies were adopted.
Sookie is a wonderful mom who did a great job comforting her son. We’re so glad she and all her little ones have found good forever homes!
Check out a video of one of Paw Crossed Rescue’s other dogs below!
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