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By Lucy Notarantonio
Senior Reporter
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Prepare for your heart to melt as a dog steps in to help soothe a litter of puppies despite not being related to them.
The touching moment shared to Instagram account @theyounghomestead has racked up 1.9 million views since it was posted on February 20.
The footage shows an Australian shepherd lying with a couple of adorable puppies snuggled up next to her tummy.
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The caption explains: "Our 100lb Bernese Mountain Dog mom, Ava, was outside, taking a mommy minute, and two of her babies got very upset! My mini Aussie, Mia, heard them crying and was very concerned."
"She carefully climbed [into] the bed with them and got them snuggled in next to her. They stopped crying, nuzzled in, and went to sleep! She stayed with them till Ava came back inside!"
At the time of writing, the heartwarming video had amassed more than 160,200 likes and plenty of comments – some users couldn't help but notice that Mia looks uncomfortable.
One user said: "[You] can tell she isn't really comfortable watching the kids but still did what needed to be done!"
But according to another comment, that's just how they look, it said: "Why do aussies always look so uncomfortable?"
"Mia's sigh when you asked if you were taking care of the babies! ::sigh:: "SOMEone had to do it," said a third commenter.
A fourth commenter praised: "She's not the stepmom, she's the mom that stepped up!"
"Mia takes her responsibility as furry godmother very seriously," said another user and it turns out she isn't the only canine to do this.
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In fact it isn't uncommon for female dogs to take another dog's litter under their wing. Newsweek has previously shared articles about dogs who have even gone the extra mile and nursed puppies who aren't biologically related to them.
However, these situations aren't always under good circumstances. Sometimes, female dogs may take in another dog's litter due to abandonment, illness, or the death of the biological mother. In such cases, the surrogate mother may provide crucial care and support for the orphaned puppies.
Newsweek previously shared an article about a mother dog who adopted 10 puppies after losing her entire litter.
We also shared an article about a Jack Russell that began nursing a litter of kittens who had been abandoned by their mom.
Dr. Anna Foreman, who is based in the U.K. and works for Everypaw Pet Insurance, provided a comment for the story.
She previously told Newsweek: "It is safe for kittens to drink dog milk temporarily, however not recommended as the nutritional balance is aimed towards dogs rather than cats, and so protein, calcium levels etc. will not be appropriate. Rather a milk replacer specifically for kittens would be much more appropriate."
Newsweek reached out to @theyounghomestead for comment via email. We couldn't verify the details of the case.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
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