Why Is This Puppy Green Despite Being Healthy?

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It's always a thing of joy when a pet gets pregnant and has her babies. The joy is often felt by the owner who is there all through the gestation period to the birth of the young. And the joy is double when the litter is healthy.

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A pet’s love

You’ll agree with me that when you own a pet you love them unconditionally, somewhat like the love a parent has for a child. They become part of your family and go through experiences with them. You can imagine the horror of a pet owner when a puppy in his dog’s litter looked a bit different.

A new litter

In July 2017, in Scotland, Louise Sutherland was super excited about the birth of her puppies. Her excitement soon turned into worry when she realized there was something strange about one of the puppies. Louise is a wife and a mother who is also an avid pet lover. She has cats and dogs around and has seen as sorts of animal behavior except this.

A love for Golden Retrievers

Despite being an animal lover, Louise love Golden retrievers. When her 3-year-old dog, Rio got pregnant, Louise knew what to expect as she had a litter the previous year. They were all healthy and uniform that she didn't prepare for this shocker.

Settling into a routine

Rio’s first litter had 5 puppies which were sold to loving families when they were old enough. The 5-hour delivery was quite fast and she thought the next pregnancy would take the same form. Little did she know that one puppy didn’t have any plans to leave.

A new mom

Rio had a normal pregnancy and delivered by early July 2017. Although there was no interference, Louise and her daughter Claire were on hand to witness the delivery. However, something caught their attention.

All is not well

Rio’s delivery was starting to take a different turn than her pregnancy. She began to feel more discomfort than usual and when Louise and Claire looked, they saw that there was a bridge. Now they could either let Rio handle it on her own or get involved in the process. They got involved to save their dog and her puppies from unnecessary pain and discomfort.

Getting into the action

In an interview, Louise revealed that as soon as they noticed the bridge with the first puppy, they put on gloves and decided to help Rio. They could see the head of the puppy sticking out and helped deliver it. Rio examined the puppy and saw that it was well. This move seemed like all the help she needed as Rio went on to deliver 8 more puppies on her own.

A proud owner

Although this wasn't the first time, Louise was overwhelmed with emotions. She was proud of her dog which went right into caring for her young. But as Louise looked on, she realized that one puppy was completely different. It was a different color.

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Amazed but worried

Labradors are famous for their golden color and their offspring also have a uniform color. This is why one of Rio’s new puppies stood out. It was mint green. Louise and Claire were amazed at the color of the pup. Its fur was green and they were taken aback. It was like nothing they had seen before from Rio or anywhere else. They wondered if its color was indicative of an illness or a deformity. To help calm their fears, Louise and Claire looked to the internet for answers.

Safe and healthy

The duo breathed a sigh of relief when they discovered all was fine with the pup. Further research showed that theirs was not a lone case. They had before them a very rare and special dog. Who knew Rio could birth such a puppy? How did it happen? The puppy was a new addition to the other puppies born green. They were so few that one would feel lucky experiencing one first-hand. As a matter of fact, there is a scientific explanation behind its pigmentation. A green bile pigment known as the Biliverdin is always present in a dog's placenta. It provides nutrients for the developing puppies.

Biliverdin

The Biliverdin is present in other animals too. Humans for example have this pigment and it is responsible for making bruises green or yellow. An excess of this in humans can cause jaundice. This is however more common in infants than adults. The Biliverdin pigment is also present in other animals such as marine fish, butterflies and moths as well as frog eggs. They are however not large enough to alter appearance. So why did it change the puppy’s fur?

Once in a green moon

Biliverdin is not visible to the eye and is domiciled in the bloodstream. In rare cases, it gets into the uterus and mixes with the amniotic fluid, tainting the occupant. This tint is only temporal and doesn’t affect the puppy’s heat. As the puppy grows, is washed and licked by its mother, the green fades away and it begins to look like its siblings.

Still special

Although Louise and Claire knew their puppy won't stay green forever, they felt honored and lucky to experience it firsthand. They loved all their puppies but the green puppy was definitely special.

Immortalizing the green

The green puppy was special and they needed to be reminded constantly. This showed on the name it was given, Forest. It wasn't a hard choice to make as Scottish Highlands known for its greenery provided the right inspiration.

Letting Go

Now came the time to make the hard decision. It was financially and practically impossible to keep all 9 puppies. She decided to sell them as she had with Rio’s first litter. Forest, however, remained with the family. They believed his coloration meant he was to stay. He has since grown into a brown Labrador, like his ancestors before him.

Not so uncommon

5 years before Forest was born, another 2-year-old Labrador has a green puppy in her first litter of 8. Her owners Naomi Grimes and Kyle Murray were excited about the birth but were shocked when the second puppy was green.

A thorough wash should do

They thought it was a liquid stain from its amniotic sac and thought a thorough wash should take it out. Like Louise and Claire, they worried that their puppy was unhealthy. A quick internet search put their hearts to rest and they called him Hulk. Just like Louise, they couldn't keep all the puppies and were extremely sad to see him go.

A chocolate Labrador too

The green tinge doesn't just happen to golden dogs. A brown Labrador, Milly had the same experience in her first litter. Her owner Elaine Cooper thought it was a liquid tinge like Naomi and Kyle. When the color stayed the same after Milly licked them clean and a series of wash, she turned to the internet. She called the pup Fifi, after princess Fiona of Shrek.

A special gift

Although not common, there have been reports of green puppies on the internet. And these puppies sure know how to cause a media frenzy. Despite the possibility they get, dog owners are almost always awed when it happens to them. When will the next green pup be born? No one knows but it's sure magical whenever it happens.

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