Life is really unpredictable and it can turn the best moment of your life into the most difficult moment of your life. Giving birth is one of the most beautiful and pure feelings for a mother. It is all about welcoming a swaddled newborn, and it's too adorable if the newborn is a puppy.
But then, remember, life is unpredictable. What seems to be the perfect day one moment can turn out to be the worst day of your life the very next moment. Louise Sutherland has a dog named Rio, a golden retriever, who was into labor and what happened while Rio gave birth was something Louise had never imagined she would witness. And ever since, it has been one of the rarest sights ever witnessed.
Louise lives in Golspie in Scottish Highlands and has been an animal lover since childhood. She has a lot of pets that she takes care of and loves unconditionally, but Rio is her favorite and the whole family has a special corner in their heart for Rio.
When her beloved dog fell pregnant, Louise had been very excited and all set to be by Rio's side at all times. This was not the first time that Rio was going to give birth, but what was going to happen this time would be something that has never happened before.
Louise and her daughter both loved taking care of their pets and were keen animal lovers. When Rio was pregnant again in 2017, they had thought their lives would change and be more exciting with newborn puppies around them. Little did they know how their life was going to take a very surprising turn.
Louise had been surrounded by pets and animals for a very long time and she knew about all the weird, different and strange ways that the animals behave in. But when her favorite golden retriever was giving birth to her puppies, Louise saw something never seen before.
Louise's most beloved pet Rio was three years old in 2017 and was pregnant for the second time now. Everything seemed to be perfectly good. The veterinarian had said that the mother as well the puppies were healthy. Then what could possibly go wrong?
Rio had her first litter of puppies in 2016. She was 2 years old then, and it had been one of its own kind of experience for Louise and her daughter. They had been on top of the world during the first pregnancy, but things were not going to be the same this time.
In 2016, Rio had no complications at all, neither during pregnancy nor while giving birth. She had given birth to healthy puppies and that is just why Louise had presumed that her second pregnancy would also be just fine. But she was going to experience something never seen before.
For her first pregnancy, Mrs. Sutherland said, "Rio had a total of seven boys and one girl and they are all great and growing like mushrooms." But this time was not going to be like the previous time. And no one was prepared for it.
After the most special and beautiful hours of Rio's life, she gave birth to five cute puppies in 2016. They were very pretty, just like their mother, and were put for adoption after a few days of their birth.
Mrs. Sutherland had decided that they would give the puppies to other loving families who would take care of the puppies and look after them very lovingly, giving them all the attention that they deserved, since it would be impossible for her to do so.
It was one of the toughest things to see the puppies go away back then. Although Louise and her family knew that it was for the best, they could not make themselves strong enough to see the newly born puppies go away from them.
Louise and the family were prepared this time that they would have to give the puppies away after their birth because it was practically impossible to take care of so many pets at one time. But they were unaware of what the future situation was going to be like and how it would make all their plans go in vain.
The Sutherland family had thought that the process of pregnancy would be the same this time as well, just like the last time. Rio would give birth to healthy puppies and they would welcome them into their brood before they would get old enough to be sold.
The time for Rio to go into labor was near so the family was busy making the preparations for it. The home was filled with supplies and medications that would be needed for the newly born's until they were grown up enough to be separated from their mother.
All of the family's plans were going to fail when Rio would give birth to the puppies in July of 2017. The family would witness something very unique and strange at the same time, and their lives would turn upside down.
All through her pregnancy, Rio had been very healthy and had been acting very normally. There seemed to be no problem with the children inside the womb either. After all, she was in a very safe environment and was given the best of facilities.
The day of giving birth finally arrived after the family had waited for it for so long. Louise and her daughter got ready with all the things they could possibly think of that would be needed for Rio and the new puppies that were going to enter this world.
Even though Rio's pregnancy period was perfectly fine, unfortunately, the same could not be said for the birth of the puppies. Louise and her daughter Claire thought that they were going to witness a magical moment, but everything was going to go in the opposite direction.
Louise and Claire knew that they would have to give Rio her own time to push the puppies out and be comfortable herself. They had decided they would not intervene in the process but would just witness the moment happily.
While Rio was trying her best in the process, Louise and Claire noticed that there had been some trouble. Rio seemed to be in some kind of difficulty and Louise decided that she would have to interrupt in between for the safety of Rio.
The labor was certainly not going as was planned or expected by the family. Rio seemed to be very uncomfortable and when Louise tried to look out, she saw that one of the puppies was stuck. And when she saw the puppy, she was taken aback.
Only the head of the puppy was visible as it poked out, and Claire could not understand what was going on. But she could see that even Rio was distracted when she saw the puppy and could push no further.
Louise hoped for a very long time if Rio could push but it was not happening. So the only option that she was left with Louise was to step in herself and help Rio out because she did not want anything to happen to Rio or to the puppy.
When the puppy finally came out, Louise and Claire could not believe their eyes. They had not seen anything like this before and it seemed too strange to be real. They could not understand what was going on and started to get worried.
The mother and daughter noticed that one puppy was distinctly rare. Although Rio had immediately taken all the puppies to her side, one of them was not like the others. It was mint green in color! But was that even possible?
"It was all hands on deck but then as the puppies started to arrive, we noticed that one of the puppies had green fur. We couldn’t believe it." Golden retriever puppies are almost always golden, and certainly never green in color.
The newly born puppy's fur was so distinct that it was hard to understand what had even happened. It was very striking and the worst was that both Louise and Claire got worried if it was even normal or not. What if Rio was at some kind of risk?
Louise and Claire tried to understand the situation, but couldn't. Were they supposed to call help? Would Rio require a medical assistant? The mother and daughter finally decided to look up the issue on the internet and see if they could find something.
Fortunately, after just a little research, Louise and Claire found out that neither the green puppy nor Rio was at a risk. What they found out instead was that the puppy was a very rare one and it was one of a kind.
The Sutherland family had no idea that the green puppy that their family dog had just given birth to, was going to make history. It was only the third puppy in the world that had been born green in color. But one question remained.
The whole family could not understand why was such a rare puppy born to Rio? They dug deeper into their research to find out the answers to all the confusion that came into their mind, and they finally had the answers.
Rio's green puppy was one of only a handful of puppies that were born of the color as the puppy's. The reason that it was of mint green color was a scientific one, and surely not some defect or some health condition as Louise thought of it.
Biliverdin is a green bile pigment that is found in the wombs of all female dogs. The pigment has an essential function of its own during the pregnancy period. It gives nutrition and food to the puppies inside the womb.
The Biliverdin pigment is considered essential for the puppies inside. It assists them in nourishment and flourishing the puppies within the womb till they come to the outside world. It is necessary for their survival.
The biliverdin usually is a part of the womb and stays in there. But on some rare occurrences like this one, the pigment get's mixed with the amniotic fluids in the womb. That is why the pigment around the puppy's fetus stained its fur.
The puppy was such a rare one that the family decided that they would give him a rare name so that the newly born is remembered forever by the family and everyone around. Because of its fur's color, Louise named the puppy 'Forest'.
In order to honor the green color of the unique pup and to maintain the surrounding's natural theme, Louise named it Forest, since the Scottish Highlands were the ideal place and the family's favorite, surrounded by hills and greenery.
The green color of the puppy was a temporary phenomena, so it would soon go away. Claire researched and found out the green tinge would become less and less visible with each passing weak, when the fur would grow and the puppy would be licked and washed by it's mother.
Even though Louise and her daughter now knew that Forest would not remain green in color for much long, they were very happy that they were lucky enough to see something so unique and rare as a Bilverdin stained puppy being born.
"It was all hands on deck but then as the puppies started to arrive, we noticed that one of the puppies had green fur. We couldn’t believe it," Sutherland told reporters. "The color has faded quite a bit already and will be gone soon, I’m told."
Although the Sutherland family loved each and every puppy that was born, Forest held a special place in their heart. Louise and Claire thought that the rare green color of the puppy was a sign that he should remain in their family and they should never let it go.
After making the final decision of keeping Forest in their family, the hard part was to let the other puppies go away. But the family knew that it would be next to impossible to maintain so many pets at once and it would be an injustice to the puppies as well.
So the Sutherland family decided to sell the second litter of puppies just like the first one. Although this time, Forest was going to be an exception. They would have kept all the puppies with them, but that was financially and practically impossible for them as well.