Golden Retriever Pup Proves Green is the New Gold

Lori Ennis
by Lori Ennis
“It’s not easy being green,” especially if you’re a Golden Retriever puppy! And no, it’s no Kermit the Frog joke–this pooch was born green!


Louise Sutherland from the Scottish Highlands had quite surprise recently when her three-year-old Golden Retriever Rio gave birth to her latest litter of pups. Her first litter was a normal birth, and had no issues, so Louise didn’t expect much to be different.


But it was. Very, very different.


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When Rio began to labor, one of the puppies was stuck, so Louise and her daughter Claire pulled him from Rio and continued to help her deliver the rest. Louise says that once the puppies started coming, they all rallied to take care of the new littles, and then they noticed the strangest thing…


One of the puppies’ fur was green. Yes, green. They obviously continued delivering and caring for the puppies, but when time allowed, checked out what on earth had happened to that little green pup. We imagine Louise thought she might have been punked but when she checked the pups out, she learned giving birth to a green puppy really is a thing.


It’s a rare occurrence where a bile pigment called biliverdin stains a puppy’s coat when it mixes with the mama dog’s amniotic fluid in utero. The biliverdin is found in the dog’s placenta, and there’s something that can trigger the coloring when it contacts the amniotic fluid, though it’s an extremely rare thing to happen. Thankfully, this exposure doesn’t pose any health risks to the sweet little one.

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Earlier this year, an English couple’s chocolate Lab gave birth to a green puppy and upon research, the couple found that there were only two other births of ‘green’ pups that have been documented. Louise named the rare wee one “Forest” and though Forest’s five six brothers and one sister already have forever homes, Forest will be staying with Mama Rio and Mama Louise. Louise said the green has already started to fade, as it will eventually be gone altogether. Until then, they are enjoying their little golden leprechaun!


[Source: Sun]

Lori Ennis
Lori Ennis

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