Woman Takes Photo Of Pregnant Dog — Then Realizes Someone Else Is There, Too

When Poppy first arrived in her foster home, she was already very pregnant. She’d been rescued from a shelter in North Carolina by Saving Grace NC, and although no one was sure where exactly she came from or what she’d been through, her foster mom, Carter Cifelli, had a feeling she’d been pregnant before. She knew the sweet dog would probably have her puppies soon, and tried to make her as comfortable as possible before that day came.

“She mostly just wanted to rest, and I focused on letting her adjust to her space and get some good nutrition into her,” Cifelli told The Dodo.

A couple days later, Poppy woke up and started her day as usual. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at all. There were no signs that Poppy was ready to give birth yet, so Cifelli was prepared for a pretty uneventful day.

“Typically when a dog is about to go into labor, they will not be interested in food and they’ll start nesting,” Cifelli said. “Poppy had a huge breakfast and was resting just as she had the day before. She wanted to spend a lot of time outside and was resting in the sun before the day got too warm.”

Cifelli was keeping a close eye on Poppy and kept trying to get her to come back inside, but she was so content relaxing in the sun. At one point she climbed into a chair on the deck and seemed so at peace. Cifelli was just happy she was resting and let her be for 10 minutes or so, then finally decided it was definitely time for her to come inside. She went over and wanted to take a picture of Poppy first because she looked so sweet. She snapped a few photos — and then suddenly realized that something wasn’t quite right.

“She’s hard to get a picture of because she likes to be right next to me,” Cifelli said. “I thought it was strange that she wasn’t moving! When I was really close to her, she turned her head and was licking at something on the seat of the chair. That’s when I noticed there was a puppy there!”

Apparently, Poppy had been so comfy and content sitting outside on the deck that she decided it was time to start giving birth right then and there, and her foster mom was absolutely shocked.

After processing what had just happened, Cifelli gently relocated the puppy inside and Poppy happily followed her. She got the pair all settled in, and Poppy then proceeded to give birth to six more puppies.

“She was so incredibly calm,” Cifelli said. “I am sure she has had puppies before and she definitely seems like a seasoned mom. She was very calm during labor and knew exactly what to do. There were no complications and all of her puppies were healthy!”

Despite giving her foster mom quite a shock, the rest of Poppy’s birth went smoothly, and her puppies truly are the cutest things ever.

The puppies are now 3 and a half weeks old, and all seven of them plus their mom are doing great. They’ll all be ready for adoption sometime in August, including Poppy, and everyone is so excited to find Poppy a home where she can find the peace and comfort she truly deserves.