Orphaned Calf and a Good Dog

Something can be said for a good dog.  My dog may not be a working dog.  She may not always listen either, but you know, when it comes to baby animals, she is the best.  We have not had many orphaned animals here, but last year we did have a calf.  Mom, who is usually a good producer and a good mom, was disturbed at birth from coyotes and never bonded to the calf.  So, of course, in it came.  We were building our greenhouse and it was covered and warmer then outside, so we put the calf in there.  When he came in, he still had all the amniotic on him, mom never cleaned him, never nursed him, and he was half frozen, very very cold to the touch.  We knew the first thing was to get him dried off and warmed up.  Once that happened, then he would be able to stand and drink.  We got the calf on a bed of hay in an extra large dog kennel with a heater blowing at him and I went to get towels.  Not gone more then a few minutes and I come back to the dog having cleaned the calf mostly off.  Stimulating the calf and cleaning him off.  She (the dog) was doing a great job cleaning him off and getting him him warmed with all the licking.  So I decided to leave her to it.

So then I go to get the camera when I finally think about it.  She has been cleaning for about 10 minutes already and the calf is finally starting to respond.

She really seemed to enjoy cleaning him off.

Here is the dog still cleaning cleaning off the face.  You can see the calf is drying very well.  This was about 20 minutes after the calf came in.

All dry and getting warmer by the minute.

Our 6 yr old feeding the calf it's first bottle.  All dry and warm thanks to the dog.

She acts just like mom and cleans the calf every chance she got. 

Especially the calf's face after having a bottle!

An no, my dog has never had a litter of pups.  But something has to be said for a dog that instinctively helps care for the animals.  As long as it isn't pigs, she just wants to eat them.  Yet I can set a chick right on her!  A good dog can be worth their weight in gold on a farm.  Even if it is a dog to step in to mother.  An orphaned calf or even orphaned goats can be cared for easier with a good dog.