Walking down a dusty street in rural Mexico, a pregnant pit bull named Poppy was looking for a safe place to go. She was days away from having her puppies and risked giving birth to them on the streets, until a lovely couple named Jackie and Carly showed up.
As soon as Jackie and Carly laid eyes on Poppy, they knew they had to help her.
“She’s standing there on the sidewalk, hugely pregnant,” Jackie told The Dodo in 2022. “You could tell she was definitely skittish.”
Jackie and Carly set out a tray of food to lure Poppy toward them and soon won her over. Within minutes, the once timid street dog was leaning into her rescuers’ arms — especially Carly’s.
“Poppy and Carly immediately had a bond,” Jackie said.
Jackie and Carly led Poppy to their car and drove her to the vet, where she stayed for two days to receive a flea bath and treatment. In addition to the love she received from the veterinary staff, Poppy enjoyed daily visits from her rescuers, who wanted her to know they didn’t abandon her.
“We went and saw her every day, and then we brought her home,” Carly told The Dodo.
At the end of her short stay, Jackie and Carly drove Poppy home, and the sweet girl couldn’t contain her gratitude on the way there. She hooked her arm around Jackie in the driver’s seat, leaned against her with a smile and stared at Carly for more pets.
“You want me to hold you, too?” Carly asked Poppy in the car. “OK, both of us. There you go. Is that better?”
Poppy spent the majority of her days sleeping and cuddling her rescuers until one night, at around 11 p.m., she started to stir. Jackie and Carly quickly realized she was in labor and spent the next five hours helping her birth her puppies.
“I had never delivered puppies before,” Jackie said. “They just kept coming.”
When they got home, Poppy instantly settled in.
“She just kind of came in the house and jumped on the couch and [lay] down,” Carly said.
The delivery was stressful for Jackie and Carly, but they eventually ended the night with nine healthy puppies and a relieved mama dog. When they settled in for bed that night, the couple realized that Poppy was just as affectionate with her babies as she’d been with them.
“It’s so sweet, she hugs and holds them,” Carly said. “She’s amazing.”
You can watch Poppy snuggle her rescuers and babies here:
Having a litter of nine puppies in the house made everything even more exciting. Poppy proved to be a doting mom who cared for her babies around the clock, while Jackie and Carly enjoyed playing with the energetic pups.
“They have made my days a lot happier,” Jackie said. “It can’t get any better than that.”
A couple months later, once the puppies were big enough to be independent of their mom, Jackie and Carly began searching for their forever homes. They were determined to find each puppy a loving family and eventually did, but one dog stayed behind.
“Well, we figured that you probably legally established residency at this point, so we’re just going to go ahead and adopt [you],” Jackie said to Poppy. “Is that OK?”