German shepherd couple raise nine baby chicks like their own.
One of the many blessings of the internet is its expansive archive of animal footage, especially household pets. And why not? People love filming their pets, and they love to watch them online.
But if there’s one thing always guaranteed to melt our hearts, it seeing a genuine bond form between different animals.
As it turns out, blood or being another species means nothing in the face of real love.
Dogs, in particular, are good at making friends with other species besides humans.
Just because they’re man’s best friends doesn’t mean we’re their only friends. We’ve all seen videos of dogs and cats, dogs and birds, even dogs and fish being friends. You could say they’re the highly social extroverts of the animal kingdom. But dogs aren’t just good at being friends; they’re also pretty good parental substitutes for younger critters as well.
Two German Shepherds, Jax and Chewie, took up their duty as parents for many newly-hatched chicks.
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The two hounds, hailing from Queensland, Australia, played their roles in raising nine newly hatched chicks as they grew to full-sized chickens. German shepherd dogs are known to be highly energetic and, like most dogs, have a natural predatory urge towards chicken. However, through careful training and patience, dogs can learn to accept these feathery critters as friends.
A video posted by The Dodo shows Jax and Chewie parenting their flock of feathery friends with gentleness and love.
The chicks appeared to be even tinier next to the two huge hounds. At first, the canines were annoyed by the baby birds’ constant peeping; their exhaustion was written plainly on their eyes. But as time went on, the shepherds grew to love the chicks as their own. Soon, the doggy couple would spend as much time with the chicks as possible, licking them for bathtime, playing in the backyard, and letting the little chicks bundle in their thick, dark fur.
Even with the chicks fully grown, Jax and Chewied still treated them as if they were their kids.
After a few months passed, the chicks and the dogs were not only well-acquainted with one another but as close as a family could be. Jax and Chewie eat alongside the chickens, still play in the grass, and continue to enjoy each other’s company. Jax and Chewie have gained popularity for their story, and they have their own Instagram page run by their owners.
This special relationship demonstrates the universal love dogs have for all living things.
It also shows that while animals may not be as smart as humans, their capacity for friendship and love is equal to—if not, greater than—ours. Moments like that teach us to respect life and treat it accordingly.
Watch the video below!
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Source: YouTube – The Dodo, The Dodo,