This precious little dog’s name is Cora, and after her previous owner made the decision to stop taking care of her, she and another dog were dropped off at this animal shelter. Naturally, Cora had been shaken by the events.

Oddly, she seemed to be handling the situation much differently than the other dog. It wasn’t until after observation and examination by the shelter that the sad news came to light : Cora had recently birthed a litter of puppies.

Her previous owner held onto her pups, and poor Cora was a wreck. Judging from Cora’s emotional state, she was likely separated from them far too early.

But wait, isn’t it natural for animals to separate from their young at an earlier age than humans?

Well, things aren’t that simple. For many mammals, the young have to be within the mother’s care for at least 6-8 weeks.

During this crucial time in their youth, they learn social bonding and regularly need to suckle from their mother if they want to survive. There is even a published study that looks into how this kind of separation affects mothers and their young.

“Under human management, the young of mammalian species are typically separated abruptly and permanently from their mothers at a relatively young age, often prior to the time of natural weaning. “

Sadly, many people aren’t aware of the adverse impact this has on the animals.

“Yet, in doing so, the social bond between the mother and her offspring that developed within hours after parturition is disrupted. Illness, death and deficits in maternal care may also precipitate severance of the mother–young bond resulting in a need for additional care by humans.” – Newberry and Swanson 2008

It’s hard not to see why Cora was such a wreck when she was at the shelter. The combination of being left by her owner and separated from her pups is a lot of shock for a single dog to go through. What happens now?

The shelter knew Cora couldn’t be away from the pups. As difficult a task it would be to find the former owner to get her pups back, the least they could do was try.

It took some sleuthing and a lot of convincing, but as luck would have it, the shelter did it. They found Cora’s previous owner and convinced her to leave Cora’s pups with her too.

This is where things take a turn for the better. One of their staff visited Cora in her enclosure and found her sitting in the corner, perhaps still adjusting to the separation from her pups. The shelter worker then takes something out, and Cora seems to recognize what it is from the sound alone.

Her ears and eyes perk up, and she’s ecstatic to see that the shelter brought back her puppies. She hears the faint whimpering and crying of the puppies, and instantly trots over to reunite with them.

The overwhelming happiness was so strong that even a metal clamp probably couldn’t stop her tail from wagging.

Cora was as thankful as she was happy. She even climbs onto the staff member’s lap, with her body language showing an unmistakable expression of “Thank you!”. We can hear the sound of millions of hearts melting over Cora’s reaction.

The broken pieces of Cora’s doggy heart have now been put back together.

Watching the reunion between these puppies and their mother fills us with joy. It shows us what good there still is in the world. If you need an uplifting scene to warm your hearts today, give the video a watch below. And share this article if you know someone who’d like it!

Source: [ABC News/Youtube]

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