Countless animals around the world are given up or abandoned, and make their way into animal shelters. There, they’re found and transported to other foster homes by people.

People like Cara Achterberg.

Achterberg was on her way to one such shelter after learning of a pregnant dog left behind by its previous owner. She sees a lot of animals left behind by people, but the thought of this dog stuck out to her quite a bit more.

It might have something to do with the “pregnant” part.

In fact, “stuck out” didn’t quite describe things well enough. This dog just wouldn’t leave her mind. Cara had hoped on there being vets open in that part of the country during Labor Day. She was in Virginia’s mountainous regions, so that may well have been wishful thinking.

It might not be a surprise then, that Cara began entertaining the thought of just adopting the dog herself. Thinking turned into doing, and she went ahead and told things straight to her husband. “I’m taking that dog.”, she told her husband, Nick, over breakfast.

Nick’s response was a simple, “I figured”.

With two rows of kennels lining the bare, cement floors, the shelter wasn’t really much to look at. All it did was keep the dogs inside, so at least it did its job. Plus, most dog shelters don’t look too different from this one.

Cara was adamant about not leaving this dog behind. The cold, cement floors of this shelter with the deafening barks of other dogs was no place for an expecting mother.

She was under 30 pounds, and a good bit of that weight was probably just the puppies.

She’d made up her mind earlier, and she was absolutely going to follow up on it. The first step was to figure out how to convince the shelter to let her take the dog.

Achterberg got in touch with Barb, the puppy coordinator at the rescue. At this point, there was little to stop her. Next order of business was to get Dixie to a vet clinic. There’s no telling when she’s due, and this cold, noisy shelter was the last place Cara wanted the dog to give birth in.

Dixie, now on her way to her new home, had one extra problem that slipped past Cara’s eyes.

One of her legs was injured. No one had noticed, probably thanks to the fact that Dixie had never lifted an arm or a leg back at the shelter. Though the fracture was old, and didn’t hamper Dixie’s walking too much.

Dixie made it to her new home. Cara made sure to feed her and check on her as often as she could. Pregnant and exhausted, at least she had a home now. Every little call and check-up from Cara was just met with a bit of tail-wagging, without so much as getting up. Just how exhausted was this dog?

At rest in her new home, it turns out that her puppies were due.

Pups incoming! Having carried them, tired and scared, this labor would mark the end of a long battle that Dixie had been fighting. Cara, of course, was there to assist her throughout labor. Problem was, things were taking a bit longer than expected.

After a full night of waiting, watching, and fixing the beddings for one pregnant dog, the puppies had finally arrived at 11 the next morning. Eight of them, happy and healthy.

You’re a mom now, Dixie!

Dixie had been on one hell of a journey, and it’s heartwarming to know that she made it to a home – all thanks to Cara. That’s one less homeless dog in the world.

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Source: [One Hundred Dogs and Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and A Journey into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues by Cara Sue Achterberg, My Positive Outlooks]