Dogs have been man’s best friend for thousands of years. It’s a know fact that many dogs show empathy and compassion and can act very protective towards other creatures. It’s as they sense when they are needed and come to help.
This was exactly the case with a rescue dog call Zip, who adopted a 9 day old orphaned foal.
Zip is a rescue Australian cattle dog that lives on a farm with horses. The 5 year old dog hasn’t shown much interest in the horses or their foals since he’s been living on the farm, except maybe taking a peek at them occasionally – says Karla Swindle, the owner of S & K Quarter Horses in Fayette, Alabama.
All that changed one night.
A couple of years ago, one of the horses named Sandy got very sick a few days after giving birth to a baby foal. Despite the treatment, Sandy’s health was on a fast decline and she had to be euthanized.
“I spent the night at the barn taking care of the mama horse, hoping that I could pull her through,” Swindle said. “Zip stayed with me in the alley of the barn all night — the foal was laying in the alley, and he just lay there beside the foal.”
Her little baby horse became an orphan. Normally, newborn baby horses must stay with their mother for about six months, because there are things that only a mother can provide for them.
But an unexpected friend quickly came to help and started comforting the orphaned baby horse.
On that fateful night in March, Zip sensed that Tye needs his help. Surprisingly, despite him not taking an interest in foals for a long time, Zip was able to respond to this orphaned foal’s feelings.
“He was laying there by the foal’s neck and the dog was whining, like crying,” she told the Lewiston Tribune, per IHeartDogs. “It just broke my heart.”
Tye was lucky to have Zip alongside him all the time. For six weeks, Zip was always there to greet the orphaned horse, even beating her owner to the barn. Zip would always be beside Tye, and sometimes he places his head on top of Tye whenever he’s lying down.
It was so sweet, and you could think of Zip as Tye’s adoptive dad.
As months passed, Tye quickly put on weight, growing into a healthy young horse — in part, thanks to Zip.
Tye now spends most of his time with his fellow horses, and he’s had to “leave the nest” so to speak, getting more independent from his doggy dad.
