With their innate compassion and empathic abilities, dogs make some of the best rescuers, which is why they are often key members of rescue teams. But the Goldendoodle, Harley, showed that dogs’ rescue instincts extend to deer as well as humans.
While walking with his dog, Harley, Ralph, a retired Marine Corps pilot, suddenly realized that his dog was missing. Then, Ralph heard the splashing and saw that Harley had leaped into the water. And with a swell of pride, Ralph saw why.
Out in the lake, a small fawn struggling to get back to the shore. Harley paddled out to the baby deer and guided the scared animal back to the shore.
Once they were back on the land, Harley continued to be protective of the deer, licking its face as if to assure the tiny animal that everything was going to be alright.
“Harley didn’t want to leave the fawn,” Ralph told People in an interview. “He just kept interacting with it, licking it, caring for it.” Not long after the baby was safely on the shore, the baby deer’s mother returned for her baby, and the two went back into the forest.
But as it turned out, that was not the last time Harley saw his new friend. The next morning, Harley was acting restless, and when Ralph looked out the front door, he saw the tiny deer waiting outside.
When he let Harley outside, the brave dog greeted the baby deer as a friend. With that, the fawn joined back up with his mother, and Harley came back inside with Ralph.
