Family's dog bonds with their newborn like a mother, so they run a DNA test and it leads them straight to her long-lost daughter, reuniting them after years

Ayala Sorotsky • Writer and Editor

Jun 27, 2026 10:45 AM EDT

Every dog parent knows that their dog is their family, no questions asked. But what if your dog had a different kind of family before they met you?

Not every dog comes with a clear history check. Even the ones who come from very difficult situations before have a story behind them, like this one dog who was swimming for 135 miles before being rescued. That's quite the story to tell (well, if only dogs could talk…), but some dogs' history is clouded in the fog of the past. And that was the assumption of the couple who runs @PoundcakeandMilkshake on Facebook - until they had a baby.

Having a baby changes a lot of things in life, especially if you're also a pet parent. You can't really tell how your animal companion will react to your newborn until you actually make the two finally meet - even if you've made all preparations necessary. And there are a lot of preparations to make before introducing a baby to the resident animal - like we did before we brought the wife and the daughter home to our cat. Lucky for us, our baby adores the cat, even if the cat sometimes wonders "Why did you bring this strange creature into the house? I don't get it." Yeah, we can tell that from a look alone.

When it comes to this sweet dog - who's also deaf, by the way - the story is just a little different, because she was acting motherly from the get-go. Immediately following the baby everywhere, making sure the baby is safe, not taking her eyes off. This made the parents wonder if their dog had a family of her own once, if she was an actual mother. That's where the doggo DNA test comes in - and the revelation that they were absolutely right. Their dog was, in fact, a mother.