Green ‘shamrock puppy’ born in litter of Great Danes

Dog breeders might find themselves green with envy over a particularly unique litter of Great Dane puppies born last week.

Colorado resident Caddy Williams was shocked when her three-year-old Great Dane gave birth to nine puppies on Oct. 14, but one in particular caught her eye.

Williams wrote down each puppy’s coat colour and pattern as it was born, not realizing that one she thought was black was actually green.

“It was so shocking when she was born,” the dog owner told KRDO-TV, adding that she named the green puppy Verdant, meaning green with grass or other vegetation.

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“It was dark so I finally got out my phone flashlight, and she was green.”

The pup’s colouring is the result of a rare phenomenon that occurs when a light-hued puppy comes into contact with a chemical called biliverdin, a green pigment found in bile, CNN reported in 2017.

The chemical is also what can cause human bruises to adopt a greenish tint.

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The bile dyes a puppy’s fur green, but the colour eventually fades over time as the dog grows up.

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Luckily, neither the dyed fur nor coming in contact with the biliverdin poses any threat to the puppies. In fact, little Verdant is thriving.

“She’s healthy and beautiful and she nurses so well,” Williams shared. “I just love her. She’s like a little shamrock puppy.”

The rest of the litter is also doing well, along with the “great first-time mom” Ami, who’s taking perfect care of her little ones.

But Verdant isn’t the only lucky puppy born this year.

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Back in February, a stray German Shepherd named Reba was found on the street by Heidi’s Legacy Dog Rescue in Florida, The Dodo reported at the time.

Unbeknownst to the organization, Reba was pregnant and soon went into labour. She gave birth to six puppies, and one of them was green, just like Verdant.

“We named her Clover as we thought it suited her,” one of the charity’s foster parents, Kristy Anderson, told the publication.

Lucky for Reba, she and her adorable litter went on to find forever homes.

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meaghan.wray@globalnews.ca