“She’s basically the polar bear dog version of Moo Deng.”
Salem’s journey began when she was surrendered to a neighbor in a rural area of Mississippi. Her family, no longer wanting her, decided to give her up, and the neighbor reached out to Happy Tails Canine Rescue for help. The rescue took her in immediately and upon arrival, Salem was in poor condition. She was malnourished, injured, and infested with several types of worms. Her first stop was the vet, where her healing process began.
When Happy Tails Canine Rescue posted about Salem on their social media, the response was overwhelming. Many people expressed interest in adopting her. The rescue decided to let her be adopted under a “foster-to-adopt” arrangement, where the rescue would cover her spay surgery and heartworm treatment. On October 26th, Salem was adopted, and her spay surgery was scheduled for November 8th. However, when the vet went to spay her, they made an unexpected discovery — Salem was heavily pregnant and due to give birth in just a couple of days.
The news came as a shock. Salem didn’t appear pregnant at all, and neither the rescue nor her new family had any idea she was expecting. To confirm how many puppies she was carrying, the vet performed an X-ray, revealing the second surprise — Salem was pregnant with just one giant puppy. This rare occurrence, called a singleton pregnancy, happens when a dog carries a single, large puppy that can take up the entire uterus.
Though shocked, Salem’s new family was relieved that she would only have one puppy to care for. They agreed to foster the puppy until it was big enough for adoption. Just five days later, Salem gave birth to Astrid, the largest puppy anyone had ever seen. Astrid was described as the “polar bear dog version of Moo Deng” — a massive bundle of joy.
Salem’s family, who already had two pets and two children, couldn’t keep Astrid permanently, but they committed to caring for her until she was ready for adoption. The rescue assured that Astrid would eventually find a perfect forever home. As Christina Gómez, the director of Happy Tails Canine Rescue, put it, “She will provide a special family with so much joy and their own polar bear puppy.”