A little dog became a true hero after showing what her mother’s heart was made of. What she did to give birth left her rescuers moved and speechless.

Dirty, weak, with dirt and wire embedded in her fur. That’s how this little dog dug a hole under a construction site to give birth to her puppies.

Under the hot Arizona sun, when the rescuers arrived, they could see the sad face of the German Shepherd mother begging for help.

They managed to pull the puppy and her babies out after she dug out with her own paws.

A day earlier, a construction worker saw the puppy and fed her. He also saw her digging the hole.

Another construction worker who saw the puppy told his wife and she made a few calls for help, and contacted Saving Paws Rescue AZ, in Glendale, Arizona. It’s a group that rescues primarily German Shepherds.

Trish Houlihan, founder of Saving Paws, and Charis Williams, upon receiving the call, quickly went out to the rescue.

When they arrived, they encountered a big problem….

They realized that because of last nights heavy rain, the den was full of mud and worst of all, there was very heavy material on top of the den and they couldn’t remove it to get it out.

The only option was to crawl into the den and pull out the dog.

Trish began to dig out dirt with her hands. It took about 20 minutes to get to the puppy’s neck.

They were afraid because they couldn’t see anything and they couldn’t stretch her because she might be stuck with something they couldn’t see. They also tried to get her out by offering her food but it didn’t work.

They went into the den and when they felt the wires tangled in her fur, they gently dragged her out, the dog did not growl at all.

You could tell she was weak, but you could also tell she was ready for help. They pulled her out and put her in the van, gave her some water and food but she refused to eat.

No one knew if the dog had given birth in the hole or gave birth somewhere else and just brought the babies there.

They began to pull the babies out, but as they pulled them out the hole got deeper and deeper, so deep that Trish’s arms could no longer reach, even with a flashlight they couldn’t see the bottom.

Trish and Charis left with 3 puppies not knowing if there were more in there. Luckily, they found out that a construction worker had taken a puppy, they contacted him and convinced him to return it, as the baby would not survive without its mother.

After putting the babies in the van, they decided to check the den one last time, they dug at all angles but found nothing.

Back in the van they noticed the mom was getting worse, so they went to get the fourth puppy and returned to the rescue center, where they were all checked and bathed.

Mom was named Stormy

They were then informed that the man who operates the crane in the construction area, where Stormy was, had arrived. He proceeded to remove the heavy material and they found two more puppies still alive, who were taken to be reunited with mom.

Stormy was suffering from a lot of diarrhea and all the rocks, gravel and paper wrappers were coming out. She would do anything to care for her babies including eating anything.

Then she needed a temporary foster home and that’s when Susan Pratt offered to take care of the dogs.

She said Stormy was still very weak, they realized she was drawing blood and placenta, something she should have cleaned up from before, so they were worried she had bacteria and would get it on the babies.

The doctor was afraid that the uterus had not contracted to stop the bleeding, so they tested her for heartworms and valley fever.

Although she tested negative for valley fever, she tested positive for heartworms. The type of heartworm she had is one called microfilariae. These are microscopic worms that are in the blood.

They could not operate on her uterus, as she was so weak that she would not withstand the operation.

They made an appointment for surgery and operated on her with only a 25% chance of making it, but she needed it.

Stormy was forbidden to feed her babies. Unfortunately, she took a turn for the worse and one night her temperature would not go below 42 degrees.

Stormy spent several days in the hospital

The treatment was working and Stormy was slowly regaining energy and strength. She received her second dose of treatment and Stormy’s puppies were adopted.

Finally, Stormy’s blood results showed that she was worm free, now she can play, run and be happy after so much suffering.

“We couldn’t decide whether to keep Stormy or not,” the Pratts said, but the perfect home for her arrived, a 2-acre farm with another female German Shepherd that Stormy could play with.

Stormy fought with everything to survive, she was able to give birth on her own, beat anemia, and survive a surgery where she only had a 25% chance, and she won the battle against worms. Without a doubt, Stormy is one of the strongest and fighter dogs.

The story of the beautiful and brave Stormy is amazing, and what a big heart everyone who rescued her has! They claim they did all that seeing that she did nothing less for her little ones.