When Alice Gill Shelnutt was sitting in a church parking lot one afternoon, a man driving a logging truck pulled up beside her. He recognized her as the founder of Southern Pup, an animal rescue that helps abandoned dogs across rural Mississippi.
He told her about a white shepherd he’d seen for several days on his route — always lingering near the same lonely intersection. Could she come take a look?
It didn’t take long for Alice and her husband to find the dog — a gentle shepherd mix standing on a quiet gravel road, tail wagging nervously.
As Alice approached and softly asked, “Do you need some help?” the dog laid down and rolled onto her back, showing her belly. Right away, Alice noticed the dog’s swollen, scratched nipples — a sure sign she’d recently given birth.
“Hey, sweet girl. Where are your babies?” Alice whispered as she gently stroked her fur.
With no food except a box of Milk-Bone treats, Alice fed the hungry mama, who devoured them gratefully. Once she’d eaten, the shepherd suddenly turned and began trotting into the woods — glancing back every few steps as if to say, “Follow me.”
Alice did.
“She went down through the woods to a ravine and drank from a little stream,” Alice told The Dodo. “That’s when I knew she was still producing milk — she was leading us back to her babies.”
After nearly a mile of following her down winding forest paths and dirt roads, the mama dog stopped, ran toward a ditch, and began whining softly.
Inside the ditch lay nine tiny, spotted puppies, crawling over each other and buzzing with flies.
“I handed the babies one by one to my husband as he placed them in a box,” Alice said. “Mama watched and sniffed around — and when I picked her up and showed her the puppies, she just seemed to know we were there to help.”
At home, the couple set up a cozy kiddie pool lined with blankets in their guest bathroom. Alice gave the mother dog a warm bath, washing away fleas and ticks while the shepherd finally began to relax.
“After her bath, she laid down with her babies and immediately fell asleep,” Alice recalled. “She was just so content — like she finally felt safe.”
Moments later, the sky opened up and rain poured down. Had the puppies remained in that ditch just a few hours longer, they might have drowned. But thanks to Alice’s compassion and perfect timing, the family was warm, dry, and together.
“It was a miracle,” Alice said. “The timing — it had to be God.”
Now affectionately called “Marathon Mama”, the shepherd has proven to be an incredibly loving, protective mother.
“She’s so affectionate,” Alice said. “She loves when I sit with her, pet her, and hold her babies while she cleans them. They’re starting to play and growl — they’re doing so well.”
In a few weeks, the puppies will be vaccinated and spayed or neutered before heading north through Southern Pup’s rescue partners to find their forever homes.
But for now, Marathon Mama can simply do what she was born to do — care for her babies, while Alice and her team care for her.