Daisy and her eight puppies were taken in by Muddy Paws Rescue from an overcrowded shelter back in February 2022, and their entrance was dramatic. The puppies suffered from parvo and needed intensive care to keep them stable. It was touch and go, but they pulled through. Daisy was terrified of everything and was having trouble adjusting after being separated from her puppies and thrust into a new environment.

When Daisy was adopted by a family who lived somewhere calm away from the city, though, everyone was thrilled and thought things were finally looking up. Unfortunately, Daisy had other plans.

“To everyone’s surprise, on Daisy’s second day home, she managed to jump over the 5-foot fence surrounding her new backyard and bolt,” Mallory Kerley, marketing director at Muddy Paws Rescue, told The Dodo. “At first, there were a lot of sightings from the neighborhood, and she was almost caught numerous times. But she was evading capture, and the sightings slowed. This kicked off a massive search effort involving our staff, volunteers and essentially the entire neighborhood!”

After four days of running, Daisy was finally spotted in the woods, and a pair of rescuers were able to slowly approach her over the course of an hour until they were close enough to secure her. Her rescuers had thought her puppies having parvo was dramatic, but somehow Daisy managed to top it.

“Amazingly, she was unharmed — just hungry and tired,” Kerley said.

After being rescued a second time, Daisy began settling into her new home. Her puppies healed and were all adopted out. The little family went their separate ways — but all of their parents stayed in touch.

Around a year and a half after they were all adopted, Daisy and her puppies’ new families decided to get the mama and puppies together for a reunion. It had been so long since they’d all seen each other, and the family get-together was just as adorable as everyone thought it would be.

The puppies are all grown up now and the same size as their mama. A few of Daisy’s babies look exactly like her, and you can see the family resemblance in each puppy’s face.

“Their reunion was so happy,” Kerley said. “We love seeing litters stay in touch, and this family in particular is all still close. The adopters keep in touch [and] share updates on their pups with each other, and we love seeing them come together as a family!”

Daisy and her puppies went through so much in the beginning, but now they’re living out their happy endings.