A dog owner in Scotland got the surprise of her life last week when her golden retriever gave birth to a green puppy. Louise Sutherland has named the special pup Forest, for obvious reasons.

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The rare occurrence is only known to have happened three times before in the world – it is caused by a pigment called biliverdin, which is found in the placenta of dogs and can stain the puppy’s coat when it mixes with the mother’s amniotic fluid. Although that explanation sounds kind of gross, so why don’t we just say it happened because the puppy is magical and filled with sparkly green dust. Much cuter. Louise said:

The first pup was stuck, so myself and my daughter Claire managed to free him and pull him out safely.

It was all hands on deck but then as the puppies started to arrive, we noticed that one of the puppies had green fur. We couldn’t believe it.

When we checked it out later we found out it is very unusual and to do with the placenta. The colour has faded quite a bit already and will be gone soon, I’m told. We’ve named him Forest.

Ah man, I wish that the colour would stay. Imagine having a naturally green fully grown golden retriever – just think of the fancy dress opportunities. Nevertheless, Forest has captured Louise’s heart and she is planning to keep him for herself:

Rio had a total of seven boys and one girl and they are all great and growing like mushrooms.

This is her second litter but the first was much more normal – a five-hour labour and five pups, two girls and three boys.

But this will be her last.

Saving the best ‘till last it appears.

For more heartwarming dog-related stories, check out this one about a puppy who dragged her blanket outside to share with a homeless dog.