Earth angel (Picture: Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS)
Sweet photos show a gentle Parson Russel dog hanging out with two Rhea chicks that are already almost the same size as the pooch.
Lovely Ivy, seven, is described as being ‘very maternal’ by her owners, as she’s previously bonded with lambs too.
Now, she’s been helping keep an eye on two one-week-old Rheas, at Arnbeg Farmstay in Kippen, near Stirling, where the three pals live.
Owner Ali Thom, 57, has over 100 animals, and describes their home as being ‘like Old MacDonald’s farm’.
She said: ‘[The birds] hatched under a heat lamp. If I put them out in the barn they would be prey for predators.
‘They will grow to about 5ft, like a small ostrich. They aren’t “house Rheas”.
Just three pals chilling out (Picture: Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS)
Too cute (Picture: Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS)
Hello here (Picture: Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS)
Having a little squawk (Picture: Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS)
‘Ivy has bonded with lambs before, she’s very maternal’ (Picture: Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS)
‘They will be here for about four weeks.
‘We are getting a pen set up for them, so we can keep an eye on them.
‘Ivy has bonded with lambs before, she’s very maternal.
‘She just watches over them. They don’t cuddle, Ivy sits with them.’
She likes to keep an eye on them (Picture: Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS)
Ivy knows to be patient with the baby birds (Picture: Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS)
‘They can be quite nervous, but they don’t mind Ivy’ (Picture: Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS)
Sizing each other up (Picture: Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS)
The sweet little dog knows to be patient with her flightless baby bird buddies.
‘They are quite noisy birds, and they can be quite nervous, but they don’t mind Ivy,’ said Ali.
‘She will go in the pen, and we can trust her. She’s a wee cutie.
‘They pull at her hair and her face, and she tolerates that.
‘We have alpacas, sheep, pigs, dogs, goats, Highland Cows.
‘It’s like Old MacDonald’s farm.’
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‘She just watches over them.’