An unlikely bond between a deer and a golden retriever that have been best friends for the past 11 years has been tugging at netizens’ heartstrings.
“They’ve had a special relationship,” Lorrie Brown, 52, from Branson, Missouri, said. “I’ve been in awe of it for years.”
Almost 12 years ago, when she was rescued by Lorrie and her family as a tiny fawn, Buttons the deer was embraced by a happy, nature-loving household.
A friend of the Browns who'd already rescued a deer and had experience in raising it had got a phone call from someone saying they’d found a baby deer whose mother they thought had been hit by a car. With their hands tied, when the Browns’ friends were unable to take her in, the Browns decided to step in themselves.
Lorrie admits that, at first, the task of nurturing a deer didn’t come easy, but she had the support of her friend.
“It’s a full-time job, just like a baby,” said Lorrie, who also has four cats, a golden retriever, and two puppies.
Initially, Buttons was fed every two hours by Lorrie with an eyedropper. Eventually, as time passed by, she began to be on bottle feed and then would go further and further away from the house, but would still be around and show up once in a while.
“She became part of the family,“ Lorrie said. ”We always wanted her to be a deer and to be wild. But she grew up with our animals and she just bonded with them.”
Meanwhile, G-bro was welcomed into the family 11 years ago when Lorrie’s son wanted a dog for Christmas. After searching “high and low” for a pooch, G-bro was found and has since been the sweetest addition to the family.
Not long after, a beautiful friendship sparked between G-bro and Buttons.
“They would just hang out in our yard together, lay in the yard. Anytime we were outside, walking around, both of them would follow us,” Lorrie said.
Buttons, who thought she was a dog, began to follow and do everything G-bro did. She enjoyed playing with the family and G-bro. Additionally, just like any other deer who would like to groom one another, Buttons groomed G-bro, too.
“Buttons loves to lick,“ Lorrie said. ”And so she would always groom G-bro, and he must like it, it must feel good to him. He would literally go and plop himself down in front of her because he wanted to be groomed by her.”
In time, Buttons began to venture further afield.
“We have about 10 miles of trails on our land,” said Lorrie. “As time went on, she would go further and further from the house and stay away a little bit longer.”
Later, as Buttons began having babies of her own, each year she'd show up to show her fawn to the family and her best buddy, G-bro.
The first time Buttons laid down in the backyard and gave birth to her babies, Lorrie watched and then walked G-bro up to see them.
“We were fearful at first that she would not want the dog there,” Lorrie said. “But he started gently licking the babies, and she did not care at all; she let him groom them, and they would play with him.”
Buttons trusts G-bro completely and is aware that he wouldn’t scare her fawn.
Apart from the beautiful friendship that the two share, Lorrie says they also have similar personalities.
“They’re just both very loving and very sweet,” Lorrie said. “Buttons is just very easygoing, and calm. We have swim lessons for the children at our house and Buttons will sit down and just let everybody love her. Well, that’s the same way with G-bro.”
Witnessing such a unique friendship between a golden retriever and a deer, Lorrie’s son encouraged her to share the precious bond on TikTok.
“I knew it was special, but I didn’t know this many people would think it was,” Lorrie said.
Despite being with her herd, Buttons always wants to be a part of the family. Sharing two touching incidents, Lorrie said that, once, Buttons wasn’t seen for a period of four to five days and Lorrie was out with their dogs on a trail not near the house. She suddenly heard something running behind, only to find out it was Buttons following them.
“She was just so excited to see us and then she basically hung out,” Lorrie said. “I just thought that was really cool that it’s like she knew her family was on the trails, and she wanted to come down there and say hi.”
In another touching incident, Buttons tried to protect the family by chasing a buck or doe. “It was almost like she was telling that deer that, ‘hey, this is my crew get away,’” Lorrie said.
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