When a newborn puppy was born a bright lime-green color, his human family worried that something was wrong. However, it didn’t take long for the family to figure out that their green-colored “good luck charm” was a pocket-sized superhero, who became a viral sensation.
On Jan. 10, 2020, Shana Louise Stamey’s white German shepherd, Gypsy, went into labor, and everything seemed normal. The dog gave birth to eight healthy puppies in just three hours—a “normal” canine labor lasts between two and four hours—and the tiny puppies wasted no time tucking into their first meal.
However, Gypsy’s fourth puppy surprised everyone by emerging an extraordinary bright-green color.
The family was initially alarmed by the puppy’s odd color which made him stand out from his seven black and white siblings. However, a little research turned up an entirely reasonable explanation.
“I knew it wasn’t, like, harmful,” Stamey told WLOS. “But I still had to look it up again to make sure.”
She further added: “If they have meconium in that sac, it will actually stain their fur.”
Meconium is the earliest stool of a baby mammal and it has the capacity to stain, particularly in the case of a puppy with bright-white fur. Meconium is usually a dark olive-green color and is almost odorless. It is not uncommon, but if a newborn mammal has dark fur, the staining may not be noticeable.
Sharing the family’s name ideas for their tiny green pup, Stamey said: “We thought about Gremlin, yeah, Pistachio. We call him Mr. Green sometimes.“ Stamey even joked that since the puppy’s fur had already faded to a softer yellow color, a friend had suggested renaming him ”Pikachu.”
The family has been inundated with offers to adopt the miniature superhero and his siblings since photos of the litter went viral.
