Mama Golden Retriever’s Baby Moves Closer to Her & It Turns Out She Just Wanted Some Love

Newborn puppies spend most of their first days eating, sleeping, and staying close to their mothers. So when one six-day-old Golden Retriever began crawling across her bedding, her owner assumed she knew exactly where she was going. The puppy, however, had something much sweeter in mind than a meal.

Mama Golden Retriever’s little baby moves closer to her, only wanting a little love

A video shared by @nicholberrygoldens has captured a tender interaction between a mama Golden Retriever named Dolly and one of her six-day-old babies. The clip begins with the newborn slowly crawling across the bedding toward her mother. Because puppies at this age spend much of their time nursing, Kerry Nichols, who shared the video, assumed the little one was making her way to the “milk bar.”

Instead, the puppy had something entirely different in mind. Rather than stopping to nurse, she continued moving until she reached Dolly’s face. Once she got close enough, the tiny puppy leaned in for a cuddle, nestling against her mother’s head. Dolly immediately responded with the same gentle affection, welcoming her puppy before the pair settled comfortably together.

According to Kerry, the touching moment didn’t end with the cuddle. Mother and daughter soon fell asleep side by side, making the interaction even sweeter. In the caption, Kerry explained, “At six days of age, a puppy is still a neonate.” During this stage, puppies are born with “eyes and ears sealed shut,” meaning “her world is almost entirely tactile, thermal, and olfactory.”

Rooting and suckling help them locate and latch onto their mother’s milk, while the mother also stimulates other essential bodily functions through grooming. Because their nervous systems are still developing, this period is focused primarily on growth and basic survival rather than learning new behaviors.

For Nichols, the clip captured one of the many special moments that come with raising a litter. As she wrote in the caption, “It’s all rather marvelous, and filled with magical moments like this one.”