Big bully stands still while three foster puppies mob her face

Three small foster puppies swarm Roa in the hallway, and the big white-and-tan bully simply stands still and lets them. They push their noses into her muzzle and scramble at her chest. Her owner, Sam, had one wish for them: “I wish I could tell their birth mom that they’re OK and that they have a loving foster mom teaching them everything she couldn’t.”

This isn’t the first group of foster puppies in the house. About a month earlier, the account shared its dogs curled up beside a different litter of cream-colored foster puppies in a bathtub, and Sam joked, “Apparently we’re co-parenting now.”

Meet Roa

• Sam doesn’t hedge about how Roa sees her role: she “officially believes she IS mom.”
• While Ozzy the Dalmatian reached for toys on the kitchen counter, Roa sat and watched, which Sam summed up as “Ozzy’s doing the heavy lifting. Roa’s in management.”

Pet parents could relate

• “😍” — @cassandravinchon
• “🥹🥹🥹” — @neesy_333

Vets writing about hand-reared puppies for Improve International note that pups fostered with “stable adult dogs” can learn “how to communicate, play and behave appropriately” from them, though when there’s a large size gap, interactions “must be very carefully managed to prevent injury.”

Three puppies at her face, and Roa holds perfectly still.

Which job title fits Roa best?

Stand-in momCo-parentMiddle managerPuppy jungle gym

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To keep up with Roa, follow @some.chaos.nextdoor on Instagram.