by When Ralph Dorn couldn’t find his dog Harley one recent June evening he decided to look out onto the lake outside his home’s backyard. He spotted Harley out in the middle of the water with a fawn and his dog was herding the baby animal back to shore.
“I couldn’t find Harley this evening until I looked out on the lake. He was near the middle of the lake herding a little fawn back to the shore line,” Dorn explained on Facebook. “Not sure how the fawn got out there but Harley obviously didn’t ask why, he just jumped into action.”
Dorn and his wife Patricia took photos and video of their dog’s heroic actions and shared them on Facebook, where the post has since gone viral.
The fawn was deep out in the middle of the lake with its mother nowhere to be seen.
But Harley expertly lead the fawn back to shore. As the pair got closer to shore, Harley made sure to stay right by the fawn’s side. He checked the fawn over to see that it was all right.
They both arrived safely on dry land. Harley made sure the fawn could stand up. He was still concerned even when the fawn was standing up. He made sure to sniff the fawn all over.
Dorn said that the Mama deer did come back once she spotted her fawn on land.
The next morning, Harley met the fawn again.
Dorn wrote on Facebook, “The story continues. This morning Harley got restless running from window to window. I opened the front door and we could hear the fawn bleating. Harley ran into the tree line and found the fawn. The little one stopped bleating, tail wagging, they touched noses sniffed each other and Harley came calmly back to the house with me.”
Dorn told PEOPLE that the mama soon returned and that they haven’t seen the fawn and its mother since then.
Of Harley’s actions, Dorn explained that Harley has always had a kind nature and that he is a certified therapy dog. “We could tell right away, even as a puppy, he had such a good heart,” says Dorn. “He has always been like that with children and animals. He loves them all.”
