DANVILLE, Calif. (KTVU) - Photos of an unlikely duo from Danville have gone viral.
A calf named Goliath had a rough start to his life, and Great Dane Leonidas was there to mother him.
Shaylee Hubbs, 17, tells KTVU her family brought the calf home to their ranch when he was just a day old.
She says he’s a drop calf from a dairy farm, meaning he was taken from his mother and intended for slaughter. The Hubbs family decided to rescue the calf and named him Goliath.
“When we brought him home he was not in good shape. He was all skin and bones and very sick. He could hardly suck the bottle,” said Shaylee.
With the help of a veterinarian, Shaylee’s family was able to nurse Goliath back to health.
At one point he was so sick he couldn’t even drink from his bottle. “We were all desperately trying to feed him to get fluids in his body. We would fill a syringe with milk and squirt it down his throat to get something down him. We were all crying and so sad. We huddled around little poor Goliath and said a prayer to our Heavenly Father to please save our baby cow,” she said.
Shaylee credits their veterinarian with saving Goliath’s life. “She put a tube down Goliath's throat and filled his belly with all the lifesaving milk and vitamins that he needed. He was too dehydrated to put in an I.V. so we had to just give him a huge injection of saline fluids under his skin.”
After several days Goliath was able to build enough strength to take fluids from a bottle.
Through the ordeal, Leonidas stayed by Goliath’s side. “He would lick the little cow on the face and try to nudge him to stand up. He would lay down with the sick little cow for hours just to keep him company. As the cow became more active he began to try to ‘nurse’ on my male Great Dane,” said Shaylee. The pair have become best of friends.
Shaylee says as Goliath recovered, his appetite and energy began to increase.
“He started playing, bucking, kicking and running around our backyard,” she said.
The Hubbs family decided since Goliath was so young and fragile he should sleep in their playhouse in the backyard.
“He often stood at our back door with hot breath fogging up the window as he watched the lucky Great Dane lounge around the house and on couch,” said Shaylee.
Shaylee says one morning they were feeding the other animals on the ranch. When they came back they couldn’t find Goliath in the backyard.
“We panicked and looked all around the house and checked for any open gates. Everything seemed in order. Then we walked into the house and look who we found lounging ever so comfortably on our couch - Goliath!”
She posted the photo of the sneaky calf online and it went viral.
Shaylee says Goliath has become their pet and is now part of the family
“We love this little cow and have suffered with him and shared his joy. We are blessed to have all these life experiences with a wonderful Bull named Goliath.”