Meet Harley, a 6-year-old Goldendoodle who is being hailed a hero after sᴀᴠɪɴɢ a baby deer from ᴅʀᴏᴡɴɪɴɢ in a lake near his Virginia home. Harley’s human, Ralph Dorn, 62, of Culpeper, Virginia said:” Not sure how the fawn got out there but Harley obviously didn’t ask why, he just jumped into action.” Facebook post of the ʀᴇsᴄᴜᴇ posted by Ralph, who is a retired Marine Corps pilot, has gone viral.

Dogs can be real heroes. They have a great ability to sense when someone is in ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀ and come to the ʀᴇsᴄᴜᴇ, whether they be human or animal. That’s what one dog proved, when he jumped into action to save a baby deer who was out in the middle of a lake. Ralph Dorn, a retired Marine Corps pilot from Virginia, is the owner of a Goldendoodle named Harley. On June 2, they were outside at the lake near their home, and suddenly Ralph couldn’t find his dog anywhere. Then, he noticed Harley was in the water, paddling himself out to the middle of the lake. But looking closer, Ralph realized that Harley wasn’t alone and he realized the inspiring reason the dog was in the water. Out in the middle of the lake was a baby deer, struggling to get back to shore. Harley had gone to ʀᴇsᴄᴜᴇ it, and after reaching the sᴛʀᴀɴᴅᴇᴅ animal began guiding the fawn back to dry land. Ralph wrote on Facebook:” Not sure how the fawn got out there but Harley obviously didn’t ask why, he just jumped into action.” The two made it back to shore. Ralph said that the deer’s mom came back for it. He was very proud of his heroic dog. Even back on land, Harley kept protecting the deer. Ralph said:” Harley didn’t want to leave the fawn. He just kept interacting with it, licking it, caring for it.”

But the next morning, while Dorn and his wife, Patricia, 64, were drinking coffee, something was amiss. he said:” Harley got restless running from window to window. I opened the front door and we could hear the ғᴀᴡɴ ʙʟᴇᴀᴛɪɴɢ. Harley ran into the tree line and found the fawn. The little one sᴛᴏᴘᴘᴇᴅ ʙʟᴇᴀᴛɪɴɢ, tail wagging, they touched noses sniffed each other and Harley came calmly back to the house with me.” They had a brief, touching reunion, as if the deer wanted to stop by and thank Harley again for sᴀᴠɪɴɢ its life. The deer then walked off with its mother again.

Harley’s story has now gone viral: Ralph’s Facebook post recounting the story has been shared over 253,000 times. Ralph says he’s happy the story has moved so many people, but Harley’s act of heroism didn’t surprise him. He says that Harley is a ᴛʜᴇʀᴀᴘʏ  dog who has worked with the elderly and children. He added:” We could tell right away, even as a puppy, he had such a good heart. He has always been like that with children and animals. He loves them all.”