After their mother died, Rocky, Chip, and Brownie were sent to the Helping Hands Humane Society (HHHS) Topeka. The three little pups were given little background information before the rescue. All they knew was that they needed assistance, and that was all they needed to know.
The puppies were only about a week old and needed to be bottle-fed, so they were taken in by a foster family so they could get the attention and care they needed. When they first arrived in the care of the rescue, all three puppies looked pretty much the same. As the three siblings began to grow, though, and they each developed their own distinct personality, they began to develop their own looks, too.
“Looking back at the pictures now, we started to see differences when the boys were about 3 weeks old,” Emi Griess, the communications coordinator at HHHS Topeka, told The Dodo. “Brownie’s coat was longer and silkier, Rocky’s was coarser and Chip still looked like a baby Chihuahua. Right around 6 to 7 weeks of age, we could easily tell that all three of them were going to look very, very different from one another.”
Soon, the puppies had all developed into their own personalities, and it was hard to tell that they were connected.
“I was SO startled,” Grace Clinton, HHHS Topeka’s director of business development and special events, said. “I couldn’t believe they were sisters from the same litter.” That was the first time I’d seen anything like that.”
Of course, the rescue couldn’t help but share the stunning littermates online, and the internet went crazy over the trio. Some couldn’t believe they’d all originated from the same litter, and some tried to explain the phenomena. Regardless, the boys drew everyone’s notice — and they quickly drew the interest of their forever family as well.
“The boys’ foster mom works for Hill’s Pet Nutrition and always had one or more of the puppies with her during virtual meetings,” Griess said. “They quickly became quite popular meeting guests, and Chippie and Brownie were both adopted by Hill’s coworkers! Rocky was adopted by a previous Hill’s employee, so the boys are able to get back together occasionally.”
After the boys had adjusted into their new homes, their families decided to do pet DNA testing on each of the very different-looking canines to determine what breed they were. Rocky (who resembles a Yorkie) has yet to receive his findings, but Chip (who resembles a Chihuahua) and Brownie have, and it’s rather exciting.
Chip’s results are 22 percent silky terrier, 19.8 percent poodle (small), 16.1 percent Yorkshire terrier, 13.2 percent Chihuahua, 8.6 percent Pomeranian, 6.9 percent Russell-type terrier and 13.4 percent supermutt. Brownie’s results are 19.9 percent Yorkshire terrier, 17.8 percent silky terrier, 17.4 percent poodle (small), 16.6 percent Chihuahua, 12.3 percent dachshund, 7.7 percent Pomeranian and 8.3 percent supermutt.
The results appear to make sense based on the dogs’ appearances — it’s just so strange to everyone involved that three pups from the same litter could all grow up to look so extraordinarily different.
“There are three separate genes that govern the pattern of a dog’s fur coat,” Chip’s father, Dr. Jolle Kirpensteijn, a small-animal veterinarian and Hill’s Pet Nutrition’s chief professional veterinary officer, told . “One for length, one for curl, and one for the presence of ‘furniture’ (beard, bushy eyebrows, and wiry hair type) that can be seen in 95 percent of canine breeds.” This was made feasible through a combination (mixed) of expression of Mom and Dad’s genes.”
Now that the boys have all been adopted, their permanent families can affirm that, while they may appear to be very different, their personalities are quite similar. All three canines enjoy making friends with every human and animal they meet, as well as traveling and going on adventures. They may not look like brothers, but they surely act like brothers, which makes the whole scenario much cuter.
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