For about as long as she can remember, Debby Cantlon says, friends and strangers have brought her animals in need. So it wasn't much of a surprise when someone asked her if she'd care for a newborn squirrel found at the base of a tree somewhere near Renton. It isn't at all unusual for an orphaned infant of one species to be accepted by a litter of a completely different species. Dogs, cats, and squirrels are among a variety of mammals whose females will often raise another's offspring when it is introduced into their own litter — nursing, washing, protecting, and playing with the newcomer as if it were one of her own. Such was the case with Finnegan the squirrel, who was found injured and malnourished in the Seattle area in September 2005, when he was but a few days old. He was brought to Debby Cantlon, an area resident with a reputation for taking in sick and injured animals and nursing them back to health. What happened next was a bit unexpected. Ms. Cantlon reported that her black and white Papillon dog, Mademoiselle Giselle, who was pregnant at the time, twice dragged the kennel in which Finnegan was being cared for across the house and deposited it next to her own doggie bed: PowerPoint by Jack Cross

Finnegan the Squirrel Debby Cantlon, who plans to release Finnegan, the young squirrel, back into the wild, bottle-fed the infant squirrel after it was brought to her house..

Finnegan was resting in a nest cage just days before before Giselle was due to deliver her puppies

Cantlon and her husband watched as the dog dragged the squirrel's cage twice to her own bedside before she gave birth.

Cantion was concerned, yet ultimately decided to allow the Squirrel out and the inner – species bonding began

Two days after giving birth, mama dog Giselle allowed Finnegan to nurse; family photos and a videotape show her encouraging him to suckle alongside her litter of five pups.Now, Finnegan mostly uses a bottle, but still snuggles with his 'siblings' in a moshpit of puppies, rolling atop their bodies, and sinking in deeply for a nap.

Finnegan and his new litter mates, five Papillion puppies, get along together as if they were meant to.

Finnegan naps after feeding

Finnega n makes himself at home with his new litter mates, nuzzlin g nose- to-nose for a nap after feeding

Finnegan rides a puppy mosh pit of sorts, burrowing in for warmth after feeding, eventually working his way beneath his new litter mates.

You might want to know that Finnegan married Eva, a wild juvenile squirrel. They built a nest in the huge pine out back and had a son and daughter. They truly lived happily ever after. When he met Eva that was the end of his relationship with us. He disappeared for three weeks. But he did come back and bring Eva. It was if he just wanted me to know that he was doing great and no longer needed his mother dog. He ran from her as any other squirrel would do. He was returned to the wild very early in life. That is what makes all the difference. Not only that but he found another squirrel to show him what I could not. I have done this many times and HAVE NOT FAILED YET. Debby Debbie Cantlon, has cancer and said helping the animals is a healing activity. "It's therapeutic for me to be able to work with wildlife and be involved in saving the little lives of animals," she said. "Animals have always been the love of my life, so to set them free and watch them fly and join their own kind, that's what I get out of it."