There’s nothing more wholesome than an animal friendship that spans species.
Except maybe one that’s also spanned almost a decade.
Gunner, 8, and Delta, 10, a golden retriever and a dolphin, met at Florida’s Dolphin Research Center eight years ago, and have been best buds ever since.
Marie Blanton, a senior trainer at the center and Gunner’s mom, told Insider that trainers work to build relationships with dolphins and to get to know them as individuals. As such, she wanted to expose them to as many different things as possible — including her then new, 8-week-old puppy who would accompany her to work every day.
“When [Gunner] first went on the docks, I was expecting him to bark, or get really excited, but he did the exact opposite: He just laid down and watched,” Blanton said. Apparently, this calm demeanor intrigued Delta, then 4, who Blanton describes as “very friendly, playful, and curious.”
“I started to notice that every time I would bring Gunner down, Delta was the first dolphin over to the dock. He would bring him his toys as if he was trying to play with him,” she said.
And indeed, Gunner took the bait, quickly learning to play with Delta by grabbing at the toys he was being presented with.
“The friendship just blossomed over time,” she said. “As both boys have gotten a bit older, they don’t get to see each other quite as much now,” she said, as Gunner only accompanies her to work a few times a month now.
Despite not seeing each other as often as they might like, Blanton insists that they recognize each other straightaway, and that Delta is still always the first dolphin to come say hello.
However, her owners assure, that her facial expression doesn’t correspond to her character at all. Madame Eyebrows used to be an extremely happy and playful dog. She has an Instagram account with lots of fan followers. Her name mainly comes from the comments of her fans that called the canine like this.
In 2014, her photos showed up on social media with the name Tea. She was four years of ages at the time. However, her proprietors accepted that their canine nickname was much better and they gave up. Janina, her owner knew from the extremely starting that their canine would be different as the fur around her eyes darkened.
