Nursery dog comes out of retirement to help raise cheetah cub at Cincinnati Zoo

CINCINNATI -- A dog came out of retirement to help raise a baby cheetah at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Blakely, an Australian Shepherd, spent years at the zoo caring for foxes, wallabies, tigers, warthogs and, yes, even cheetahs.

Blakely retired in 2017, but when a mother cheetah at the Cincinnati Zoo lost all of her cubs but one, Blakely was called on once again.

Mother cheetahs will stop producing milk when they don't have enough cubs. So zoo officials had to take the lone surviving cub and take care of its nutritional needs.

The thing zookeepers could not do was teach the cub social skills and good manners--two things Blakely excels at teaching.

Blakely will work with the cub until it is healthy enough to move out of the care center. At that time, zookeepers will likely bring in a puppy to serve as the cheetah cub's surrogate sibling.