The dog appeared to have endured difficult times when she was rescued by the La Belle Foundation in Los Angeles.

“This young dog has been through the wringer and back,” said the rescue organization in a social media post. “She has horrible scratches on her swollen face and goopy eyes, not to mention two giant lumps in her sweet head.”

 

 

Shelters previously had thought the lump on the head was a tumor and wanted to put her down. But examinations showed that it was scar tissue from an old injury and not life-threatening.

 

 

When Strawberry was all recovered and ready for adoption, the Kuhlman family in South Pasadena saw her online and “couldn’t resist.”

“Something spoke to me about her,” said Kristen Kuhlman, the matriarch of the family. “She wasn’t able to find a home for quite a while. We waited and thought about it. And we kept seeing her on the website.”

 

 

 

 

The family, who was just bouncing back from the sorrow of losing a dog of 15 years, decided to bring Strawberry home and lavish her with love and affection.

“She’s a good snuggler,” said Claire Kuhlman, the twin daughter of Kristen’s, while giggling. “She’ll lay on top of you. She’s hefty and big.”

It’s inconceivable that the gentle and lovely dog was almost euthanized, the Kuhlmans said.

“We wondered a lot about how the bump got there,” Jack Kuhlman, the twin son of the family, said. “I think that’s another reason why it took her so long to get adopted.”

The pup came with the moniker “Strawberry,” and the family decided to retain it because it felt like a suitable “fit.”

“It’s cute. It is a lot of syllables, so we sometimes call her ‘Strawbs,’” explained Jeff Kuhlman, the patriarch. “We found a leash that had strawberries. It all seemed to work.”

The kids said the first things they do after arriving home from school are playing fetch with Strawberry and snuggling with their new dog.

 

Strawberry the unicorn dog also has some admirers in the neighborhood as the pup is quite recognizable with her unique bump on the head, according to the family.

“People would roll down the windows and say, ‘Hey strawberry,’” Kristen Kuhlman explained. “She’s very loved by many people.”