When Katie and John Black took in Rosie the rescue dog to foster her at their home, they knew she was pregnant – but the end of her pregnancy presented four little surprises.

Golden retriever mix Rosie gave birth to four puppies – and not one of them looks like a golden retriever.

In fact, in the words of their temporary owners, the black and white pups look rather more like cows.

Aptly, the pups have been named Daisy, Betsy, Clarabelle and Moo.

“We are not sure what breed the dad was,” Katie told the Press Association. “Unfortunately, she was surrendered very pregnant and near giving birth to a county shelter with another equally as pregnant chocolate lab mix.

“When we brought her into our home as a foster through the rescue we work with, she was already in active labour.”

Katie and John are very much dog people, with Rosie and her pups taking them to 20 dogs fostered since they started in 2009. They even have three rescue dogs of their own – called Winchester, Leroy and Annie.

The couple are fostering Rosie through Neuse River Golden Retriever Rescue in Raleigh, North Carolina.

“Her puppies will be adopted out when they are old enough to be, and we will also find a forever home for Mom as well!” said Katie.

Katie posted a picture of Rosie with her black and white pups to Reddit, where it received a huge amount of attention, receiving almost 90,000 upvotes – and it was her first post ever on the site.

“My dad laughed for quite a while at the photos initially, and loved it and joked it’s the type of photo that goes viral and I should post it somewhere,” said Katie. “I’m glad we did.”