Love is something that all of us need, but it is also something that can throw us a curveball from time to time. Perhaps we have seen this in our own lives as we develop friendships and close bonds that seem to surpass human understanding.

This isn’t only something that is experienced by humans, even animals can experience such an unusual relationship. We might even consider some animals to be “strange bedfellows,” but once it is put in motion, it seems to take on a life all of its own.

The Rocky Ridge Refuge in Arkansas told a story about a friendship that certainly surpassed anything that we could have ever hoped for. It happened a few years ago when a baby African Spurred Tortoise was found by a caring human as they walked along the riverbank.

The tortoise, who was named Crouton, was taken in by Janice Wolf, the founder of the Rocky Ridge Refuge, a group home for animals with special needs and circumstances. As she stated on her website, “Since settling in my present location, I’ve been working toward this animal ‘group home.’ I now rescue and care for a variety of creatures, both exotic and the more common.”

She was a little concerned because of some puppies that lived in the home. She wasn’t sure if they would welcome a tortoise into the fold but was pleasantly surprised to learn otherwise.

It wasn’t long before they did more than accept her, they made her part of the family. Check out some of the photos that Janice shared on Facebook of Crouton and her new family:

The puppies eventually began to grow, but they continued to treat Crouton as one of their own.

Crouton also made other friends with new animals at the rescue.

That was back in 2011, and Crouton is still at the Rocky Ridge Refuge, meeting all sorts of new animals and finding new family members.

As for Crouton’s puppy family, they grew into beautiful dogs and lived out their lives at the refuge alongside the growing tortoise.