Monday morning the pups were in a lazy mood. They were fluid puddles of black and white fur, melting over each other in their little puppy pile inside a cardboard box resting on the kitchen floor of the Oak Harbor home of Richard and June Davis.

Standing guard over the raggedy-edged box was Isabelle. She paced back and forth, taking time between her shuffle to nuzzle a neck or peek to make sure everyone was sleeping contently. Not a squawk she did mumble.

Lily, a 3-year-old Havanese, is the real mother to these pups. But lately, it seems as if Isabelle — a 6-year-old Blue and Gold Macaw — has taken the brood under her wing as her own.

The six pups were born Oct. 17. They are Lily’s first litter and quite the group of four-legged characters. Most are black and white. A few have accents of brown. There’s the runt of the family and a few Hercules-sized champs. And then there is the white sheep of the bunch.

“He’s the disappearing artist,” June said. “When we do a head count we get to five and have to go looking for him because he has no problem wandering off by himself.”

When the pups were around three weeks old the couple realized Isabelle wanted to be involved in their upbringing.

One morning June was in another part of the house when she heard a sound that caught her attention.

“I just couldn’t figure out what it was,” she said.

June walked into the kitchen to see Isabelle perched on the edge of the pups’ cardboard box home. She was busily tearing off pieces of the box and tossing them on the pups.

“The behavior she was showing was much like something Macaws do in the wild,” Richard said.

“They usually hollow out a log and put wood chips over their babies,” June said. “She kept trying to put the blanket over them but I didn’t want the blanket over them. She definitely took charge of those babies.”

Monday the puppies slept and Isabelle gently preened them, nuzzling her beak into their necks and gently grabbing at tufts of fur.

“She’s oh so gentle with them, but if you get near her, she’ll let you know they’re her babies,” June said.

Soon, the pups slowly begin to wiggle back to life. Someone’s up and in a playful mood. They slobber on Isabelle’s foot that’s latched onto the side of the box. Another baby goes for the tail. The game is on now.

“She loves it, or at least puts up with it,” June said. “Her tail’s a little tattered because they like to play with it, but she doesn’t seem bothered and is always very gentle.”

The pups have become so taken with Isabelle they’ve even been known to search for food on the bird’s chest.

“She just looks at them like ‘sorry, can’t help you there’,” June said.

Speaking of breakfast — two pups wander out of the box looking for their morning meal. They waddle out to a bowl of supplemental milk that June has placed on the floor nearby. Isabelle watches them, and June, like a hawk. Another pup has wandered away and nestled itself under Lily to nurse — Isabelle backs off her guard a little but not much.

Don’t be fooled, while Lily birthed them and has been a great mother, Isabelle is the one strutting around the house with the “Mom” badge shining.

While Lily takes a break from puppies tugging at her and strolls over to the dish for some breakfast and a morning lap of water, Isabelle is anything but casual.

“It’s funny how relaxed Lily is but Isabelle is always on guard,” June said. “Some days she barely leaves their side, I have to pull her away so she can eat.”

The bond between Isabelle and the dogs doesn’t surprise Richard and June Davis. They’ve heard of animals bonding beyond species.

“I haven’t heard too many stories of birds bonding with mammals though,” Richard said.

While it seems like a win-win in this surrogate situation, there has been one casualty of Isabelle’s motherhood — her friendship with Gizmo.

“Gizmo misses her because they’d hang out all the time,” June said of the couple’s blue-fronted Amazon.

Isabelle’s love for dogs isn’t anything new.

When the couple brought Lily home as a pup three years ago, she and Isabelle bonded immediately.

“They’d play together all the time,” June said.

But, like many friends, the duo grew apart and have pretty much stuck to their respective perches and spots on the couch since — until Lily became a mom.

The couple know that soon it will be the puppies’ time to leave the nest. They’re still not sure what Isabelle will think of her litter disbanding, but there is one thing they know for sure.

“They’re probably the only litter of puppies that will know how to fly,” June said. “Because you can bet that Isabelle wants to teach them.”