While ice and snow blanketed northeastern Minnesota, a stray dog searched for somewhere safe to conceal her six puppies.

The brave mom had stopped producing milk, and her 3-week-old babies were so hungry and cold. When she couldn’t find shelter, the dog made a den in the snow and wrapped her body around her puppies, doing the best she could to protect her tiny family while struggling to survive herself.

A worried family noticed the dog and her puppies hiding in a wooded area by a lake and drove them to Red Lake Rosie’s Rescue shelter.

Shelter staffers couldn’t believe the mama dog’s miraculous story – christening her Snowbelle. “We have no idea how Snowbelle and her puppies survived,” the shelter stated on Facebook.

And it didn’t take long to nurse the cold dogs back to health: “After a few days of warm shelter and good food, Snowbelle started producing tons of milk for her babies,” the shelter stated.

Snowbelle’s puppies have grown swiftly, and all but two have been adopted, but Snowbelle still has not found a forever home.

The brave mama, now known as Asha, is living at Pet Projects, a rescue in Nerstrand, Minnesota. It was evident that the little dog had not had a loving home in quite some time, if ever.

“We don’t really know much about her past,” Nancy Bruley, creator of Pet Projects, told The Dodo. “She was very, very emaciated and in tough shape, so she had been scrounging on her own for a time.”

When Asha first came to the rescue, she didn’t know how to walk on a leash but she was always a good girl within the house. “The mom was extremely shy when she came not aggressive in any way, but timid,” Bruley added. “Kind of afraid if you went towards her, her head would go down. You could tell she was wary of people.”

In just six weeks, Asha has drastically transformed, gaining 6 pounds and feeling so much better.

“She’s really blossomed,” Bruley added. “She walks beautifully on the leash now and is much more confidence. She jumps and puts her paws up on me. She’s definitely more outgoing than when she came in.”

While mother dogs are often tougher to place than their babies, Bruley is hopeful that Asha will find someone to give her the home she so deserves.

After all, a mother’s love is unconditional, and Asha is no exception.