Amazing sheepdogs protect little penguins in Australia (VIDEO)

Animals helping animals: that's what life is all about on a remote island off of southern Australia.

Two Italian Maremma sheepdogs on Middle Island, a rocky uninhabited atoll, have managed to protect a small group of Little Penguins.

The New Zealand Herald reported that the canine bodyguards were introduced to the island in 2006, and have been so effective at their job that the penguin population has soared from 10 to about 200.

The dogs, Eudy and Tula, have kept the foxes at bay — and probably hungry — so much so that there have been no penguin deaths from foxes in the last seven years.

The Little Penguin population went into freefall over the last decade due to fox predation. From 1999 to 2005, the population was reduced from about 600 to less than 10.

Little Penguins are — you guessed it — very small.

Some would say a perfect fit for the jaws of a fox, standing at an adorable 15 inches.

The penguins were initially frightened by the sight of the dogs, especially when the dogs tried to herd them back to their nest.

But the penguins likely realized that the dogs are the only thing standing between them and certain death, and they seem to be getting along just fine.