These beautiful, loyal furry friends might take up our time and couch space, but they’ll also risk life and limb for us. They can also make our lives better with the simplest of gestures.
There’s even research that shows simply being near our dogs can make us healthier, both physically and emotionally – they’re just that great!
As if you needed any more proof, these 35 stories – some simple, some breathtakingly noble – will prove that sometimes we just don’t deserve these creatures (but we sure are lucky to have them).
1. Cheer up, mom
“My dog brought me her favorite toy when she heard me crying in the bath after a very stressful day at work.”
Is it lifesaving? Not necessarily. But the simple act of a dog bringing her mom her favorite toy when she heard her crying in the bathtub was enough to make us misty-eyed.
If only humans had this kind of empathy!
2. Doggie dental assistants
“My mom’s dentist office has therapy dogs for nervous patients like her.”
Our teeth would be SO CLEAN if we knew we got to pet-friendly dogs every time we sat in the waiting room at the dentist’s office.
Can you believe we give dogs jobs that involve just making us feel good and they actually DO them?
3. When do we leave?
“Bonnie put her favorite toy on my packed suitcase… oh man, the feels.”
Dogs love us so much that they can sense when we’re about to leave and beg to come with us.
They require pretty much no alone time at all.
4. Life-saver
“Woke up to Leonard freaking out, jumping on me, trying to lick my face at 5 a.m. (which he never does), before I realized the fire alarm was going off, and there was smoke in the hallway of my apartment complex.”
Your dog doesn’t just need you alive, it wants you alive and well.
This pup made sure nothing bad happened to his master when a fire broke out.
5. Welcoming committee
“One of my best friends returned from Afghanistan tonight. This was his dog’s reaction.”
There’s pretty much no chance your dog will forget you, even if you’ve been away for a long time.
And the best part is they’re just as excited when you come home from work as when you come home from war.
6. Healing touch
“My 90-year-old mom is really sick. When we brought our dog to visit her at the facility, he threw himself down on top of her to give her all his love.”
Dogs have a 6th sense for those who are ailing.
And they’re happy to snuggle right up to us with their healing touch.
7. Someone to watch over me
“My friend’s newborn is less than 3 days old and the dog Zoey is already warming up to him.”
We’d say this goes beyond “warming up” to a little one. This dog looks like nothing less than a proud parent.
Maybe it’s just excited to have one more human to share its love with and protect.
8. Leave my dad alone!
“Dog chasing police car in Brazil, because his ‘owner’ (a homeless man) was taken to be ID’d.”
Dogs don’t care if you have a home. If you’re their person they will do whatever they need to do to make sure no harm comes to you.
Dog chasing police car in Brazil, because his “owner” (a homeless man) was taken to be ID’d. from r/AnimalsBeingBros
9. Hush, little baby
What an amazing fluffy buddy this little boy has. It simply won’t let him suffer alone.
We feel comforted just watching this.
10. Paging Dr. Feelgood
“This is Eddie. He works as a therapy dog for kids in intensive care. His little bag is full of toys for them. He even wears a hospital ID with his picture on it.”
Eddie takes his job more seriously than most humans.
We just hope there’s someone to give him all the love after he’s had a tough day at work.
11. Good boi
“We look after our uncle who is blind, our dogs have warmed up to him very well, lil Oscar puts the ball in the exact same space every single time so my uncle can pick it up.”
Sure, dogs will do anything to play with you, but it takes some level of empathy (or whatever the dog version of that is) for a pup to modify its behavior to make sure a human can play ball.
12. Cheer up, human
We’ll take them even on the best of days when things are going well.
We’re pretty sure they’ll improve any moment.
13. I’ll keep you warm
But he survived in part thanks to his dog Kelcey who stayed and kept him warm all night by laying on top of him and barking for help.
14. Master of doggos
“He also turns off the lights, opens doors, and he pulls me in my wheelchair up ramps! I couldn’t have gone to college without him,” she said.
15. Laying down his life
We’re not sure any human would do that for us.
16. One last goodbye
Amazingly, the pack of stray dogs who came inside the funeral home to stand guard weren’t even the same ones she fed – her funeral was in another city. It’s like they just knew.
17. Loyal to the end and beyond
But it was his dog Hawkeye who mourned the hardest.
The dog walked up to the front of the church and laid down next to his former master throughout the entire funeral service.
18. Moral support
These four dogs waited at the hospital door the entire time he got treatment, making sure he was ok.
19. On the lookout
It stands guard over its master while he sleeps in the airport, making sure no harm comes to him so he can sleep peacefully.
20. Partners in crime
“When you’re in time-out but your best bud won’t let you do time alone.”
How sweet is this?
This pup is not about to let his little friend feel alone in his time out. The punishment might fit the crime, but that doesn’t mean you have to serve your time all by yourself.
21. True love
To be honest, we don’t know the story here, but we don’t need to. This picture is worth a thousand words.
22. Daily dose of love
Walter loves the sanitation workers so much that he knows to wait at the gate for them every Monday morning.
We can imagine it’s the highlight of their day as well.
23. Dog of justice
Just look at this patient and sweet doggo lending a hand in a tough moment.
24. Until we meet again
The pooch couldn’t help but climb partway out the window for one last hug.
25. I’ll be there for you
People had passed by him assuming he was drunk, but the dog’s insistence encouraged someone to call an ambulance for him.
Chiquita stayed by his side throughout his trip to the hospital as well.
He survived his incident because of the dog. People would have continued to walk by assuming he was just a passed out alcoholic had it not been for her.
26. Hugs for everyone
She will hug just about any passerby who wants to stop to greet her and saves the biggest hugs for her dad.
It’s no surprise that she has nearly 200k Instagram followers as a result.
27. True partners
Dogs like him put their lives on the line every day for humans in need.
28. Taking the hit
Geo was hit, but recovered by his best pal’s side.
29. The hardest goodbye
“My friend saying goodbye to his dog.”
This dog owner was spending his final days in a palliative care facility and finally got to say goodbye to his lifelong friend.
Despite it being a sad situation, everyone in the photo was happy to bring about this reunion.
30. Getting fit
“My dog has seen me workout at home many times now, and he just brought me one of my dumbbells.”
Dogs want us happy AND healthy.
So when we can’t quite motivate ourselves to work out, it’s nice to know that they can give us that gentle nudge.
31. Waiting up
“This is my dog waiting for my dad to get home from work. This isn’t the best picture, but I think it’s very cute!”
No one will ever be more excited to see you than your dog. And your dog will be equally excited EVERY time it sees you after a few hours apart.
Doesn’t that feel great?
32. Til the end
Gunner, 11, had been doing fine until Daniel Hove took a turn for the worse. His family thinks that his owner being near death is what eventually broke his spirit.
33. I’ll never leave you
As workers tried to free the driver, stroking his dog is what kept him going.
This is Lucky after his owner was taken to the hospital, being comforted by the fire chief after his ordeal.
34. By your side
Hunter VanBrocklin was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at the age of two. But he’s learning to walk again thanks to his Great Dane service dog Wendy who went on hikes with him.
Wendy retired this year and remains with Hunter and his family and his new service dog, Gelato.
35. A hero with teeth
A man grabbed her headphones and pushed her to the ground, and Apollo snapped into action, biting the attacker on the leg.
She credits the dog with saving her life.
Apollo was just 5 months old at the time, but he knew exactly what to do.
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