A couple of months ago, a Reddit user posted a heartwarming video of his two dogs comforting their anxious dog sibling.

The clip captures a small Shih Tzu dog named Huxley and a white, deaf dog named Winnie trying to take care of their big brother, Rex, which is an English/French Mastiff mix. 

Rex suffers from a bad case of anxiety-related behavior due to a very disturbing upbringing and multiple abusive owners.

According to a study conducted by the University of Helsinki, in Finland, dogs are particularly prone to a wide range of anxiety-like traits,^[1] especially when those dogs are abused throughout their upbringing.

Looking at the survey data, they found out that 72.5% out of 13,715 pet dogs from Finland that participated in this research displayed anxiety-like behaviors. ^[2]

According to Rex’s dad, Rex was abused as a puppy by his previous owners. He is actually Rex’s fourth owner, and he got him when Rex was 1.5 years old.

His second owners would beat him and use a shock collar on him, so now he has a fear of screaming, loud noises, brooms, clapping, etc. They even wanted to euthanize him because of his “aggressive behavior”.

Unfortunately, due to the trauma he suffered with his second owners, Rex started exhibiting resource guarding tendencies, fear, and aggression, which is why he didn’t blend into the third family, even though they wanted to help.

So, he came to his current owner, who has spent the last 2.5 years trying to rehabilitate him. 

He has come a very long way, and has made vast improvement since he first came to the family.

Although he still exhibits anxious behaviors, Rex now is able to hang out with his other dog siblings and his hooman siblings.

“With anxiety, the dog generally wants nothing to do with whatever it’s scared of, and will try to get out of that situation as quickly as it can,” the owner told Newsweek. “He was my first dog post divorce, when I was single, so we kind of helped each other a lot.”

In the video, you can clearly see how the two other dogs simply adore Rex. Whenever they sense that he is feeling anxious, they run to him and try to shower him with kisses.

But, according to the owner, the story actually goes even deeper than that.

Huxley (a Shih Tzu) is a puppy that loves everyone and fears nothing, so he’s just happy to be there and part of this happy and loving family.

However, Winnie (the white dog) is actually deaf, so she kind of relies on Rex. They have become really close, and she follows him everywhere.

Even though Rex is very vocal, and sometimes even growls when he is scared (not aggressive), since Winnie can’t hear him, she just accepts him the way he is and loves him.

Rex is so accustomed to her and her “disability” that he even helps her. She kind of relies on him to be her ears, and even helps her understand what is going on.

Winnie and Huxley have actually played a huge role in Rex’s recovery and in bringing him out of his shell. 

This unique trio and their outpouring of affection have won the hearts of many people online, generating almost 21K upvotes on Reddit.

“I can’t tell you how much this information sparks joy in me. Winnie, Rex, and Huxley are some of my current favorite people. Oh, and you’re pretty awesome, too, for giving these wonderful dogs a happy home,” commented one Reddit user.

I am so happy that after everything he went through, Rex was lucky enough to find such an amazing family with the best owner and the best doggie siblings.

“I’ve always said I’m really lucky to have such a cool dog,” the owner said.

References: 

[1] Cohut, M., PhD. (2020, March 10). Many dogs are prone to anxiety, study finds. Medical News Today.

[2] Salonen, M., Sulkama, S., Mikkola, S., Puurunen, J., Hakanen, E., Tiira, K., Araujo, C., & Lohi, H. (2020). Prevalence, comorbidity, and breed differences in canine anxiety in 13,700 Finnish pet dogs. Scientific Reports, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-59837-z