“It made our hearts explode” 🥺️

This is Tiny Tim — a petite senior dog with a big heart and an extreme love of naps. A few years ago, the small pup went viral for constantly sleeping on his Great Pyrenees brother, Ben’s, back. But after Ben crossed the rainbow bridge last year, Tim lost both his best friend and favorite bed.

Tiny Tim is just one of many rescue pups in his home. But even with other big dogs just like Ben around, Tim never cozied up with anyone else as he would with his late best friend. For the most part, Tim slept by himself after Ben’s passing, until a giant plush dog arrived in the mail one day.

Tim found comfort in the plush dog for a while. Every night, when he would normally climb onto Ben’s back for some rest, Tim curled up on the plush dog and dreamt about Ben.

Jenny Leech, Tim’s mom, hoped the tiny pup would eventually develop a similar bond with her other foster dogs, but he showed no interest in them. Then, one day, Thor showed up.

“About three months after Ben’s passing, we heard about a 7-year-old Great Pyrenees named Thor who needed a new home,” Leech told The Dodo. “We went to visit him, and within 15 minutes, he was sitting next to us and giving us his paw.”

Leech brought Thor home, where he settled in seamlessly. All of Thor’s new rescue siblings wagged their tails as they greeted him for the first time, but Tim was naturally hesitant. After a while, Thor’s gentle demeanor lured the tentative pup in.

“When Thor arrived, he was just so gentle and calm,” Leech said. “I think Tim sensed that, and after a few weeks, he decided to take a seat on Thor.”

After months of sleeping on his own, Leech was shocked when she looked over at Tiny Tim one day and found him curled up on Thor’s back, just like he would with Ben.

“It made our hearts explode,” Leech said. “It just looked so natural to Tim, and while Thor got a little wide-eyed, he didn’t get up or try to move.”

Tim took to his new bed swimmingly, and Thor quickly adapted to his brother’s needs. Now, whenever Tim needs somewhere warm to sleep, he goes straight to Thor.

“Tim hasn’t shown any interest in finding what he had with Ben with any of our other fosters, just Thor,” Leech said.

As much as Leech loves seeing Tim and Thor together, she knows that no one can replace Ben. Tim and Thor’s relationship is reminiscent of his relationship with Ben, but there are some key differences.

“This new relationship is very different than Tim’s relationship with Ben,” Leech said. “I love that it’s a different but still a special relationship compared to how Tim is with any of the other dogs.”

While Tim doesn’t sleep on Thor quite as often as he would with Ben, their mutual naptimes are becoming a more frequent occurrence.

The tiny pup is strong enough to sleep on his own, but he’s so happy that, finally, he has a new best friend to rest his head on.