Sweet dog learns that stuffed animals help improve his owner's mood, leading him to give his owner a new toy every time they come home: ‘I can't help but smile’

Bar Mor Hazut • Lead Editor

Jun 3, 2026 6:45 AM EDT

Even though we can't really talk to our dogs, we can always feel how deeply they understand and know us.

The bond that is formed between a doggo and their owner is hard to describe in words. You have to experience it in order to understand it, because it really is that deep. Since we hoomans don't speak doggo language, and they can usually only understand a few words in our language, communication becomes unique and unspoken. Yet it is often stronger than anything we can say in actual words.

When we get home from a difficult or mentally draining day, our dogs can tell as soon as we step through the door. They understand our body language better than we do, and they know what to do to make us feel better.

It goes the other way around as well. We can usually tell if something is off with our dog just by the way they walk alongside us, or by the slightest shift in their routine. We are there for each other in ways that can't be compared to anything else, and the love we share is simply irreplaceable.

That is definitely the case between the hooman who shared the story below and their doggo, which made our hearts warm just by reading about it. This hooman shared on Reddit's r/dogs community how they were struggling mentally in the past couple of months. Their therapist suggested they get a stuffed animal as a comfort object, so they brought in a cute teddy bear to sleep with at night.

This hooman's dog immediately understood the stuffed animal's purpose and decided to join in and help his hooman feel better. Every day, he would greet his hooman at the door with a new stuffed animal, and he would do it to no one else but them. It was clear this dog understood the assignment and was ready to do whatever it takes to make his hooman's mood improve. It's safe to say he was very successful…

via Jesper Brouwers

^{Black and white short-coated dog holding a brown bear plush toy}
I got a new bedmate and my dog's reaction just melts my heart

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via marieke koenders

^{Small brown dog surrounded by stuffed animals.}
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