Rex, An Abused Dog, Has The Pawfect Siblings To Help Him Overcome His Anxiety

An adorable video of a Reddit user’s two dogs calming their nervous dog sister was shared a few months ago. In the video, a white, deaf dog named Winnie and a little Shih Tzu named Huxley are shown attempting to care for their larger, English/French Mastiff mix dog named Rex. Rex’s various abusive owners and extremely upsetting upbringing have left him with a severe case of anxiety-related behavior. A University of Helsinki study conducted in Finland found that dogs are especially prone to a variety of anxiety-like behaviors [1], particularly if the canines have experienced mistreatment throughout their development. After analyzing the survey data, they discovered that anxiety-like behaviors were present in 72.5% of the 13,715 Finnish companion dogs that took part in the study. [2]

Rex’s father claims that Rex suffered mistreatment from his prior owners when he was a puppy. Since he adopted him when Rex was just 1.5 years old, he is truly Rex’s fourth owner. He developed a dread of screaming, loud noises, clapping, brooms, and other objects because his second owners used a shock collar and abused him. He was even considered for euthanasia because to his “aggressive behavior.” Unfortunately, Rex developed resource guarding instincts, fear, and hostility as a result of the trauma he experienced with his second owners. This is why, despite their best efforts to assist, he didn’t fit in with the third family.

He then went to live with his present owner, who has been attempting to rehabilitate him for the past 2.5 years. Since joining the family, he has significantly improved and gone a long way. Rex can now hang out with his human siblings as well as his other dog siblings, despite the fact that he still displays apprehensive behaviors. The owner told Newsweek that when a dog is anxious, it usually wants nothing to do with what it is afraid of and will want to flee the situation as soon as possible. “I was single after my divorce and he was my first dog, so we kind of helped each other a lot.” The other two dogs just adore Rex. They try to give him lots of kisses if they detect that he’s feeling nervous. However, the owner claims that there is more to the story than that.

Shih Tzu Huxley is a joyful puppy who is fearless and loves everyone, therefore he is content to live in this loving home. But the white dog, Winnie, is truly deaf, so she depends on Rex in a way. They have grown rather close, and she goes everywhere with him. Winnie just accepts Rex for who he is and loves him despite the fact that he is quite talkative and occasionally even growls when he is afraid (not violent). Rex even assists her because he has grown so accustomed to her and her “disability.” He serves as her eyes and ears, and she even gets assistance from him in understanding what is going on. In actuality, Winnie and Huxley have been crucial to Rex’s comeback and his coming out of his shell.

With their unusual combination of charm and love, this trio has captured the hearts of many people online, garnering nearly 21K Reddit upvotes. You have no idea how happy this information makes me feel. Rex, Huxley, and Winnie are a few of my current favorite characters. One Reddit member wrote, “Oh, and you’re pretty awesome, too, for giving these wonderful dogs a happy home.” I’m overjoyed that Rex, in spite of everything he had to go through, was able to find such a wonderful family with the nicest dog siblings and owner. The owner remarked, “I’ve always said I’m really lucky to have such a cool dog.”