Matthew decided to bring some extra joy into his home by getting a new puppy. Everyone in the household was thrilled to welcome Rylee—except for Oskar.
Oskar took some time to adjust to the new family member. “We decided to bring a puppy home one day. Oskar was really curious as to what we just brought into his home,” Matthew told The Dodo. “Right off the bat, their relationship was a little uneasy. Rylee was a little too hyper.”
Rylee was full of energy, eager to meet Oskar, and constantly jumping and sniffing around him. Oskar, however, was not initially thrilled and would swat at Rylee whenever he got too close.
Eventually, Oskar realized that swatting wasn’t working. “Oskar was introducing himself so he’d let him [Rylee] keep coming up to him. And Oskar just kinda lays there,” Matthew explained. “Rylee will come up bite his tail, bark, walk away, come up, bite his leg, and Oskar is just staring at me the whole time like, ‘What the hell did you bring into this house?’”
The first month was challenging, but things began to change after three months. Oskar started to think Rylee might not be so bad after all. They began to bond, with Oskar looking after Rylee, cuddling, and even cleaning him, despite Rylee growing much larger than Oskar.
By the time Rylee was nine months old, they had become best friends. Rylee was Oskar’s “baby.” Matthew noted, “They were spending a little more time with each other than they were with us. They were sleeping in the bed together. We were watching Oskar kind of raise Rylee. It’s what we tell people. Oskar’s always been like a parent or supervisor figure in the house. He kind of surveys the land and watches over everybody.”
After about a year, Oskar and Rylee were inseparable. They now groom and lay on each other, even though Rylee is five times bigger than Oskar. They love to cuddle, play, and simply be together.
These abusers are facing numerous charges of animal abuse, but we must also ensure they never own or interact with pets again and receive counseling for their twisted psychological states.
“It’s been really nice to see them develop a relationship,” Matthew said. “When we’re actually petting and playing with Oskar, Rylee will come up and try to take our attention away or more often try to take Oskar’s attention away and they’ll just have their own little thing with each other. It takes some responsibility off of us because Rylee feels like he’s being pet as much as he needs to be.”
Their bond is truly heartwarming. You can watch it blossom in the video below.