8 heartwarming dog stories to get you through the week

Owner Rashida Ellis previously told Insider that while she was working from home, she noticed Big Poppa, her 3-year-old English bulldog, was whining on her apartment patio. Ellis decided to take a picture to send to her friends.

"I posted the picture and thought nothing of it," Ellis said. The photo has been retweeted thousands of times since it was first shared in April.

Ellis has also continued to post updates on what Pop is doing in quarantine and said he just wants to play with friends again once the pandemic is over.

"Pop loves children more than anything in the world," she said.

Karen and Mark Heuwetter, the owners of Six Harbors Brewing Company in Long Island, took their dogs, Barley and Buddy, on beer runs during the coronavirus pandemic.

"We took the dogs on a few trips and people were loving the dogs when they came ... so we added them," Mark told the New York Daily News. "The dogs make a nice compliment to the delivery service. They put smiles on people's faces."

It's important to note that the dogs were pictured carrying makeshift four-packs around their necks, but the cans are actually empty, and the humans are the ones handing customers the beer.

In May, Bogart's owner, Ranveig Bjørklid Levinsen, told Insider she had her daughter paint a crown with a royal robe in one hole and a jester hat in the other so it would look funny when their dog poked his head through the fence.

"I thought it would be fun to have something like at the amusement parks when you poke your head and have your picture taken through the holes," she said. "I get the ideas but I'm not good at painting. My youngest daughter painted the costumes around the holes."

Andrew Cotter shared a video on Twitter of the annual performance review he had for his two dogs, Mabel and Olive.

In the clip, Cotter told his dogs they had ruined the sofas and still hadn't managed to catch a single squirrel. He also read a message from management for each of them.

"You're a good dog. Yes, you are. Who's a good dog? You're a good dog," he said to Olive.

"This is one of the things that we have to address, the lack of focus at times," Cotter told Mabel after she had technical difficulties logging on to the call.

At the end of April, the overweight chihuahua was rescued by the Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge in Oakland, New Jersey, after he was found locked inside a small box on the side of Route 80.

Megan Brinster, the executive director of the animal refuge, told Insider that Stanley was "frozen in fear," but after spending a week at an animal control facility, he was placed with an owner who has experience caring for dogs with medical issues and disabilities.

The owner said they would help Stanley reach a healthy weight because when he was rescued, he weighed around 21 pounds — which is about twice what he should be.

"We know that [Stanley] is just being showered with so much love and affection," Brinster said of his new owner.

Moose has been working as a therapy dog for six years at Virginia Tech's Cook Counseling Center.

In February, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, so the university decided to honor him during the 2020 virtual commencement because of all the students he's been able to help.

"It was the right place at the right time because we wanted to honor his years of service," his owner and licensed counselor Trent Davis told Insider. "To honor him knowing that his life span has been shortened by cancer. It's not one of those where we say, 'Well, we will wait another year and give him a degree then.'"

Three pilots volunteered to help Canine Companions for Independence, a nonprofit organization that gives trained assistance dogs to people with disabilities free of charge.

The pilots brought 108 golden retrievers, Labrador retrievers, and mixed puppies to their new, temporary homes in Oregon, southern California, Washington, Idaho, Texas, and Montana.

Tika's owner, Thomas Shapiro, started an Instagram account for the Italian greyhound in 2016, and it has since racked up thousands of followers.

Shapiro also has an entire line of merchandise dedicated to his fashionable dog and her custom-made outfits.

"It's very important that not only does she look good but feels good too," Shapiro, a software developer in Canada and Tika's owner, told Insider in May. "It's a mix of fashion and practicality, which is what everyone should strive for."

• Read more:
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• An Instagram account cleverly Photoshops dogs into photos of food — see if you can spot them
• 19 ways people around the world have spread joy to brighten up your week
• 10 dog breeds that look totally different as puppies