Toddler climbs out of bed at night so he can sleep with his dog and it's so cute: 'They're best buds'

Editor's note: This article was originally published on November 4, 2022. It has since been updated.

After discovering her baby Finn cuddled up next to the family dog for several nights in a row, Paige Knudtson was curious to find out how it happened and set up a camera. The result was a hilarious video that showed Finn, a pacifier in his mouth, grabbing a blanket in the middle of the night, climbing down from his bed to sleep next to Brutus, their 4-year-old boxer dog. The video shows Finn moving about all over the dog as Brutus just calmly waits, not moving at all, for Finn to find the most comfortable position to sleep in. Paige tells Dodo that even when Finn was younger and used to sleep in a crib, Brutus used to sleep right next to the crib on the floor below. "He [Finn] needs his cup of water and Brutus to go to bed," Paige says. 

In the video, Finn is seen snuggling closer and closer to Brutus, moving all around that dog, finding an angle that would be most comfortable for him. Paige shares that Brutus has always been very patient and that he knows "little people are little people," adding that Brutus probably knows that eventually, he'll find a comfortable position to sleep in. “Whether it be in the dog bed, Finn’s bed, or the floor, the two always sleep together,” the Virginia mom told Bored Panda. “Initially, Brutus would sleep on the rug in front of his crib every night,” Paige said, but when the toddler started to sleep in a bed, the doggo began to crawl up and sleep on the bed with him, as if to “prevent him from rolling out of bed.” 

Paige, who is an ER nurse, shares that maybe Brutus has always slept with his tiny friend because "he senses he needs more protection." The young child had to go through some difficult medical obstacles when he was born, because of a congenital heart disorder. Finn had a cyanotic heart defect called transposition of the great arteries when she was 20 weeks pregnant with him. If the family hadn't discovered this information before his birth, “he would not be here with us today,” Paige expressed.

“Finn had his arterial switch at 11 days old and did great and after seven weeks, a few unexpected complications, and an additional surgery, he was discharged,” Paige said, adding that at that moment, “it was as if Brutus just knew Finn needed some extra close monitoring and he has been by his side ever since.” Brutus must love and want to protect Finn, which even explains why the dog would tolerate all the rolling around that Finn does, for hours. "They definitely like to be around each other. Brutus will follow Finn into whatever room he's in. Brutus will curl up right next to him. They're just best buds, they're always together," Paige told Dodo.

Just like Brutus, another doggo was being hailed for his protectiveness amid the Tennessee floods back in 2021. Cooper, a 6-year-old dog, swam through floodwaters to save a young autistic boy. When the flood came, the Great Pyrenees-Labrador mix was swept into the river. Cooper swam to the aid of the boy as he was clinging to a wall and stayed with him until rescuers arrived. "We've been calling him Big Hero Dog all week long," Veterinarian Dr. Jessica Peek said about the adorable protective dog. The story of Cooper's heroic rescue first came out in a Facebook appeal to find his owners, wherein Zaneta Warren, a woman who was rescued along with the boy and the dog, revealed that "he has a bit of a story behind him told to me by a young autistic man who was on the boat with him."