Rescue Dog Digs The Perfect Hole — And Then Promptly Falls Asleep In It

When Wilbur first arrived in his foster home after being rescued by One More Dog Rescue, he was terrified of absolutely everything. He was only 9 months old, but clearly, his start to life had not been easy at all. His foster family knew they could teach him that the world wasn’t so scary, though, with a little patience and a lot of love. Only a few months later, he had become a completely different dog, and his family officially adopted him. 

“When we first got him, he was terrified and shut down and scared of everything,” Kirstin LaRoche, Wilbur’s mom, told The Dodo. “I had to carry him out of the shelter because he was so nervous. He has since blossomed into a happy, silly, clumsy, confident, playful dog. He is quite the character.”

At first, Wilbur was too scared to spend much time outside. Everything out in the world terrified him: the wind blowing, birds chirping, every little sound and movement. Now that he knows he’s safe and loved, he loves being outside and exploring — sometimes a little too much. 

Recently, Wilbur has taken up the naughty habit of digging holes around his backyard. At first, his mom wasn’t thrilled … until she realized why Wilbur was digging the holes. 

Instead of just digging random holes and then leaving them, Wilbur decided to use them for the best possible thing: taking long, peaceful naps outside. 

“I walked past our door and happened to see him sound asleep out of the corner of my eye,” LaRoche said. 

Wilbur’s mom couldn’t stop laughing when she first discovered him fast asleep in his hole, slumped over in the funniest way. He was so still she had to check that he was OK, and the goofy rescue dog was very startled when she woke him up from his deep backyard hole sleep.

“I’m not sure how long he had been there for, but I tapped on the window to get his attention and he woke up immediately,” LaRoche said. 

A little embarrassed that his mom had caught him both digging holes AND falling asleep in them, Wilbur came running into the house immediately, eager to apologize — but, of course, it’s very hard to stay mad at that face. Wilbur’s family filled his hole back in to keep their yard clean and safe, but they have a feeling it won’t stay that way as soon as Wilbur decides he’s ready for another nap. 

“Sadly for him we have since filled the hole back in but I wouldn’t be surprised if he digs himself another napping area soon,” LaRoche said. 

There’s no telling exactly what Wilbur went through in his first nine months of life, but now he’s living the dream, digging holes to nap in whenever he pleases, and his family couldn’t be happier with how far he’s come.

“I didn’t want to adopt another dog, especially a puppy, and especially because we already had three dogs,” LaRoche said. “But to have a dog that’s in your care go from shut down and terrified, to growing and blooming into an amazing, happy, confident dog, is unlike any feeling or experience in the world and we just knew we couldn’t let him go.”