Little dog jumps on deaf brother every day to wake him — for the sweetest reason
Every time Andre Padecken returns home from work, he enjoys being greeted by all his rescue Pomeranians — well, all but one. One of the pups, Matti, noticed his brother Lio was missing out on seeing their dad, so he decided to get to the bottom of it. Matti searched for Lio and found the pup, who is deaf, still sleeping. It was clear to Matti that Lio was missing all the fun, so he nudged his brother awake, and they both joined the rest of the pack.
“We laughed so much at the sight of this tiny puppy jumping on his friend to wake him up,” Padecken told The Dodo. “It was incredibly sweet.”
From then on, Matti made it his mission to make sure Lio wouldn’t miss out on important events — whether it be guarding the house from the mail carrier, going for a walk or welcoming their parents home.
Padecken and his partner, Sandra Drolshagen, live in Oldenburg, Germany, with their six adopted Pomeranians.
Matti never forgets Lio. “While the others rush to the door, Matti pauses to see if Lio is with them,” Drolshagen told The Dodo. “If not, he’ll go find him and wake him up if necessary.”
Lio isn’t bothered by Matti’s nudges — and quickly springs to action in response — because he knows that his brother wouldn’t wake him up without good reason.
The pair share a special bond.
“Matti and Lio are inseparable,” Drolshagen said. “Every morning, while the others are still asleep, the two of them are already rumbling around, playing nonstop. When we open the garden door, Matti won’t leave the house unless Lio is coming along too.”
Lio, who was adopted a month before Matti, had a difficult time sleeping prior to Matti joining the family. Terrified of being alone, Lio only liked to rest if he had direct body contact with Padecken or Drolshagen so he’d be able to feel when they moved. Now he feels more comfortable sleeping thanks to Matti.
“With Matti there to wake him, Lio can now sleep peacefully anywhere in the house because he knows he won’t miss anything,” Drolshagen said.
It's in Matti’s nature to be adaptive to other dogs. On his first day home, he played with his new brother Murphy, a pup who has cerebellar hypoplasia, a neurological condition that causes mobility issues. “Murphy had tried for years to fit in, but the others never engaged with him because they were scared by the way he moved,” Drolshagen said. “It broke my heart to see Murphy trying to make friends but being rejected.” However, Murphy’s difference didn’t matter to Matti. Instead, the pup approached him, getting down to his level. “It was the best day of Murphy’s life,” Drolshagen said. “You could say Matti is our little ambassador of inclusion.”
Drolshagen said the addition of Lio — whom she describes as goofy and gentle — and Matti has been an “enormous blessing” for her family. The pair brings so much joy and energy to their home, and she notes how even the older pups seem to be more playful now. “Adopting them truly felt like destiny,” she said.
All of the couple’s Pomeranians were adopted. Lio was dumped by a breeder who didn’t want buyers to know that he had bred a puppy with a disability, and Matti was rescued from an illegal puppy trade.
In an Instagram post, Drolshagen wrote: “The sad truth is: The hype around Pomeranians is slowly fading — and what’s left behind are the consequences of years of overbreeding. The breed has been bred to the point of serious health issues, more and more people are losing interest, and these dogs are increasingly ending up in shelters.”
Drolshagen encourages others to consider adoption as a first choice because it saves lives. She cannot imagine her life without her rescue pups: “Coming home to a group of Pomeranians who show you just how much they love and miss you is the best feeling in the world,” she said.
