Julie and Jimmy Johnson have three dogs of their own that regularly sleep in the bed with them in their home in southeast Tennessee. However, one night, the couple woke up to find an unknown large tan dog sandwiched between them.
“You could see light coming into our curtains in our bedroom and I feel my husband not just roll over, but kind of startled, like almost a jump roll over and it woke me up,” Julie said. “And in a quiet but stern voice, he said, ‘Julie, whose dog is this?’ ”
Julie was admittedly confused, thinking it was one of their three dogs. But then after she rolled over, Jimmy and her only find an unknown dog in bed with them.
“My husband just went to kind of pull the blankets up a little bit, almost like they were going to protect him … and at that point, the dog got even further up on our pillows and snuggled in and was just 100% content being there,” Julie said.
They soon realized that the strange dog was not a threat but a cuddle buddy. She is also a bed hog because it pushed the Johnsons to both sides of the bed.
Julie thought that the dog must have had owners, so she decided to post a few photos on Facebook in what she said was “the weirdest post I have ever had to make” asking her friends if anyone recognized the dog.
Julie immediately received a message saying that they are the owners. They then discovered that the dog’s name was Nala who escaped to the woods and lost his collar while running away from thunderstorm. After a quick photo verification, one of Nala’s moms was on the way to get her.
“Our overly friendly pup, Nala, has hit an all-time record for ignoring personal space and added yet another trick to her long list of Houdini acts,” Cris Hawkins, one of Nala’s owners, wrote on Facebook. “Shame [on] Nala for somehow breaking into a stranger’s house and invading their personal space. Thankfully, the couple thought it was hilarious and they aren’t even mad about it.”
Nala was brought home and would sometimes meet for a playdate together with the three dogs of Julie and Jimmy. The fact that they are strangers no more.
The only mystery that remains is how exactly Nala got into the house without any of the other dogs barking. The working theory, Julie said, is that a door was left open or not closed entirely, and then Nala, who is terrified of thunder, saw the porch light and found her way inside during the storm.
