Even though Maisy the golden retriever is younger than her brother Levi, she’s protective of the miniature Australian shepherd.
Sierra and Josh Justus have had Levi, who is deaf, since September 2021, and Maisy joined their Elizabeth City, N.C., home the following April.
“We used to joke that even though she was younger, Levi was her baby. She was a mama bear to Levi, and that’s when she was a puppy,” Sierra tells PEOPLE. “And she’s still like that.”
The couple recently shared a video that illustrated the canine pair’s special bond. In it, Maisy hops onto the couch where Levi is sleeping to alert him that their pet parents have arrived home.
“I hope she never stops doing this for him,” they captioned the clip on TikTok, which has been viewed more than 16 million times.
Sierra Justice via TT Creative Media
The first time they spotted Maisy making the sweet gesture was in 2022 when the couple had returned from a Christmas parade. It’s happened about 10 times in the two years since.
“My heart just melted,” Josh recalls of witnessing the moment. “It was so cute.”
“We’re always paying attention now because that day just opened up our eyes like we could learn a lot from dogs,” Sierra adds.
The couple both describe Maisy as “very nurturing” with Levi.
“She does this thing where she’ll put her head over his neck if he’s anxious,” Sierra says. “She’ll comfort him.”
Josh says Levi’s personality is more playful, adding, “He’s just kind of always going up to her, bringing her toys and stuff.”
According to Sierra, the two dogs “cannot be alone.”
“They’re inseparable,” she says. “They have to have each other. Even when we let them out in the morning, if Maisy goes first, she’ll look behind and make sure that Levi’s coming.”
The couple says Levi and Maisy also enjoy traveling together and hiking on trails.
“Driving is really cute because they cuddle pretty much the whole car ride,” Josh notes.
Even during trips to the beach, when Maisy wants to stay in the water while Levi prefers the sand, Sierra says he’ll “watch her the entire time,” and she’ll check on him.
“Whenever she comes out of the water, he’ll go up to her and wiggle his little nub, and I feel like they’re communicating like, ‘You good?’ ‘You having fun? Are you okay?'” she continues.
Sierra Justice via TT Creative Media
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Josh calls the response they’ve gotten since posting the video on TikTok “very overwhelming.”
“It makes me so emotional thinking about it because everybody just loved them,” Sierra says. “We’ve gotten so many cool opportunities and talked to so many people who also have dogs that are blind or deaf or have other disabilities, and even their cats, too.”
Josh recalls coming home to find Sierra “happy crying” over the kind comments on the video.
“They’re just saying how good of a job that we’ve done and how much he trusts us,” Sierra says. “And how much Maisy trusts us and him.”
She adds of Levi, “He seriously changed our life.”
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