Service dogs have a remarkable way of knowing when someone needs comfort, even if they’ve never met before.

One traveler learned that firsthand when a friendly four-legged helper decided to stick close to them on a shuttle ride home.

The experience stuck with them long after getting off the bus.

Keep reading for the full story!

A stranger’s service dog alerted on me

I was coming home from a vacation yesterday, and after our flight, we were on a shuttle bus to the parking lot.

A family with a service dog got on the shuttle at the last moment, and the group ended up splitting up.

My parents were across from me, and the parents of the other group were to their right, while their two kids (a teen and an adult) were to my right, with the service dog being with the teen.

But they never expected the service dog to give them so much attention.

The dog seemed a little restless and kept leaning against my leg. Its ears kept brushing against my hand, and a few times, it even rested its head on my knee.

I thought maybe it was looking over at the parents or something when it did so. I did my best to pay no attention to it because it was a service dog.

They try to let the dog do it’s job, but it became increasingly hard to ignore.

I don’t know much about training dogs, especially not service dogs, plus this was a stranger’s dog, so I figured the best course of action was to do nothing to encourage the behavior and ignore the dog completely.

And I like dogs, so this was a little bit torturous. I just had to keep focusing on the fact that I could pet my parents’ dog all I wanted when we got back to their house, haha.

But after they got off the bus, they started questioning what the dog’s odd behavior could have meant.

After the shuttle dropped us off, I was joking to my parents about the dog, how it had drooled a bit on my leg, and how badly I wanted to pet it. Then my mom told me she’d heard the other mom saying that the dog was alerting.

It honestly hadn’t even occurred to me that that was what the dog was doing.

I just hope it was an anxiety alert dog, because I already know I have anxiety—and not a “you’re about to die” service dog.

Animals are just too pure for this world.

What did Reddit think?

Service dogs do such an important job for those in need.

This commenter provides some needed reassurance.

Maybe a quick doctor’s visit would be prudent — just to rule some things out.

Service animals really are incredibly trained.

These animals really are incredibly intuitive.

They may never know exactly what the dog sensed, but they’ll always remember its gentle presence.

Humans aren’t the only ones that can show kindness.

If you liked that story, check out this post about a group of employees who got together and why working from home was a good financial decision.