Back in April, Katie Snyder sent her dog Leia to temporarily live with her dad.

She never expected that her dad and Leia will have such a strong bond.

Katie described Leia as ‘not your typical cuddly dog’ and is ‘very independent’, but the sweet photos showed Leia’s much softer side.

While Katie knew that Leia and her dad got along well, she realized the strength of their bond after seeing Leia’s reaction to her dad not coming home one night.

It turns out that Katie’s parents were out celebrating their 40th anniversary when her dad suddenly became sick and had to be rushed to the hospital. He had to stay overnight at the hospital and, because of the ongoing pandemic, Katie’s mom wasn’t able to stay with him and returned home to Leia alone.

Obviously, it wasn’t just Katie’s mom missing her husband, Leia was devastated and sat by the door with her head bowed, patiently waiting for her dad to come home.

Katie’s mom took a photo of Leia sat by the door and sent it to Katie. 

“When she sent me that picture, I immediately burst into tears. It absolutely killed me. I was able to see how much [Leia] truly loved my dad and that she was missing him,” Katie said in The Dodo.

Fortunately, Katie’s father returned home the next day, and he and Leia were reunited.

While Leia was only supposed to be staying at Katie’s parents’ on a temporary basis, after seeing the relationship between her dad and Leia blossom the way it has, she’s decided to have her four-legged friend stay there permanently.

“When it comes to loyalty, she is the true definition of a dog. He is her human now,” Katie said.