Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Dog Names

Okay, so, to be fair, Osiris the Egyptian god of the afterlife was named far before the name was featured in Tomb Raider, the reference and character used to frame one of Lara Croft’s storylines in her search for archaeological artifacts, but Osiris the dog still has a fantastic story that has taken the Internet by storm. 

About three years ago in 2015, pictures began to surface of a dog and a rat doing something that seemed to be nearly unheard of: playing together. Despite their difference in size, their mentalities seemed to be much of the same in that they felt no issue with taking an unconventional animal partner as a playmate. Then, as their social media presence grew from website to website and onto platforms such as Instagram, their story began to come to fruition.

Osiris, a 3-year-old (at the time) Dutch Shepherd therapy dog (who are particularly well-known for their excellent trainability and general obedience) came to live with a rat rescued at about four weeks old. Despite being in rough shape, the pet rat was nursed back to health and was eventually given a name: Riff Rat. When Riff came home with his new owner, he was quickly introduced to Osiris who was the tenured dog of the house. But instead of the normal dynamic that often exists between the two species, (the larger chasing the smaller around the house), the two quickly bonded in some pretty astonishing ways. 

Instead of attacking or chasing Riff, Osiris merely wanted to play and in turn, Riff followed suit. As their friendship blossomed, their owner decided to feature the pair on a social media account, which then detailed the great lengths to which their friendship extended. Outside of playing, the duo are shown to cuddle and even clean each other — Osiris will often lick Riff clean while Riff actually half climbs into Osiris’ mouth to clean his teeth. 

As a kind-hearted therapy dog, it seemed that Osiris was already preconditioned to be helpful and accepting of all those he came in contact with, as he had already helped foster and care for numerous animals previously, but his relationship with Riff became a nearly overnight sensation due to its unlikely nature. Although these types of friendships may be significantly uncommon, their friendly co-existence is not only adorable, but could teach us all a thing or two about preconceived notions of the acceptance of differences.