When rescuers from Moberly Animal Shelter pulled multiple beagles from a hoarding situation, they were a little worried. Luckily, they all seemed to be pretty healthy — except for River.

At 7 weeks old, little River weighed only 2 pounds. The vet said he was going to need extra care in order to get him healthy and thriving, so he was taken in as a medical foster by Lindsay Lenz at Just One More Farm. Lenz, who has over 200 rescues at her farm, was immediately determined to help nurse River back to health.

“Initially, he was very sick,” Lenz told The Dodo. “He had little to no energy, and slept most of the time. I made him his own kennel with a heating pad and multiple food options. For the first two days, I had to tube-feed him formula and medications … It was touch and go. On the morning of the third day, I was woken at 7 a.m. by the loudest, tiniest little howls! River woke up, and wanted to come out!”

Within days of arriving at the farm, River suddenly morphed into a feisty little puppy who was excited to play and explore the world. He was still incredibly tiny, though, so Lenz made sure to keep a close eye on him whenever he was out of his kennel. She was worried he might get lost otherwise — and one day, that worry came true.

“Three or four days later, I went to the restroom and came back out, only to find that River was nowhere to be seen,” Lenz said. “Initially, I wasn’t super worried, as we have had puppies hide and fall asleep before, but after 10 or 15 minutes, I was really starting to worry that he had slipped out the door with my teenager and had been lost.”

Lenz ran around the house in a panic, searching everywhere for River. She was about to call her husband for help when, suddenly, she heard the tiniest yawn.

“I started filming, and went looking,” Lenz said. “It took me a while, but I finally spotted River.”

As it turns out, River wasn’t lost at all — he’d been taking a nap in plain sight all along.

“[He was] tucked up asleep on top of the bin of dog toys,” Lenz said. “He was blended right in with all the stuffed animals … Initially, I was shocked, then laughed for a solid five minutes! I had LITERALLY walked past him at least a dozen times while searching. He was literally hidden in plain sight!”

To make matters even funnier, Lenz’s dog, Poobie, had been standing nearby the entire time, and from her face, it definitely seemed like she’d known where River was all along but had no interest in revealing his secret napping spot. After all, he clearly didn’t want to be disturbed.

“River was utterly unconcerned, and didnt even pick his head up when I found him,” Lenz said. “Instead he gave me side-eye, like he was saying, ‘You interrupted my nap!’ That just made me laugh even harder. Since then, I know exactly where to look if River goes ‘missing.’ It is one of his favorite napping spots!”

River hadn’t meant to scare his foster family. He just wanted to find the perfect napping spot, and despite all the commotion, he’s clearly so glad that he did.