Dearman shielded the thankful pup with his umbrella and kept him dry while they waited for the pup’s family to return from their shopping.
The kind act was noticed by another shopper, Twitter user MelGracie_, who took a picture of the sweet scene and praised Dearman on Twitter.
In the tweet, she revealed that Dearman had explained his sweet gesture with the matter-of-fact words “‘well you never know how dogs feel about the rain’.”
The tweet soon went viral, and before he knew it, Dearman’s refreshing selflessness and concern for others had made him quite the hero online.
One person said: “That is amazing. The fella was like ‘I don’t mind the rain..but the dog might not fancy it’”
Another added: “Some heroes wear hi-viz jackets.”
One wrote: “Just beautiful..this man deserves a pay rise.”
“This is what I needed to see today. Give that man a raise!!” another said.
And someone else said: “Can this employee be recognised for going above and beyond?”
Morrisons replied to Mel’s tweet from their own account, saying: “Adorable!”
The pup, named Freddie
Freddie’s owner also responded, thanking Ethan and sharing a snap of the dog as a puppy.
David Cherry replied, saying: “Thanks to security man @dearmanethan for putting the umbrella over Freddie when it started to rain!
“So kind! He’s always so nice to my brother Stuart, my Dad and our Freddie!”