A social media video of a woman feeding her dog water in an unconventional way while on a steep hike has amused audiences across the internet.
The woman opens up Digger the dog’s mouth and then pours water into it from her own mouth, almost like mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, in a bid to keep him hydrated on the strenuous walk.
The video’s creator shared that she’d forgotten to bring her dog’s water bowl along on the hike, and that she’d had to resort to keeping him hydrated like this instead.
“When you forget your dog dish and do this for an entire hike,” she wrote across the post.
Dogs need to drink plenty of water to keep their bodies hydrated, especially as they can heat up very quickly with their fur. As with humans, heatstroke in dogs can be incredibly dangerous and even fatal, so it’s important to make sure that your pet has consistent access to water while walking on a warm day.
North Carolina’s Bowman Animal Hospital and Cat Clinic writes online that dogs don’t understand the importance of staying hydrated themselves, and as a result simply rely on their owners to provide them with access to water at all times.
“There are many creative ways to keeping your pup hydrated,” Bowman Animal Hospital writes.
“Some of them include putting water bowls in multiple places throughout the house, getting larger water bowls, adding water to your dog’s food, and other methods such as drinking fountains or a dog-friendly smoothie.”
“Your pup does not understand the importance of keeping themselves hydrated, and as a result, they depend on your help to encourage them to drink enough water. Take a glance at the information below and find out more about how to keep your dog hydrated,” the animal hospital adds.
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What Do the Comments Say?
Since it was shared to the social media platform on May 8 by @HarleeHoneyman, the TikTok post has been liked by over 1.5 million users, while more than 4,000 have shared their amusement at the unconventional yet funny moment in the comments section below the post.
“This is actually genius and no water is wasted lol,” one user wrote.
Another user joked: “Mom, are you 100% sure there’s not another way to do this?”
“Never once have I thought about baby birding my dog with water. I think he’d end up suffocating me in my sleep,” a different TikTok-er added.
“My dogs prefer toilet water so this is a sanitary step up honestly. I approve of this method,” commented another user.
The TikTok post can be seen here.
Newsweek reached out to @HarleeHoneyman for comment via Instagram.
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