A frighteningly funny snap of a “hellhound” caught mid-yawn is taking over Reddit—just in time for Halloween.
Posting to the “What’s Wrong With Your Dog” forum on October 24, Sandy (u/Emptydata_Enzo) shared a photo of her dog, Dinah. Caught in the middle of a yawn, she looks more monster than Bernese Mountain Dog, with red eyes and a tongue to rival Gene Simmons.
In just 24 hours, the cute but creepy picture has received over 15,000 upvotes and 90 comments from Redditors comparing the pup to famous demons and death metal stars.
Sandra Johnson
A Creepy Canine Fact
The thought might make you shudder, but our canine companions have three lids per eye. Scientifically known as the “nictitating membrane,” this extra eyelid is responsible for the hair-raising red-eye effect in Dinah’s photo.
While humans have two eyelids—one at the top and one at the bottom—the nictitating membrane is located at the corner of their eye. It’s purpose is to protect a dog’s eyes from injury and keep their corneas clean, but it also produces additional tears and antibodies to fight infections.
Although normally hard to spot, this extra eyelid can make an appearance when your dog is falling asleep, or in this case, yawning. This eyelid is usually black or brown, with pink eyelids like Dinah’s actually rather rare.
‘Absolutely the Sweetest Dog’
Dinah lives in Connecticut with her owners Sandy and Don, and her sister Perri, also a Bernese Mountain Dog. Originally bred as a show dog, a mild case of hip dysplasia put an early end to her career. The couple adopted Dinah when she was two years old, shortly after losing their beloved dog Enzo.
“[The breeder] mentioned that she had a girl she was looking to place,” Sandy told Newsweek.
“She knew Dinah would be better in a home with only one other dog as she was very timid and did not do as well in [her previous] home with 10 other dogs.”
Despite her appearance in the spooky snap, Sandy swears five-year-old Dinah is “not a demon” in real-life. In fact, she’s “absolutely the sweetest, most timid and sensitive dog” Sandy has ever met.
“She has an attachment to her rubber chickens,” she told Newsweek.
“She has had the same ones since we got her. We call them her babies. I think they are more of a security blanket – she grabs one whenever she gets excited, or when I take them out to get the mail or pee. She keeps them in her mouth the entire time.”
Sandra Johnson
‘You Need to Run’
Alongside the photo of Dinah, Sandy wrote: “Caught her mid-yawn. Not sure if she needed to be exercised or exorcised.”
Reddit users suggested a little of both, with zoltsz suggesting “Jesus Christ and holy water.”
“First, one. Then, the other?” advised chaosmanager.
“THE POWER OF SNOOT COMPELS YOU!” said Battl3_BorN775.
“Only one thing needs to happen,” commented AfrothunderII. “You need to run.”
Others compared Dinah to famous pop cultural terrors, with barefootintheforest seeing a resemblance to Mr Pickles, the evil pet dog from the Adult Swim animation of the same name (2013-2019).
“There is no Doggo, only Zuul,” wrote Useful_Ingenuity, referencing the otherworldly villain from the first Ghostbusters movie.
“This dog knows Dean,” said jmccasskill66, referring to the demon hunter from the TV show Supernatural, who battled more than his fair share of hellhounds during a 15-year run.
“Looks like she enjoys heavy metal,” said Barangat, while heart_RN115 called her the “Gene Simmons of dogs.”
Still, hellhound or not, Reddit users were more than willing to pet the pup.
“Not going to lie. I’d still go over and try to pet even at the cost of my soul,” said MisterWileyOne.
“I’d boop that, but I’d be ready to run away very fast,” agreed cubemissy.
“No hell hound here, just the sweetest baby, ever!” commented WholesomeLove20.
While GeneralMinimum2391 reckoned Dinah just “needs a hug!”
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to [email protected] with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
