A video of a dog appearing extremely excited to greet his owner has gone viral on TikTok.
The clip, which has received 8.5 million views, was shared on June 17 by TikTok user Andrew (@hi_its_andiii). The footage shows a person using a key to unlock a door and opening it to find a pug called Tater standing up behind a pet gate. The dog is seen looking up excitedly at the camera with his hilariously bulging eyes. Wagging his tail furiously, Tater is heard howling before the clip ends.
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The dog’s reaction to his owner comes as no surprise because “pugs live to love and to be loved in return,” says the American Kennel Club (AKC), the world’s largest purebred dog registry.
“The large round head, the big, sparkling eyes, and the wrinkled brow give pugs a range of human-like expressions” and “pug owners say their breed is the ideal house dog,” the AKC adds.
Our canine friends certainly share a bond with their humans. “This unique relationship between adult dogs and their human owners bears a remarkable resemblance to an infant attachment bond,” according to a May 2013 study published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One.
The study said: “Dogs are dependent on human care and their behavior seems specifically geared to engage their owners’ care-giving system.”
Tater the pug’s excitement may have begun from scenting the owner just outside the door. The sense of smell is “a principle sensory modality for dogs,” said a January 2020 study published in the International Journal of Comparative Psychology. Using natural body smell captured on a T-shirt, the study found that “dogs habituated to a familiar odor and dishabituated to an unfamiliar odor.”
The latest viral clip has left TikTok users in stitches, with Sara Maldonado Tuilo writing: “Yep that’s every day with a pug.”
Alexia posted, “My intuition says he’s excited to see you,” while Krist commented: “I think Tater loves you.”
User shopwithstefnow wrote that the dog must have been thinking: “where have u been!!!!!”
Lizzie Cain commented on the pug’s frightening level of excitement: “that would scare any burglar.”
Sam agreed, writing that the pug in the latest clip is “scarier than a pitbull I’d run back out if I was an intruder.”
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.
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