Tears as blind and deaf dog realizes owner is home after months apart

A video of a deaf and blind dog knowing its owner has returned after sniffing their hand has gone viral on TikTok.

The clip was posted two days ago by user @rachelhmarie and has received over 1.6 million views. A message overlaid on the video reads: “Reuniting with my deaf and blind senior dog after 2 months apart.”

The footage shows a pup laying on some cushions on the floor. The dog is shown looking up as the camera approaches and a hand is laid out in front of the pup’s nose. After a few licks of the hand, the canine gets up and draws closer toward the person, hollering and barking as the hand continues to pet the dog.

It’s not surprising that the pup in the clip was able to recognize its owner. The sense of smell is “a principal sensory modality for dogs,” said a January 2020 study published in the International Journal of Comparative Psychology.

The study, which was done using a natural body smell captured on a T-shirt, found that “dogs habituated to a familiar odor and dishabituated to an unfamiliar odor.”

In a September 2020 article for Psychology Today, Daniel Marston, a licensed psychologist specializing in cognitive-behavioral therapy, wrote that what’s interesting about the January 2020 study was that “it addressed how dogs reacted and used the smell of a familiar person even if that person was not actually there.”

A June 2015 article published by Cesar’s Way, the website of American dog behaviorist Cesar Milan, known from the television series Dog Whisperer With Cesar Millan, said that smell is “the most significant way that dogs interact with the world.”

Having a sniff around allows canines to know where things are and what they are. When smell is used in combination with a blind and deaf pup’s other remaining senses (touch and taste), your pet will have “a much easier time living normally,” the article added.

Several TikTok users were moved by the dog’s reaction in the viral video with almost 350,000 likes.

User @birdie_145 wrote: “Omg [oh my god] she thought you had left her forever because she couldn’t smell you.”

GloriaHuf posted that the pup must have been saying “where the fluff did you goooo?! Why did you fluffin leave me?! I LOOOOOOOVE You!”

Bicha_Woman commented: “he knows his mama!!”

Am wrote: “Dogs barking like that MELTS my heart. That baby missed you.”

User darksights posted: “poor baby he was soo happy he knew by smell sweetheart.”

Goblin wrote: “oh my goodness so adorable you can practically hear ‘mom mom momma’…”

JennyB agreed, noting “All i can hear is Momma Momma Momma.”

Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.

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