A video of a golden retriever with an instinct to protect his owner from danger has gone viral on TikTok.
The clip was shared two days ago by Tammy Gail (@tammygail7 on TikTok) and has received more than 1.2 million views. The footage shows a golden retriever walking along a pavement with a leash in his mouth. A message overlaid on the clip reads: "Ernest pulling me to the car away from the dog park, just before a dog fight broke out.
"I had no idea what was wrong until it happened. He knew, his instinct to protect us from danger shows his loyalty," the text added.
The dog's reaction to the pending danger in the latest video is not surprising. Our canine friends may be instinctively wired to be protective of their owners, according to an April 2020 study published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One.
The study, which looked at whether dogs would release their seemingly trapped owners from a large box, found that the pets released the human more often when the owner "called for help" (the distress test) than when the owner "read aloud calmly" (the reading test).
The study found that "dogs were as likely to release their distressed owner as to retrieve treats from inside the box, indicating that rescuing an owner may be a highly rewarding action for dogs."
The study showed that dogs displayed more stress behaviors in the distress test than in the reading test. While releasing the owner could be attributed primarily to other motivations, there were "multiple lines of evidence indicated that prosocial tendencies represented a significant component of the dog's motivation to rescue the owner."
A voice in the latest viral clip is heard saying, "What Ernest? What's the matter bud?" as the dog is seen pulling the leash while walking backwards.
The voice says: "This is weird... What is it? Are you worried?" Ernest is seen looking into the distance and looking around before the clip ends.
In a caption shared with another video, the poster wrote "a German Shepard at the dog park started a dog fight....Ernest knew. He is 87 lbs, and pulled me back to my vehicle with all of his strength. I love that he protected me. Ernest has never acted like this before."
'Super Impressive'
Several TikTok users were impressed by the dog's reaction in the latest viral video.
Mrs. A wrote the dog must have been thinking "this place is sketchy we gotta GO!!!"
Cindy posted: "Dang I've never seen a dog so truly concerned. And on a mission. Super impressive."
Stephaniefromny commented that "you should always listen to them.... their instincts are better than ours."
Lulu wrote: "I've learned. If my dog doesn't like a situation, then we need to leave. No questions just trust."
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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