A dog thought she found an extra human who would give her extra pets at a department store, but she left empty-pawed after realizing her eyes deceived her.
The golden retriever spotted a "man" dressed in athletic clothes including shoes and a hat. She decided to test her luck and asked for attention in the December 19 Instagram reel posted to the account @mrs_howes.
However, it was not a man she saw but a mannequin who looked the part of someone who would pet her. She was walking down the aisle and her pace quickly picked up as soon as she spotted the shoes. Her tail was wagging excitedly as she intensely sniffed.
But the dog became confused when the mannequin wasn't returning the same joy she showed and she refused to accept that, jumping up and down.
The caption reads: "She loves people so much! She couldn't understand why he wasn't petting her."
It didn't matter how hard this dog tried to get the mannequin to pet her; nothing was going to work. How does one even explain to her that this lifelike object will never pay her any attention?
The only way to make it up to this dog would be extra treats and pets when she returned home.
Newsweek reached out to @mrs_howes via Instagram for additional comment.
How Viewers Reacted
As of Friday, the Instagram reel had over 894,000 views, 43,300 likes and 168 comments, but the highly watched clip brought in criticism of how dogs should behave in stores.
"This is the most adorable thing I'll see today. She is so sweet," a comment reads.
"Rude mannequin, pet the dog," joked one viewer. This mannequin should be fired for refusing to give the dog love.
A third user wrote: "If that mannequin doesn't pet her right now I'm gonna scream."
Viewers were commenting on what was likely going through the dog's mind: "If not friend, then why friend-shaped?"
Another added: "It has hands? Surely it can pet?"
While the video brought joy to a majority of users, some were disappointed the owner let the dog jump up like that, dirtying the clothes.
"I love dogs but it's the owner's job not to let the dog scratch and destroy stuff around," said a viewer.
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
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Liz O'Connell is a Newsweek Reporter based in North Carolina. Her focus is on pet news and videos. Liz joined ... Read more
