A golden retriever picking out her own treat after passing her service dog test has melted hearts after gaining viral attention.
On Monday, Reddit user u/TheBatWaffles shared a video of the moment they took their dog Bailey to the local Build-a-bear store to pick out a new toy.
With over 36,000 upvotes and hundreds of delighted comments, the heartwarming video shows Bailey picking out all the elements of her bear.
Statistics show 61 million American adults have a disability but there are only around 500,000 working service dogs in the U.S.
Training a service animal can cost as much as $50,000. Because of high demand and the cost of training these special pups, only around 2 percent of blind Americans use a guide dog and less than 1 percent of veterans that need a support animal currently have one.
The Reddit user who shared the video of his dog Bailey is epileptic and she has been trained to alert her owner to seizures before they happen.
The Epilepsy Foundation says that while seizure alert dogs may sense and notify their human companion of an upcoming seizure several seconds to 45 minutes beforehand, this cannot be relied upon. The dogs are mostly there to assist their human.
Trained dogs alert humans to a potential seizure by exhibiting marked changes in behavior including close eye contact, circling, pawing, and barking. While seizure-assist dogs can be trained to stay close to their companion during a seizure and fetch medications or a caretaker, it is important to know that they may or may not alert the person to a seizure before it happens.
Dr. Basim Uthman, associate professor of neurology and neuroscience at the University of Florida College of Medicine and Brain Institute, said that we still do not know how support dogs do this. "What we know on how dogs can alert to a seizure before it occurs is still a mystery. From a scientific standpoint, there is still so much that remains to be determined," he was quoted as saying by the Epilepsy Foundation.
In a later comment on the now-viral Reddit post, the dog owner wrote: "Bailey, short for Bailey's Irish Cream, passed her final test and is now a fully trained and official service dog. We took her to build-a-bear and she got to pick out both the bear and the clothes. She has great taste and went with Jack Skellington. Kudos to my wife for taking the videos and making a compilation."
Delighted by the video of the golden retriever picking out a treat, commenters on Reddit rushed to share their reactions.
One reply said: "She is a very good dog," while another wrote: "Whoever thought this was a good idea... I wholeheartedly agree!"
"My golden would have destroyed that bear right in the middle of the store," joked one Redditor, while another said: "This is nice. I also have a service animal, and they are the greatest things on this planet. Now I realize my animal needs a build a bear, too..."
Newsweek has reached out to u/TheBatWaffles for comment. We were unable to verify the details of this case.
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
Alice Gibbs is a Newsweek Senior Internet Trends & Culture Reporter based in the U.K. For the last two years ... Read more
