A video of a golden retriever with the "Christmas zoomies" desperately wanting to be petted by a Santa Claus figure has gone viral on TikTok.
The clip was posted by @aaronmarshall73 and has garnered over 946,000 views since it was posted on November 11.
The footage shows a dog called Arlo excitedly running across a living room, where a large Santa doll is standing next to a sofa. "Arlo is a golden retriever who will be turning one this coming Monday," the poster told Newsweek.
The pup is seen launching itself onto the couch and spinning around on it. The dog rubs its head against the hands and belly area of the doll a few times before jumping off the sofa and running off.
According to a later comment by the poster: "It's a daily occurrence, he'll go sit beside home waiting for a pet." Arlo also "typically will act this way when we have new friends or family over," the poster told Newsweek.
The pup's friendliness towards the human-like Santa figure is not surprising because our canine companions "can form relationships of comparable qualities with both humans and other dogs," according to a study published in Scientific Reports in March 2019.
Stanley Coren, a professor emeritus in the department of psychology at the University of British Columbia and the author of several books about dogs, explained in a 2013 article for Psychology Today: "Dogs that have been properly socialized will congenially approach virtually anything that is alive, regardless of its species, and, unless they receive hostile signals, they will attempt to establish a good-natured relationship.
"Although dogs are happiest when they are in a social situation, the species that they are interacting with is less important than the quality of the interactions."
'Christmas Zoomies'
Viewers on TikTok were delighted by the dog's adorable antics around the Santa figure in the viral clip.
Jennifer said: "Christmas zoomies at their finest!" and user29268337879215 wrote: "Omg he so happy to see Santa."
Jessica S said: "He's so excited! I love it!!" and Embodied.Light noted: "The pure joy."
Lusty_Leggings_Chic wrote: "lol he's like ok where my pets sir."
Mellisa 🇺🇸 agreed, saying: "This is so cute. He says why aren't you petting me. Come on Santa love me."
Becca Louise wrote: "wonder if he felt embarrassed when he realized."
User thriftygrace said the pup must have been trying to say: "I'VE BEEN A GOOOOD BOIII."
Lou wrote: "Omg how precious is this," and Kim Dodson said: "Omg I want this puppy so bad! What an angel!"
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to [email protected] with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
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