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By Alyce Collins
Senior Reporter
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The incredible moment a Bernese Mountain dog alerted his owner to the fact the cat had become stuck has left the internet truly amazed.
Dog owner Katie, 45, took to social media to share the heartwarming footage of her 3-year-old Bernese Mountain dog, named Rigatoni, taking matters into his own paws. At the time, Katie’s other pet, a cat named Daphne, was scratching one of the chairs, leading Rigatoni, nicknamed Riggie, to go over and put a stop to it. Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that Daphne’s claw was stuck in the chair.
Riggie tried barking to get his owner’s attention, but Katie told Newsweek that she assumed he was “being his normal loud self.” That approach clearly wasn’t working, so Riggie resorted to using his speech buttons instead. The pet cam footage shows the large dog pressing the “kitty” speech button to finally make Katie aware.
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“In the video, Daphne started scratching the chair and Riggie got up to tell her to stop,” Katie, of the Greater Atlanta Metro area, said. “I did not get involved because usually she stops when he walks over. But this time, Riggie started barking, so I assumed that she kept scratching and told her to stop.
“When I did not respond, he went to use his kitty button to alert me to the fact that her claw was stuck in the chair. I was amazed by his concern for his sister and so proud of him for being resourceful and intelligent enough to use another method to alert me."
The footage was shared on the dog’s dedicated social media accounts (@riggietheberner on Instagram and TikTok), with the caption joking that “not all heroes wear capes.” In just a matter of days, the clip has amassed over 13.1 million views on Instagram and 3.5 million views on TikTok.
As soon as Katie realized what happened, she “felt bad” for not responding to Riggie’s initial barks. He’s very vocal and a demand barker, so Katie often tunes it out. She has learned that his higher pitched bark is usually his demanding tone, whereas he uses a much deeper bark when he’s concerned about something (in this instance, his tone was higher pitched).
Daphne often scratches the chairs and Riggie has taken it upon himself to personally monitor her antics. Indeed, Katie and her husband hardly need to do anything to make her stop because Riggie “handles it” instead.
“Riggie is the smartest dog I have ever owned. There have been several situations where my husband and I are shocked by his intelligence, and he continues to surprise me with something like this,” Katie said.
Once Daphne’s claw was freed from the chair, she quickly ran off and found a spot under the table. Eventually, she went and sat down beside Katie as though nothing even happened. Fortunately, she was completely unharmed by what happened.
Riggie’s intellect and concern for his sister’s wellbeing has certainly amazed the internet, as many took to the comments to praise him for being such a good boy. This has led to over 650 responses on Instagram and over 300 on the TikTok video.
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Katie told Newsweek: “I think videos like this show that they do understand the meaning of certain words and how to use them in context. He has 18 buttons and that was the one he chose in this circumstance. Hard to argue with that.”
Among the responses to the footage, one comment reads: “Awh, I love that! Good job Riggie.”
Another Instagram user wrote: “Never ever doubt your dog trying to get your attention!”
While another person replied: “Well we know who your favorite pet is lol.”
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to life@newsweek.com and they could appear on our site.
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