Pets have a way of winning over our hearts without even trying. Sometimes, it's a "diva" dog staring at its own reflection or an adorable pup wagging its tail whenever an owner makes eye contact with it. But now, the Internet is in awe because of a photo of what appears to be a sad Golden Retriever that has gone viral on Reddit, melting the hearts of hundreds of users.
In the photo, the dog appears to be staring into the window while leaning on the side of the couch. The post was shared by user u/shiftypoo269 on the r/rarepuppers subreddit on Wednesday, captioned "Letting his feelings known." Since then, it's managed to amass 16,900 upvotes as well as 104 comments.
In typical Reddit fashion, users didn't hesitate to take to the comments section to throw in a few jokes and alternative captions that would suit the photograph.
"Dear Diary, My dearest human hasn't given pets, treats or called me a good boy in 45 minutes. I'm afraid dearest human doesn't love me anymore and I shall die of starvation and neglect. Woe. Woe is me," one commenter wrote.
"Cuddle him immediately," other users demanded.
Another user jokingly asked: "Were there dramatic sighs to be heard all through the house?," to which the OP replied: "Yes."
"A normal Goldie having one of daily existential crises," another commenter added.
The OP also took to the comments section to reveal that the dog's name is Toby: "Toby doesn't have an issue expressing himself. Admittedly didn't quite nail the focus, but I think it still works," they shared.
"In reality I'm just in the next room working (still [working from home]). Though if you were to ask him...," the OP added.
A number of Reddit users also praised the OP for photography skills.
"This is the kind of photo you frame," one commenter wrote.
"Beautiful photo," another user agreed.
Golden Retrievers are known to be great companion pets. As shared on the Spruce Pets website by rescue expert Laura Mueller, Golden retrievers are extremely popular in the U.S., both as emotional support animals and as family oriented pets.
According to Statista, the Golden Retriever has been recorded as one of the top eight dog breeds that are most often registered in the U.S. in both 2010 and in 2020.
In addition, information published on the Retrievershub website, which regularly offers helpful retriever-related tips and advice, suggests that Golden Retrievers are more emotional than the Labrador retriever breed.
Although they don't have the same emotional range as humans, Golden Retrievers can experience a basic set of emotions, including happiness, fear, anxiety, sadness, anger and more. Newsweek has previously covered how seasonal changes can affect your dog's emotions.
Man's Best Friend
In fact, dogs are generally capable of relating to and understanding our emotions by reading our body language, smelling the changes in our body's chemistry and picking up the change in our voice tone and more.
According to an article published in National Geographic, canine and psychology experts claim that dogs can even "catch their owners' emotions." Recent studies have reportedly revealed that due to their ability to pick up on our chemical and psychological cues, our moods, which could be sadness or stress can sometimes be "contagious in both directions."
Last year, Newsweek reported on whether dogs are aware when we're sad.
Newsweek reached out to u/shiftypoo269 for comment.
