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By Melissa Fleur Afshar
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A video that chronicles how a dog—that was abandoned after failing police training—was rescued has tugged at heartstrings across the Internet.
Bolt the German Shepherd has been living with his new owner, Becca, for over a year now after failing canine police school. Becca, the video's creator, had shared in the viral TikTok video that she was notified of Bolt's failure around the time and decided to adopt him as he was in need of a forever home.
The heartwarming video compiles countless images of the inseparable pair at different milestones in their journey, such as Bolt's first day at Becca's house and their first walk together as owner and pup.
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The video has been captioned: "My soul pup."
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How Do Dogs Join the Police?
To earn the coveted role of a police K-9 officer, dogs must go through months of rigorous training where their skills in searching, attacking, and tracking are fine-tuned, often working with their handler.
"Patrol training (which includes obedience, agility, tracking, evidence searches, open area, and building searches), and narcotics or explosives detection are the most common areas of training, although service dogs can also be trained to help find dead bodies, lost children, and the sick or elderly. In addition, scent discrimination training is being used to help match a potential suspect to an object such as a weapon used in a crime," according to the National Police Dog Foundation.
"Police dogs are trained to bite dangerous suspects and hold them hostage," the American Kennel Club writes online. "In many situations, they are the first ones to put their lives on the line and go in against an armed suspect to protect their human partners."
Being a police K-9 requires a certain skill and discipline, and the truth is that some breeds are already primed for that because of their natural characteristics.
The AKC says that not all dogs have it in them to become police K-9s, so only a select few breeds, like German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois, are usually chosen.
"These breeds are known for their incredible working ability, their desire to cooperate with their handlers, and, in some cases, their tenacity in fighting criminals," the AKC states.
What Do the Comments Say?
Since it was shared on the social media platform on July 16 by @Bolt_And_Becca, the TikTok post has been liked by over 31,000 users and commented on more than 217 times. Plenty of users have gushed over the close relationship between the pair.
"He wasn't meant for police work, he was meant for you," one user wrote.
"My German Shepherd also failed police puppy school and now has been living his absolute best spoiled life with us for six years now," another user added.
The TikTok post can be seen here.
Newsweek reached out to @Bolt_And_Becca for comment via TikTok.
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.
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