'Aggressive' Dalmatian Being Integrated With Family Dog Delights Viewers

A dog has melted hearts online after a video of him welcoming a new dog into the family went viral on social media.

In the video, shared Thursday on TikTok by the dog's owner under the username Lucymaryt, the dalmatian, who is usually aggressive with other dogs, and the Staffordshire bull terrier, who belongs to the owner's boyfriend, maintain their distance initially. Then they slowly get closer and end up playing and chasing each other.

The video comes with a caption that says: "Taking our reactive dalmatian who is aggressive to all dogs and in particular [Staffies] to meet the boyfriend's family dog. Keeping a distance at first. After 40 minutes they were walking side by side."

The captioning continues: "We decided to try him off [the] lead and it was beautiful. His aggression is [a] lack of socializing and fear from past experiences. Back at home, there was no aggression, happy in the company of his new staffy friend."

The owner's post under the video says: "Accomplished integrating the families' dogs."

Reactive dogs, says Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine, overreact to normal situations that other dogs take in stride. For example, they will bark hysterically at the sight of another dog or person during a walk.

Reactive dogs are not necessarily aggressive dogs, but their reactivity can turn into aggression. They become overly aroused by common stimuli. They may lunge, bark and growl, becoming so preoccupied with whatever is triggering the emotion that they can be difficult to control or remove from the situation.

Research shows that a reactive dog is usually a fearful dog, the veterinary medicine college says. The causes can be genetic, but they are more likely a lack of socialization, prior bad experiences or a lack of training.

The TikTok video quickly went viral, attracting animal lovers from all over the platform, and has so far received over 161,800 views and 15,500 likes.

One user, Bre, commented: "Well done, this is the way to introduce dogs!" And EmFit said: "This is so amazing to see but please don't let your guard down completely." Maui wrote: "There is another level of proud when our reactive doggo makes a friend."

Chanté Brumant said: "The feeling when your reactive dog finally makes a dog friend is so amazing, love this." And Sylvia Gillett368 wrote: "What a great way to become friends." Zoe Gunn said: "This is incredible!! Well done mummy and daddy."

Another user, Rachel Everson, commented: "From one owner of a reactive dog to another, thank you for doing the right thing for your dog and allowing them space to be comfortable first." And Vwlass wrote: "This is like a dog love story lol love this."

Newsweek could not verify the details of the case and reached out to Lucymaryt for comment.