'Dogs Are Pure Love': Golden Retriever's Surprising Gesture Melts Hearts

A video of a dog sharing its food with another pet has gone viral on TikTok, with several users amazed by the dog's gesture of "pure love."

The video, shared by TikTok user jn33s1z, shows a golden retriever looking down at a hand cutting through what appears to be a sausage stick, dividing it into two—one large piece and one much smaller piece.

The dog grabs the much larger piece with its mouth but unexpectedly brings it to a piglet sitting in a small bed behind it. The golden retriever pats the pet's head before walking back to grab and eat the remaining small piece.

The clip received more than 372,000 likes, 32,900 shares and 4,300 comments at the time of writing.

According to a 2017 study by behavioral biologists from the Messerli Research Institute at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, generosity is not just a human characteristic—dogs exhibit "prosocial behavior" such as sharing food.

The study, which was published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One, noted that "even the mere presence of another dog makes the animals more generous." However, "prosocial dogs remained less charitable with unfamiliar partners," the study said.

Several TikTok users praised the "caring" dog in the TikTok post for its act of "pure love."

User clarepatterson473 said: "that's Love," while Zakkova wrote: "Nothing is better than a dog's love!"

Toni Lehman136 noted: "How sweet!" while user cliveauty added: "golden retriever with heart of gold."

Bizbox70 wrote: "Dogs are pure love"; fari said: "OMG so caring."

alexb12342 said: "GR [golden retrievers] they [are] so smart [and] kind. We can learn a lot from them."

In a post from the TikTok account petsdaily518, which also shared the video, several users were especially touched by the "pat on the head" given to the piglet.

YannieAndZiZi said: "Aww he pat his head after he gave him the food."

Penny Charlton-Welsh wrote: "Eeee he even patted him on the head, like he's saying 'There you go son. Enjoy.' Amazing."

User Debbie Hillyard noted their dog would not be as generous at the golden retriever in the video. "Love this so much, my chihuahua would grab both bits and run and hide and not come out till they were both gone," the user said, with the addition of crying laughing emojis.

Posh scheme said: "Aw that's the cutest thing ever," while Lorna Marguerite Wolfe simply said: "aww...my heart."

User top nana wrote: "omg that's beautiful," while user Ohyousofancy stated: "Omg what a sweet heart so thoughtful."