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A video of a Doberman pinscher "excited" over his "blankie" has gone viral on TikTok, where it has received over 353,000 views.
A message overlaid on the clip, shared by @dashandthor (the TikTok account of dog duo Dash and Thor), read: "My dog's reaction to his freshly cleaned [fox emoji] blankie."
The video showed what appeared to be a fox-themed blanket inside a washing machine. The camera panned over the Doberman's "excited" face as a person took the blanket out of the machine.
Looking eager to get his paws on the blanket, the dog is seen calmly sitting back momentarily, before jumping forward to grab it out of the person's hand.
The clip was posted with a caption that read: "Fresh blankies = excited Dash [floating hearts smiley face and fox emoji]."
So what made the pup so attached to his favorite blanket? Perhaps it has a bit of a novel feel after it's been freshly cleaned.
According to a November 2012 study published in the peer-reviewed journal Animal Cognition: "Domestic dogs are reported to show intense but transient neophilia [a love for something new] towards novel objects."
The study, conducted among Labrador retrievers, found that "loss of interest in the object during object-orientated play in this species is due to habituation to the overall stimulus properties of the toy rather than to any single sensory modality."
While the dog in the video appeared to wait patiently to be reunited with his blanket, some dogs can display "possessive aggression" when it comes to their favorite objects.
@dashandthor Fresh blankies = excited Dash ?? #doberman #dobermanpinscher #dobermansoftiktok #trainyourdog #upbeat #marriedlife #foxblanket #dobermans_of_tiktok
♬ Up Beat (Married Life) - Kenyi
Possessive aggression is "aggression that is directed toward humans or other pets that approach the dog when it is in possession of something that is highly desirable, such as a favorite chew toy, food, or treat," wrote veterinarians Debra Horwitz and Gary Landsberg in an article for VCA, one of North America's largest animal hospital chains.
They said: "Novel and highly desirable objects, such as a tissue that has been stolen from a garbage can, a favorite toy, human food, or a piece of rawhide are some of the items that dogs may aggressively protect."
The dog in the video has melted the hearts of users on TikTok.
User @sam.e.lynn wrote: "Aww sitting so polite," to which the original poster replied, "He's quite a gentleman [emojis smiling with white teeth showing]."
User Hebel Shelly said: "How sweet he waits patiently for his blanket."
User Sammyiosia agreed, saying: "The paw in the air waiting patiently, so cute!!!!!," to which the original poster replied: "He always does that for some reason [crying, laughing emoji]."
User beachwalks wrote: "That was so cute, he loved that blankie."
Newsweek has contacted the original poster via TikTok. The video has not been independently verified.
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.
About the writer
Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in Read more