Greyhound Has Sweet Reaction to Being Let Off Leash: 'The Little Leaps'

A young greyhound's joy at being let off the leash is proving infectious among animal lovers watching a video of the puppy on social media.

The clip of Marvin the Italian greyhound heading for a walk in a field somewhere in the U.K. has been watched more than 175,000 times since it was posted to TikTok just over a week ago.

It's pleasant enough to watch any animal in the great outdoors, but the real kicker is Marvin's delight at his newfound freedom.

As the clip posted to the @marvin_iggy account shows, he can barely contain himself—and begins to bounce around the field like the overexcited puppy he is.

His owner captioned the clip simply: "The little leaps."

It can be difficult to know if our canine friends are truly happy. A 2017 study published in the journal Scientific Reports found that dogs are capable of facial expressions that look like smiles, but these actions may not necessarily indicate happiness.

Smiling in dogs, defined as the pulling back of one or both lips to expose the teeth, was found to serve as a form of "submission" and a means by which the animals show they are deferring to their owner.

Marvin's physical reaction appears to offer definitive proof that he was happy to get off the leash. That was certainly the consensus in the video's comments section.

One viewer compared him to a "little kangaroo," adding that he was clearly "so happy" to be out in nature.

"Are you sure that's not Tigger?" a second asked, in reference to the bouncy toy tiger from the Winnie-the-Pooh stories.

"Every dog needs this," one user commented, with another agreeing: "Having off leash time is so important."

A fellow dog owner wrote: "One of my cockers does bunny leaps, too."

Most agreed that Marvin was a happy bunny. "This is what pure joy looks like," said one user.

Playful pups regularly go viral on social media. A video showing a foster puppy bouncing over to his much larger dog friend has been watched more than 10 million times since it was posted on June 11. A border collie's "galloping" running style has also won plenty of admirers on TikTok. Then there's the Instagram dog who began bouncing with delight after his owner walked for the first time in nine years.

Newsweek has contacted @marvin_iggy for comment.

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