Nervous Rescue Dog Enjoying Walks From Comfort of His Stroller Melts Hearts

A video of a dog being walked around New York City in a stroller has gone viral on TikTok, where it received 131,000 views at the time of writing.

The clip was shared by @tullystours, the TikTok account of a rescue dog from Alabama named Tully who now lives in the West Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan. A message overlaid on the video read: "Welcome to Tully's Tours: a nervous rescue dog's adventures in NYC."

Kelly Mosser, the owner of the 4-year-old dog, told Newsweek that shortly after Tully was adopted from the Animal Haven shelter in New York, "he started to demonstrate anxiety walking on the leash, not just in the city, in the suburbs and in the country too."

Mosser said they eventually realized Tully actually just doesn't like walking in the opposite direction of his new home. "Once he was out and about, he was happy to walk in places where he felt safe, and he was always cool as a cucumber when he was walking toward home again."

As Tully got too heavy to carry, "we decided to buy him a stroller to make him feel safe and secure any time we wanted to take him outside of our home," the owner said.

Around 4.1 million shelter animals are adopted each year, including two million dogs, according to 2019 data compiled by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

Among the greatest stressors for pups in animal shelters is social isolation, said a March 2019 study from PeerJ. Prior research has shown that "human interaction reduces cortisol in shelter dogs, with the possibility that longer periods of interaction may yield greater effects," the study stated.

The study's findings showed that "dogs' cortisol [a hormone regulating stress]: creatinine ratios dropped significantly during their fostering stay, but returned to baseline levels after return to the shelter."

Perhaps Tully's anxiety may have also been triggered by all the noises on the streets of the bustling Big Apple.

In a study of 13,715 Finnish dogs, published in March 2020 in the peer-reviewedScientific Reports, noise sensitivity was found to be the most common anxiety-related trait, with 32 percent of the dogs in the study being highly fearful of at least one noise.

Mosser said she initially worked with Tully's veterinarian and several trainers and tried calming supplements to help with his nerves. But little progress was made.

"We were patient with Tully as he adjusted to his new surroundings and our priority was to make sure he felt comfortable, safe, and loved at all times," she said.

The stroller "unlocked the entire city for him" and "completely eliminated his anxiety trigger," which was "walking away from home."

The stroller allows Tully to enjoy his daily 3-mile walks "as soon as he's strolled to a place where he feels comfortable to walk and run."

Mosser said she wanted to share Tully's story to inspire both dogs and humans who might be experiencing anxiety or fear "to continue practicing courage and to look for creative solutions to their challenges, even if others think they're silly."

A caption shared with the post read: "Follow along for more adventures in the Tullymobile."

Tully has melted the hearts of users on TikTok, with many praising the original poster for taking such good care of their pup.

TikTok user Sam S said: "Tully was scared he was leaving home forever," to which the original poster replied "I know. heart breaking! But he is learning he always gets to go home."

Another user, moonlight7, wrote: "such an amazing dog mum."

The original poster said that they'd "do anything for" Tully when one of their followers thanked them for their patience.

Update 04/27/23, 11:26 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Tully's owner, along with photos and a video of Tully.

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