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A video of a German shepherd dog "chillin" in a pool has gone viral on TikTok.
The video, shared by user mohamedboutaleb35, had 6.1 million views and 460,000 likes at the time of writing. It features a German shepherd sitting upright against the side of the pool, with its two front paws resting on a swimming noodle.
The video was simply overlaid with a laughing emoji, with music from Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy" playing in the clip.
Studies have shown the therapeutic, calming benefits of interacting with dogs, but what helps dogs to relax?
According to a January 2020 study in the peer-reviewed journal Animals, "exposure to classical music appears to have a calming influence on dogs in stressful environments..."
The study explained that "the effects of music on the health and welfare of nonhuman animals vary greatly with the type of music played, the ethology of the species, and the personality and learning history of individual animals.
"The use of music in domestic animal contexts shows great potential as an effective and easy-to-implement therapeutic measure with many flow-on benefits to animal health and welfare," the study concluded.
According to a March 2017 study in the peer-reviewed journal Physiology & Behavior, classical music has been shown to reduce stress in kennelled dogs.
The study found that "auditory enrichment" causes positive behavioral and physiological changes in kennelled dogs.
Different genres of music (especially soft rock and reggae) were associated with a higher heart rate variability (which is indicative of decreased stress) and more relaxed behavior.
Regardless of the music genre, dogs were found to spend "significantly more time lying and significantly less time standing" whenever music was played.
The study also showed that increasing the variety of the music "minimized the extent of habituation to auditory enrichment."
Several TikTokers were delighted by the latest viral video of a German shepherd living "the best life."
Jeremy Heeter-Jones wrote the dog is just "Chillin! Living the best life [sunglass wearing smiley face emoji]," in a comment that got 833 likes.
ElMoPe agreed, writing: "[crying laughing and sunglass wearing smiley face emojis] best life ever," while Gypsy said: "Loving life! [crying laughing and floating hearts smiley face emojis]."
Shane Ridehalgh chimed in, noting: "The dogs like yes can I help you, why you filmin me I'm just chillin with my noodle nothing to see here [white teeth showing and floating hearts smiley face emojis]."
Some said the dog looks like it needs a drink, such as Gabriela Fernandez, who commented: "[multiple crying laughing emojis] he's very comfy over there [white teeth showing smiley face emoji] he also needs a drink please."
Martins Braslins agreed, stating the dog must be thinking: "What are you looking at? I told you to bring drinks," while user4147267173167 said: "So sweet [floating hearts and tearful laughing smiley face emojis] maybe want [cocktail drink emoji]."
About the writer
Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in Read more