The saying ‘afraid of his own shadow’ never made sense to me as a kid.
For some reason, I believed that some people had something following them in the form of a shadow. Crazy, I know…
Even though I figured out the true meaning behind the phrase as I grew up, I decided to put a fun twist on it. Because I know that our furry friends tend to get a bit confused when they see their own reflection, I figured that calling it their shadow would be in a way appropriate.
The pup of today’s story will prove my point.
Who’s That Up There
When my sweet boy, Oscar, was just a puppy, he was terrified of his own reflection. Whenever he saw himself in the mirror, he would jump, start barking, and even look at me with those sad eyes screaming ‘Do something woman!’
As he grew older, I believe that he figured out that the dog in the mirror wouldn’t do any harm to him, so he was able to relax.
So, when I was scrolling through TikTok the other day, I came across a video that reminded me of puppy Oscar.
In the video, an adorable Golden Retriever named Walter was seen staring at a pup in the ceiling. Little did he know, it was him all along.
Having to pay a visit to the dry cleaners, Walter’s owner decided to take him along.
When they were waiting for their turn, the owner realized something was bothering their pup.
Walter, who appeared to be completely frozen in shock, was staring up at the mirrored ceiling and into his own eyes.
Captioning the video with “How’d that guy get up there?”, Walter’s hooman managed to get the video viral in just a couple of days.
The Internet Can’t Get Enough
Of course, the second anybody sees a cute video of a dog online they have to say something. And this comment section was a gold mine.
“He’s so concerned for the dog being kept in the ceiling,” wrote one viewer.
“He thought about that the entire walk home,” wrote another.
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the most handsome Walter of all?” cleverley joked one hooman.
Even the official Google account got in on the conversation, saying something all of us can relate to: “Us staring at ourselves during the Google Meet call.”
I mean, no matter what comment you choose you are bound to have the best laugh ever.
Pups And Self-Awareness
Now, you might be wondering if Walter was aware that the floating pup on the ceiling was actually him.
According to the American Kennel Club, dogs aren’t able to recognise themselves in mirrors. The only way they could actually do that would be by scent.
This is most likely due to the fact that they solely rely on their sense of smell throughout their life. So, yes, dogs are self-aware, but in a different way!