A video of a dog sharing food with another pet went viral on TikTok, with some users surprised by the dog’s “pure love” gesture.
The video, shared by TikTok user jn33s1z, shows a golden retriever looking down as a hand cuts what appears to be a sausage stick in half – a large and a small piece.
The dog grabbed the larger piece with its mouth, but unexpectedly led it to the piglet sitting on a cot behind it. The golden retriever patted the pet on the head, then walked back to grab and eat the small piece that was left.
At the time of writing, the clip has received over 372,000 likes, 32,900 shares and 4,300 comments.
According to a 2017 study by behavioral biologists at the Messerli Institute at the Veterinary University of Vienna, generosity isn’t just a human trait — dogs exhibit “prosocial behaviors,” such as sharing food.
The study was published in a peer-reviewed journal PLoS Onenoting that “even the presence of another dog makes the animal more generous.” However, “prosocial dogs are still less charitable toward unfamiliar companions,” the study said.
Multiple TikTok users praised the “loving” dog in the TikTok post for “pure love.”
User clarepaterson473 said: “This is love”, while Zakkova wrote: “There is nothing better than dog love!”
Toni Lehman136 pointed out: “How sweet!” while user cliveauty added: “Golden Retriever”.
Bizbox70 wrote: “Dogs are pure love”; fari said: “OMG is so sweet.”
alexb12342 said: “GR [golden retrievers] them [are] so smart [and] type. We can learn a lot from them. “
In a post on the TikTok account petsdaily518, which also shared the video, several users were particularly moved by the “pat on the head” for Xiaozhu.
Yannie and ZiZi said: “Oh, he patted his head after giving him food.”
Penny Charlton-Welsh wrote: “Eeee he even patted his head like he was saying ‘you go, son. Enjoy.'” Amazing. “
User Debbie Hillyard pointed out that their dog would not be as generous as the golden retriever in the video. “Love this so much, my Chihuahua will grab two pieces and run and hide until they’re all gone,” the user said, adding a crying and laughing emoji.
The gorgeous plan said, “Wow, this is the cutest thing ever,” while Lorna Margaret Wolf just said, “Wow…my heart.”
User top nana wrote: “Omg, so beautiful,” while user Ohyousofancy said, “Omg, what a lovely heart, so thoughtful.”
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