After noticing passersby saying “hi doggy” to their pup, who loves being called by her name, a dog owner came up with a solution for it—and internet users can’t cope with it.
In a viral Reddit post shared on Wednesday under the username u/_SWANS_CAN_BE_GAY_, the poster shares pictures of their pup, Emma, popping her head out the mosquito screen on the window to watch people walk by.
“I always hear people say ‘hi doggy’ from my bedroom, but they don’t know her name. I wanted to change that,” the poster wrote in the caption, adding in the comments section that the pup is “so happy when she hears her name.”
So the owner came up with a solution to make sure that anyone who says hi to the dog, knows exactly how to address her to make her happy.
The last two pictures in the slide post show the poster’s upgraded window, with a name tag right underneath, spelled in huge letters so everyone can see. “Now I hear people say ‘hi Emma,” they continued in the caption.
Experts at Pet MD say that dogs do indeed know their name, and their nicknames, too. Our pups are much smarter than we give them credit for, and while we aren’t able to understand a single one of their barks, canines learn on average about 150 human words.
Scientists estimate that dogs have an intelligence comparable to that of a human toddler. Some very smart canines have been reported to have learned around 250 words.
Moreover, the canine’s brain is able to process quickly any nonsense words that sound different to all the other ones they already know; however, dogs may not be able to distinguish nonsense words that sound similar to words they already know.
Perhaps most importantly, canines are able to read both our body language and tone of voice when we speak to them, which helps them understand how we are feeling and act accordingly.
The post quickly went viral on social media and has so far received over 69,000 upvotes and 599 comments on the platform.
One user, NKD_WA wrote: “That’s actually really great. I love this. Dogs love hearing their name more than just about any other word, so it’s probably pretty enriching.”
MotherPotential posted: “I’m not the only one who says hi to doggies out in public!”
Another user, StellaFreya, commented: “This got me all teary eyed and smiley. How sweet! I’m sure she loves hearing everyone tell her hello! Please give extra pets on my behalf.”
Newsweek reached out to u/_SWANS_CAN_BE_GAY_ for comment via Reddit. We could not verify the details of the case.
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