An owner left the dog park in tears after her golden retriever tried “so hard” to befriend another dog—but what happened next, off camera, showed patience can pay off.
Owner Grace and her golden retriever, Reef, had been at the park when another golden retriever showed up. The two exchanged sniffs before Reef tried to play by bowing. However, the other golden retriever showed no interest in playing, Grace told Newsweek.
“For about 20 minutes, the other golden consistently chose to engage with the third dog, even when Reef tried to initiate play,” she said. “He didn’t look at Reef the whole time.”
Grace filmed the heartbreaking interaction and shared it to her Instagram account @reefthegolden_ on January 22, with the caption: “Tears were shed.” Both dogs wagged their tails while Reef rested under the other dog, who refused to look down at him. Reef kept trying to get the dog’s attention, barking with excitement, but he had no luck.
Grace said she tried redirecting Reef to play with other dogs, but his entire focus stayed on the golden retriever. He was not taking no for an answer. At one point, Reef leaped into the air, enthralled by the idea of playing, but, once again, went unnoticed, which she cut out of the video.
“I decided to leave the park shortly after,” Grace said. “As we were walking toward the exit, the other golden then decided he wanted to play with Reef as we were leaving and ran up to him!”
Reef’s persistence finally won over the other dog. Grace’s tears of sadness turned to relief to see that Reef’s hard work paid off.
The Instagram video reached over 736,000 views and 121 comments as of Friday, with viewers distraught over the interaction.
Stopppp, it breaks my heart every time this happens, I can’t,” commented one user.
“I’m heartbroken. It’s like watching your kid not fit in. His lost Reefy, there’s a million pups that would love your attention,” another commenter said.
“My dog does that to other dogs, and I just shake my head at her like, ‘Girl why you being rude? They wanna play with you,'” a third commenter wrote.
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