A golden retriever who loves swimming got invited to the ultimate birthday celebration recently when he attended a pool party, and his reaction was everything.
Chili, the 6-year-old golden retriever, absolutely adores swimming and splashing around in any body of water. It doesn’t matter if it’s a clean pool, a fresh lake or just a muddy puddle, he will happily dive straight in.
He’s been that way since he was just 2 months old, as his owner Gailin Heller, 29, told Newsweek that Chili is “essentially a goldfish” at this point. He gladly goes swimming every day in Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, when it’s warm, but sadly he hasn’t been able to dive into the open water since October due to weather.
“He grew up on the beach in Florida and has never been scared on any body of water since,” Heller said. “His favorite thing is to sit on the rocks like a merman and do big jumpies off the dock.”
Thankfully for Chili, he’s got plenty of canine friends and gets invited to the best parties. Most recently, Chili got invited to BoJack the Labrador’s birthday party, which was none other than an indoor pool party.
Needless to say, Chili (and Heller) were obsessed with the idea.
“I was so excited for him. Our lake is completely frozen over, and he hasn’t been swimming since early October, so this was so exciting because he got to swim indoors,” Heller said.
As soon as they arrived at the venue, Chili started to pull on his leash as though he knew exactly what was going on. Once his lifejacket was securely on, there was no stopping him from leaping into the giant pool.
There was no denying Chili’s joy during the party, as Heller told Newsweek that his smile was “so contagious.” Indeed, his confidence in the water even helped to encourage several other dogs to join in too.
Chili’s antics were shared in a video on his dedicated social media accounts (@goldenchilidog on TikTok and Instagram), and the internet can’t get enough. The video of the “water obsessed dog” at his first ever pool party has gone viral with over 1.6 million views and 282,500 likes on TikTok, plus 613,000 views on Instagram at the time of writing.
Throughout the pool party, Chili and the other pups got to swim, enjoy games in the water, and of course there was plenty of snacks and cheese on offer. Once they were sufficiently tired out (if that’s even possible), the dogs went into another room which had a pinata, tunnels and more toys.
Heller and Chili were at the party for around three hours, and there’s no doubt it was one of the golden retriever’s favorite ever days.
“I’ve been posting on Chili’s account since 2020, and his followers love to see his brave swimming and jumps,” Heller said. “He’s such an adventurous, happy guy who loves the water. We’re so grateful to have been invited to such a special dog birthday party.
“I think the happiness from the dogs in the video is so contagious, especially as it’s winter so seeing dogs swimming and playing is really heartwarming.”
With over 500 comments on the TikTok post in a matter of days, internet users hailed the adorable party idea (which many people also now want to attend).
One comment reads: “He was a mermaid in another life.”
Another TikTok user wrote: “I know they slept good when they got home.”
Another person replied: “He is having the time of his life!”
While one commenter said: “This makes my heart so happy.”
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