The internet is obsessed with a dachshund with rather unusual feature: looking as though he goes to the gym every day.
Finn, who is five years old, lives with his owner Brookelyn Morgan in Victoria, British Columbia, and has become an overnight social media star after Morgan showed off his astonishing washboard abs in a video.
“I first noticed Finn’s built chest when he was around one,” Morgan told Newsweek. “I thought it was rather odd that he had pecs!”
Concerned about her dog’s unusual build, she took him to the vet—but the veterinarian simply “chuckled” and told her: “That is just how he is built, tell people he goes to the gym!”
Now, Morgan has leaned into the advice, having shared an old video of Finn to her TikTok account, @finnthedachshund3, where it has racked up millions of views as she asked: “Anyone else’s dog also have abs?”
The video itself, taken when Finn was around a year old, shows Morgan trying to apply eye drops to Finn while he’s in her arms, showing off what can only be described as his muscular physique. She explained to Newsweek that when the video was taken, she hadn’t noticed his abs at that point. It was only when she sent the clip to friends that they pointed it out.
And TikTok users jumped right onto the joke, watching the clip a whopping 3 million times, as one commenter joked: “He’s in constant plank man… ofc [of course] he has abs.”
“This is so funny to me like why is he ripped,” another wrote, as another put it: “Holy that dog is ripped.”
“Broh that’s not a dog that’s kangaroo,” one said.
And another joked: “Bro asking for a couple scoops creatine in his puppuccino.”
Others pointed out that Finn’s “abs” and “pecs” are so noticeable because he doesn’t have fur on his underside—and Morgan explained to Newsweek that there’s a reason behind that—and one that she’s trying to raise awareness about.
“Finn was diagnosed with Cushing’s disease at the extremely rare age of three,” she said.
When Morgan took Finn to the vet, where she received the devastating diagnosis after intense testing, she was told Finn was simply “unlucky,” as Cushing’s disease usually affects much older dogs.
Cushing’s disease is an endocrine disorder that usually affects middle-aged and senior dogs, and causes symptoms including increased thirst, hair loss, pot belly and frequent urination. It can be managed with medication, particularly if diagnosed early, but it does still shorten a dog’s lifespan.
Morgan was initially given the heartbreaking news that Finn would likely have only a year to live. However, a second opinion offered reassurance that this might not be the case for him; Finn was young when he was diagnosed, and timelines are set by the averages older dogs with the disease.
Now, almost three years later, Finn is still with Morgan, and she’s grateful that her vet “continued testing himm, and not pushing it off due to his young age.”
Morgan has vital advice to any dog owner, which is to get pet insurance—even if your dog is just a puppy—as caring for Finn has cost tens of thousands of dollars so far, and his medication alone is a thousand dollars a month.
But to her, it’s worth it, as she put it: “I truly believe that finding out so early that Finn has Cushing’s disease prolonged his life, as he got on medication.”
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