Woman Gets Sent Video From Dog Sitter, ‘Screaming’ at What She Sees

The video a pet parent received from the dog sitter showing off the canine’s shyness quickly went viral on TikTok with over 10.7 million views.

TikTok user @despollo hired a dog sitter to look after her Shetland sheepdog. She didn’t expect any problems, but the video she received from the sitter had her questioning her dog’s ability to listen.

Her dog stared at the sitter from across the room. With her head tilted slightly, she wondered what this strange human was doing in her house. The sitter motioned with her hands for the Sheltie to come with her to go outside.

She walked toward the back door, thinking the dog followed, but when she turned back around, the sitter gasped. The sneaky Sheltie disappeared from the sitter in the March 7 video. He vacated the room at the first chance he could get. He was nowhere to be found.

The owner wrote on the clip that she was “screaming” once she received this video. But, coming to his defense, she explained in the caption that “he’s shy.” She shared in a follow-up video that her dog does listen when asked to go outside, but only to her.

Newsweek reached out to @despollo via TikTok for additional information.

The dog sitter shouldn’t read into the canine’s reaction too much, as plenty of dogs are shy around new people. To help a canine warm up to you and get out of their shells, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals suggested people do the following tips.

• Squat down with your body sideways to the dog.
• Keeping your body language calm, look down or away from the dog.
• Place treats on the floor around you for the dog to self-reward without pressure.
• Do not pet the dog until they show a signal that they want attention.
• Staying in the same room, not paying attention to them, will allow dogs to approach at their own speed.
• Be sure to avoid looming over, approaching too quickly or reaching a hand down from above.

Viewer Reactions

TikTok users flooded the clip with hilarious reactions and shock, bringing in over 1.5 million likes and 804 comments as of Tuesday.

“The genuine shocked gasp is so funny,” wrote one viewer.

Another added: “She sending this for confirmation, and it’s been confirmed he don’t wanna be babysat.”

Several users chimed in on their similar experience: “Bro, our Sheltie is SO quiet, and he also does this to us. It’s the funniest thing.”

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.