Nothing is better than a cheesy slice of pizza to win the trust of a scared dog, whose heart was shattered by the people she thought loved her the most.
In a video shared on TikTok in February under the username @thefutureisforcefree, a rescue dog called Emily can be seen approaching her foster carer with what look like tears in her eyes, politely asking her for a slice of pizza sitting on the counter.
A caption reads: “When your scared and shut down foster dog finally leaves her room for the first time… And it’s solely to request pizza. She of course gets to have some. You’re safe here, Emily.”
The poster added: “From our first week together. Emily has came such a long way in the month that I have had her. When I first met her, she was so shut down and scared that she hardly displayed any behavior at all.”
She said that Emily spent the majority of her first few weeks at her home hiding in her room and sleeping. However, as the weeks went on, she slowly started to display more normal behaviors, like scavenging, zooming, and even wagging her tail and jumping with joy when she saw her.
“We are still waiting for her to get HW [heartworm] treatment and eye surgery before she can go off into her new home. If she find a suitable adopter in the meantime, she may get to go sooner!” the poster said.
“Even if she sticks around for a few more months while we get all her medical stuff sorted, I really wouldn’t mind. She is such a nice dog to have around and she also will benefit from the additional rest in a space she now knows is safe.”
Some users wrote that Emily had tears in her eyes, but that doesn’t mean that the pup was crying. In fact, the American Kennel Club says that dogs don’t cry.
The AKC website adds that canines express needs and wants vocally. There is no scientific evidence to suggest that dogs, or any other animals, in fact, actually produce tears as a response to what they’re feeling.
Moreover, the poster said that Emily always has runny eyes because she has entropion, a condition in which the eyelid is rolled inward against the eyeball, and she is waiting on surgery.
@thefutureisforcefree From our first week together🥹😭 Emily has came such a long way in the month that I have had her. When I first met her, she was so shut down and scared that she hardly displayed any behavior at all. She spent the majority of her first few weeks at my home hiding in her room and sleeping. I knew she needed to rest after such a stressful few months in and out of the shelter, so I let her do just that. The first time she came out of her room without me asking her to, it was to request her helping of pizza😂 As the weeks went on, Emily slowly started to display more normal behaviors. Play bowing, chewing, shredding, scavenging, zooming, and even wagging her tail and jumping with joy when I came into her room to say hello(previously she would run and hide in the corner when I came in). We are still waiting for her to get HW treatment and eye surgery before she can go off into her new home. If she find a suitable adopter in the meantime, she may get to go sooner! Even if she sticks around for a few more months while we get all her medical stuff sorted, I really wouldn’t mind. She is such a nice dog to have around and she also will benefit from the additional rest in a space she now knows is safe❤️🩹 #shelterdog #fosterdog #fostermom #emily #dogtrainersoftiktok #shelterdogs #dogtrainersoftiktok #fypシ
♬ original sound – koykoy – koykoy
The video quickly went viral on social media, getting viewers from across TikTok. It has so far received over 206,000 views and more than 19,000 likes on the platform.
One user, Dominique, commented: “You better have given her her own slice!!!” And dannymolina58 wrote: “That whole box would be on the floor… and both of us would be eating together.” Cheyenne Barlow posted: “Awe she looks like she was crying.”
Newsweek reached out to @thefutureisforcefree for comment via email. We could not verify the details of the case.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to [email protected] with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.