Internet in stitches at how mom stops daughter missing dog at college

College students living away from home often experience homesickness. Thankfully, technology keeps them in touch with their family, but knowing pets can’t jump on the phone to catch up, one mom decided to gift her daughter something to remember her dog by.

The gift was a spitting image of the family dog plastered on a dog-shaped pillow. The mom gave her daughter the pillow at graduation so she would have a piece of home with her while she’s away at college.

In a TikTok video posted last week by user @an.uh1, the clip’s text overlay reads: “Me going to sleep then remembering my mom got me a pillow of my dog for graduation so I don’t miss her at college.”

Now, every night as she rolls over to sleep in her room, she cuddles up with her dog pillow. It’s the closest she can get to those furry snuggles while she’s away at school. However, the way the “dog” looks at her in the video has left TikTok users in stitches.

The daughter pans her camera over to what she experiences looking back at her when she’s going to bed and as she mentioned in the video’s caption, it’s “kinda scary.”

Newsweek has reached out to @an.uh1 via TikTok for additional comment.

Although the idea was to make her feel less homesick, TikTok users are laughing at the fact the scary picture might cause more nightmares than not.

Some users said their parents gave them the same pillow with their pets’ photos. And if that isn’t enough, several college campuses offer events with therapy dogs.

Research has shown that spending time with therapy dogs can help students reduce stress, homesickness and social connectedness, according to a 2022 article from Psychology Today. As little as 20 minutes with a therapy dog can boost a student’s overall well-being.

TikTok Users React

The hilarious TikTok video quickly reached viral status, amassing nearly 20 million views and 4.7 million likes as of Monday.

“That is not what I was expecting,” wrote one TikTok user, while another added: “I’m cracking up. It’s kind of cute though lol.”

While many users were cracking up at the picture-perfect pillow, others were slightly frightened by the gift: “It’s like she’s actually in the room with us.”

Another user posted: “That would keep me up at night.”

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