A golden retriever recently proved just how perceptive dogs can be, after his owners realized why he suddenly became unusually wary of a particular home in his neighborhood.
Shifu the golden was out for a walk near his home in Massachusetts with his dad, when a large dog suddenly charged at him.
Shifu’s owner, who asked to remain anonymous, told Newsweek. “My husband was on a walk, a big dog almost the same size as Shifu got out of his handler’s hands and charged at Shifu.
“Shifu was stressed when the dog charged at him. Both the dogs were barking at each other. Other dog did not seem very friendly.”
Shifu the dog in the viral video where his owners revealed the reason behind his behavior.
@fluffyboyshifu/Instagram
Shifu’s owner was able to separate the pair safely until the other dog’s handler could regain control. But the encounter was deeply unsettling for Shifu, who is known to be reactive toward unfamiliar dogs after previous attacks.
In the days following the incident, Shifu seemed anxious about every dog he saw. His family even noticed signs of physical stress. “Naturally, he was nervous, and the stress even seemed to affect his leg, causing him discomfort,” the owner said.
What puzzled Shifu’s owners even more was his behavior during walks past a certain house. “Whenever we took one route, he used to behave strangely at a house. His tail would get straight and hair on his back would go up,” said Shifu’s owner. At first, they chalked it up to a lingering smell or a random fear, but the pattern persisted.
“I noticed Shifu acting strangely near a particular house—one he’d never paid attention to before. I thought something might have spooked him, though I couldn’t see anything unusual.
“We usually take different routes and any time we took this route I could see the strange behavior. Today we walked around this house again after a while and he did the same thing again! In the video, you can clearly see that he’s defensive, even letting out a mild growl as we passed the house,” the video caption said, alongside a video showing Shifu’s agitated posture.
The mystery was finally solved when the family drove through the area and spotted the same dog—the one who had charged at Shifu—emerging from the very house that triggered Shifu’s distress.
“To our surprise, we found out that the off-leash dog who charged at Shifu actually lives in that house. We had no idea before, but now it makes perfect sense why Shifu’s body language would change whenever we walked by,” they said.
The owner shared a video to Instagram about the incident, and the aftermath, after finally realizing why Shifu was acting strangely, as the on-screen caption said: “Trust your dog—there’s always a reason behind their behavior.”
Shifu’s intelligence isn’t surprising, with golden Retrievers thought to be among the smartest dog breeds.
Stanley Coren, author of The Intelligence of Dogs and professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia’s Department of Psychology, previously told Newsweek: “According to my research the seven dog breeds with the highest working and obedience intelligence, starting with the brightest are: border collie, poodle, German shepherd, golden retriever, Doberman pinscher, Shetland sheepdog and Labrador retriever.”
Shifu’s tale proved just “how smart dogs can be,” according to the video caption, which amassed more than 168,000 views since being posted to @fluffyboyshifu in February. And it struck a chord with fellow pet owners, as in the comments people shared their reactions, amazed by Shifu’s intuition.
“They are very smart! When something makes them uncomfortable, you know something is wrong,” said one commenter.
Another wrote: “It’s amazing how smart they are. That’s why I always pay attention to my dogs alerts. As you said they sense and see things we don’t. They’re always 100 percent right.”
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