A confused little lamb has melted hearts on social media after mistaking a dog for its mom, but internet users can see where his confusion came from.
In a viral TikTok post shared on Saturday under the username @nealcookii, the little lamb can be seen following a fluffy white shepherd dog around, refusing to leave his side as he tries to move away from him.
“What are you doing buddy? I don’t think that’s yours!” the dog’s owner can be heard telling him in the clip. “Hey Bolt, it’s ok buddy. Don’t worry. I have to go to work but my wife is coming out here to help with your situation.”
Meanwhile, another small lamb in the background can be seen lying on a pile of leaves with its mom. “Twins were born this morning and apparently some confusion has occurred,” a caption explains.
Shepherd dogs are known for their intelligence, loyalty and ability to herd, but how do they know what to do? According to the Royal Veterinary College, their behavior is determined by two rules: collecting and driving.
Collecting, means moving the sheep closer together and redirecting stragglers, while driving means moving the group of sheep in the desired direction.
Studying the nature of their herding abilities, scientists used computer modeling to determine how they would move if they were using these rules, and fitted GPS trackers to sheep and the dog to see if that was actually what they were doing.
The findings only confirmed that sheepdogs indeed applied these two simple rules to effectively do their job.
Shepherd dogs are not only smart, they are also very eager to please, which makes them easy to train. They can also get along well with other pets if properly socialized from a young age, according to a Vet Explains Pets article by Dr. Jess Kirk.
A file photo of a lamb lying on the grass.
getty images
The video quickly went viral on social media and it has so far received over 1.9 million views and 214,000 likes on the platform.
One user, Laci1125, commented: “In the lambs defense, I can see where the confusion may have come from.”
Steph The Impaler said: “That lamb saw something big, white and fluffy and said ‘Mom!'”
Sarahjane wrote: “Your puppy looks confused. The lamb looks quite confident.”
Julietnotcapulet added: “He’s not the Step Dad he’s the Dad that stepped up.”
Newsweek reached out to @nealcookii for comment via TikTok comments. We could not verify the details of the case.
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