A dog owner had a huge shock when her 17-year-old pet appeared to wake from the dead.
In a viral video shared on TikTok on Wednesday under the username @headdurrrr, the elderly pooch, called GiGi, can be seen lying sideways on a pillow on the floor, completely motionless, with her tongue hanging out.
Her scared owner can be heard calling her name unsuccessfully, getting increasingly worried before screaming in panic—and the pup suddenly wakes up unaware of what’s been going on around her.
“When [your] 17 year old dog is asleep but you think she took her last breath,” read a caption shared along with the hilarious video.
Stock image of a senior dog sleeping on a fluffy blanket. A pet owner thought her 17-year-old best friend was dead, but then the animal came round.
Getty Images
As much as we’d all love our furry friends to live forever, their lifespans usually last between 10 and 13 years depending on the dog’s breed and size.
Dog wellness expert website Dogster explains that small dogs typically have the longest lifespans, averaging 10 to 15 years, and breeds like the Chihuahua have a projected lifespan of around 18 years, although they have been known to live well into their 20s.
However, generally the larger the dog, the shorter their lifespan. Medium-sized dogs usually live for 10 to 15 years, while large dogs’ lifespans range from nine to 12 years.
Giant breeds, like great Danes, have the shortest lifespan, living an average of eight to 10 years, and they are usually considered senior at only six years of age.
The video quickly went viral on social media, getting viewers from across TikTok. It has so far received over 750,300 views and 88,900 likes on the platform.
One user, cay cay, commented: “She lowkey was gone, you just scared her back to life.”
Ana Marie said: “Gigi a little hard hearing but not dead.”
Vanessa Isadora added: “Gigi woke up like ‘WHAT WHAT WHO DIED!?”
Another user, Nicole wrote: “My dog yelped once and just lay there with his eyes open. I was shaking him, shouting his name, thinking he had passed away. Then he suddenly huffed and got up and walked off.”
Lizzie said: “having an old dog is taking a million pics of them sleeping because they look so peaceful and then going and waking them up because they looked a little too peaceful.”
Newsweek reached out to headdurrrr for comment via TikTok comments. We could not verify the details of the story.
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