For nearly two weeks, Natalie, 37, and her family endured relentless barking outside their vacation rental in Huyan, Vietnam.
As the noise pierced through the house day and night, keeping her children awake, Natalie was concerned about dogs possibly being mistreated nearby.
The family have been traveling since January and first stayed in this rental weeks earlier when the barking began. “You can’t really complain about dogs barking,” Natalie, who didn’t give surname, told Newsweek. “But I told the owner I was worried. It didn’t seem normal.”
Pictures from the Instagram reel with over 1 million views, where the truth about the barking was revealed.
@life.renovations/TikTok
When approached, the neighbors insisted their dog was fine—caged, but not in distress. With no resolution in sight, Natalie even reached out to local animal welfare groups, worried about the incessant barking.
Two weeks later, the family returned to the same rental and Natalie once again raised concerns with the owner about the dogs. That was when she learned the unexpected truth: it wasn’t dogs.
“[The owner] said ‘Oh, we spoke to the neighbors again. It’s actually frogs,’ and I was like, what are they talking about?” Natalie recalled.
Confused, her husband searched online for “barking frog” and to their shock, it was real.
Vietnam is home to the barking tree frog, also known as the Vietnamese mossy frog. This frog is famous not only for its camouflage—its bumpy, green-and-black skin mimics moss-covered rocks—but also for its distinctive barking call, which resembles the yelp of a small dog.
Native to northern Vietnam, especially in humid, mountainous forests and limestone karst landscapes, the barking frog often hides in tree holes or rocky crevices near water.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, these frogs are not currently threatened, but there are concerns. Threats to the frogs include habitat loss because of deforestation, pollution and agricultural expansion and the illegal exotic wildlife trade, where these frogs are highly sought after.
Determined to see the culprits firsthand, Natalie held her phone over the fence—and there they were, tiny frogs, vocalizing nonstop.
“They’re absolutely tiny, but they go all day and all night,” she said. “I thought it was one dog setting off another, but no—it’s frogs! It’s so funny. I feel a little embarrassed I contacted all these animal charities, but at least I tried.”
The video of the barking amphibians has been viewed over 1 million times on Instagram since being shared earlier this week, where people couldn’t believe the loud noise could come from such a small animal.
The video was captioned: “The barking goes on ALL day and ALL night next to where we are staying.”
The caption went on to say she “complained” about the dogs next door. Before, as the camera zooms in on the frog, the text reveals: “Here are the ‘dogs’.”
“Sorry but this is awesome,” said one commenter. While another said: “I don’t know why but knowing that comes from a frog is like 25x less aggravating.”
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