A dog owner has shared footage of his mini cockapoo's adorable response to the age old question: "Do you miss us when we're gone?"
It's a question that has dogged scientists—pun intended—for decades. In 2011, a study published in Applied Animal Behavior Science highlighted how, when it comes to dogs being away from their owners, absence appears to make the heart grow fonder.
As part of the study, 12 privately owned dogs with no history of separation anxiety were recorded on three occasions when left alone at home. In the first instance, they were filmed greeting their owner after 30 minutes of separation, while the second saw them separated for two hours and the third for four hours.
What researchers found was that the dogs greeted their owners with considerably more gusto after being reunited following two hours apart than they did after just half an hour. The reaction was similarly intense after an absence of four hours.
Jared Davis doesn't need science to tell him that his dog Luna misses him—he just asks herself himself. In a video that has been watched over 4.1 million times, Davis and Luna can be seen sitting in a car when the pet owner asks: "Hey Luna, when mommy and daddy go out, do you miss us?"
Luna looks over at Davis, as if contemplating her answer, before he tells her: "Because we miss you. Do you miss us?" Luna proceeds to lie down in the car seat before appearing to nod her head.
"Is that a yes?" Davis asks with Luna, once again, seemingly nodding in agreement. The response sparked a glut of comments on the video proclaiming Luna's innate understanding of her owner's question.
"I swear that dog has been on this Earth before," one viewer wrote, with another commenting: "Smart dogs know." But Davis insists this kind of thing isn't out of the ordinary for Luna and is a key reason why he regularly posts videos of her to social media.
"I like to show the relationship that she and I have together as it's soo pure and I truly believe she understands every word," he said. "[When this video was filmed] we had just come back from our honeymoon so we were away from Luna for about two+ weeks so figured it was the perfect time to ask her! Her response was amazing!!"
A marketing executive based out in Toronto, Canada, Davis recalled how Luna arrived with them at a difficult time for people all over the world.
"Luna came into our life March 7, 2020 when we luckily snagged her up as the last one left in her litter," he said. "The timing couldn't have worked out better given the pandemic had just started."
When she's not enjoying heart-to-heart conversations with her human, Davis said that Luna "loves to play fetch."
"It is her absolute favorite thing to do. Even if you give her a toy that is meant for her to play with alone she'll still try and play fetch," he said. "Apart from that, she loves to cuddle and spend time with both her parents. Primarily me, daddy."
Davis credits his background in marketing as what prompted him to start sharing videos of Luna online, though he's stunned at how big things have got.
"I have always had a passion for media/entertainment. When I got Luna I started making videos for fun and then next thing you know we've blown up into one of the top celebrity dogs on the internet!" he said.
Luna was not available for comment.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
About the writer
Jack Beresford is a Newsweek Senior Internet Culture & Trends Reporter, based in London, UK. His focus is reporting on ... Read more