A video of a German shepherd dog appearing to be in a deep sleep has gone viral on TikTok, where it had received over 262,000 views at the time of writing.
The video shared from @retiredk9rex, the TikTok account of a retired military working dog named Rex, was posted with a message overlaid on it that read: "When the nap is so good you don't hear the hoomans come home."
The clip began following the footsteps of a person walking closer to a German shepherd asleep on a couch.
A stock image of a German shepherd dog asleep on a floor. A video of a German shepherd retired military working dog in a deep sleep has gone viral on TikTok. iStock / Getty Images Plus
The camera then spun around to the front of the couch and the dog appeared to be unaware of the person's presence. After a hand reached forward and touched the blanket he was sleeping on, the dog opened his eyes and got off the sofa.
The video was shared with a caption that read: "Rex loves his naps!"
Our canine friends can spend as much as half of their days sleeping.
A study by researchers at North Carolina State University, published in December 2020 in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports, found that most dogs have two windows of "activity peaks" in a given day. One is from around 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., while another is from about 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.
The study found that all dogs were more active during the weekends than weekdays.
Veterinarian Dr. Jerry Klein is the chief veterinary officer at the American Kennel Club (AKC), the world's largest purebred dog registry. He told Newsweek in August that dogs' sleeping positions "shed a little light into their behavior and much of it is inherited from their more primitive canine ancestors."
Sleeping on the side, as done by the German shepherd in the latest video, is one of the most common body postures for dogs.
Pups sleeping in this position are feeling safe and relaxed, said Klein and Mary R. Burch, a certified applied animal behaviorist and the AKC's family dog director.
"These dogs are often having 'sweet dreams' where you can see the paws moving. We often assume the dog is dreaming about chasing a rabbit or is running through a field in the dream," Burch also told Newsweek in August.
The dog in the latest viral video has warmed the hearts of users on TikTok.
BeckyM said: "I love that he was snuggled on a princess blanket. [floating hearts smiley face emoji]," to which the original poster replied "His tiny human left it on the couch [crying laughing emoji]."
Autumn wrote: "Dog had one of those naps where you slept so good you thought you woke up the next day but it's only been a few hours [crying laughing emoji]."
User kmerne said: "That old baby has earned ALL the uninterrupted naps," and user sirdiealot88 agreed, stating: "he's earned his good naps [floating hearts smiley face]."
Scarletnerded25 simply said: "So precious! [floating hearts smiley face emoji]," while Carolanne said: "So sweet [red heart emoji]."
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