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An excitable mini golden retriever appeared desperate to see his owner’s sister after discovering she had stayed over.
Unfortunately, Max the dog was in no mood to wait around for her to get up and made his feelings abundantly clear. Max’s owner Sarah Gustafsson told Newsweek: “As soon as he is awake, he wants everyone to be awake!”
When it comes to dogs, absence definitely makes the heart grow fonder. That much was proven in a 2011 study published in Applied Animal Behavior Science. It explored the effect of time left alone at home on canine welfare. As part of the research, a group of dogs spent separate periods of 30 minutes, two hours and four hours at home on their own. Scientists then studied the reactions of the canines upon their owners’ return.
What the researchers found was that the dogs demonstrated more greeting behaviors such as tail wagging, lip licking and body shaking, and initiated more physical contact with their owners, upon reunion after a longer time of separation. This suggests the animals were affected by time, and able to perceive the length of time, once it was over.
Max certainly appears fond of Sarah’s sister. In a video posted to Gustafsson’s TikTok account @madmaxthegolden, the excitable pooch can be seen standing outside the door of the guest bedroom, with his tail wagging frantically.
“The video was actually the weekend of the Chicago marathon, and my sister was visiting and staying in the guest bedroom,” Gustafsson said. “I had gotten up and my sister hadn’t woken up yet, and Max remembered that she was still sleeping and couldn’t wait to go wake her up.”
Though this is the first time Max has done this to Gustafsson’s sister, she said it’s far from being an isolated incident. “It happens every time that someone comes to visit us,” Gustafsson said.
Max lives with Gustafsson and her husband in Evanston, Illinois. “We got him five years ago, and he’s moved around with us everywhere we’ve been,” she said.
“My husband played professional hockey, so we lived in Hershey PA, Sweden, Denmark, and now we’ve settled in Chicago, and Max has been with us at every spot,” Gustafsson added.
As the energy levels exhibited in the video of Max suggest, he is a very active dog. “He loves to be on the dog beach, running around with his friends, going to TJ Maxx, and being a fabulous host for all the guests in his home!” Gustafsson said.
That came in pretty useful for Gustafsson when it came to the recent Chicago Marathon, which she ended up running in.
“Every morning, he would run with me,” Gustafsson said. “He’s a great training partner!”
At the time of writing, the video of Max waiting outside her sister’s bedroom door has been watched over 1.7 million times in under a week.
Gustafsson attributes the video’s popularity to the relatable nature of what unfolds. “A lot of people have reached out and said that their goldens do the same thing,” she said.
More than anything, however, Gustafsson thinks there’s something special about the way Max is so excited to have someone new in the house.
“It’s heartwarming to think about dogs loving their humans so much that they are genuinely so happy and excited to greet them first thing in the morning,” Gustafsson said. “It easily puts a smile on your face whether you have a pet or not!”
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.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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