Dogs sometimes show the quirkiest behaviors, and those habits tend to endear them more to us.
One example of a pup like that is Ruby, a German Shorthaired Pointer. She and her brother Miles often go to The Den Doggy Daycare in Burlington, Ontario, where Ruby has made many friends.
This pooch is definitely not the shy type. Whenever she’s around other dogs, she shows them affection by giving them one of their favorite things in the world: pets.
Alanah Lorraine, an employee of the doggy daycare who also brings her pup Lexy to the facility, was the one who first noticed Ruby’s adorable behavior.
“She does it every time she is in,” she told The Dodo. “We think she wants attention!”
When Ruby is there, it seems like she couldn’t help but give the other dogs pets. She would paw at the other dogs lounging around as if she were saying, “Hi.” Although the other pooches look baffled by her gentle strokes, they just let her do it anyway.
“Most dogs aren’t bothered by it and just let it happen,” said Lorraine.
Every time Lorraine sees Ruby petting other dogs, she would take out her phone and film the cute moment. Eager to share Ruby’s charming quirk, Lorraine compiled the clips together and posted the video on TikTok.
Since sharing it early last year, the video has earned over 316.6K likes!
“I thought it would be adorable,” Lorraine said of the video’s fame, “but I never imagined it would go viral.”
The clip even made it to the incredibly popular WeRateDogs Twitter account. So far, it has earned over 8.5M views on the platform.
“This is Ruby. She likes to pet the other dogs at daycare. 14/10 extremely relatable,” they captioned the video.
Here are some people’s reactions to the heartwarming clip.
“Ruby is doing our part by petting all the good dogs while we stay at home.”
“Omg. My heart. She is delish and such a good friend.”
“Wow! She is so sweet and tender with her friends. She is a beauty and adorable dog.”
Typically, dogs paw at other dogs to show submission or initiate play. It can also be a signal that they want something, like food, or they’re just simply trying to get your attention.
But for Ruby, it seems like she’s just interested in giving her four-legged friends a scratch on their backs or heads.
Spencer from The Den Doggy Daycare talked about Ruby’s habit of petting other dogs in an interview with Bored Panda.
“She usually starts with her brother Miles and as the other dogs in daycare start to chill out, she will get to work on them as well. Miles doesn’t seem interested in giving pets, just receiving,” he said.
“We think it started with trying to get Miles’ attention or to play with him and just evolved from there, most of her friends at daycare don’t mind and see it as her playing with them,” he added.
Spencer also told the website that they have won the award from the Burlington Post for Best Doggy Daycare for the last three years. He said their staff is the “absolute backbone” of their service, and they couldn’t have accomplished all these things without the team they have.
Now, he is just glad that Lorraine’s video of Ruby’s petting habit made millions of people smile.
“We are so grateful to see everyone enjoying the video Alanah made and now everyone gets to experience the happiness dogs like Ruby bring us every day,” he said.
No matter what Ruby’s reasons are for petting her dog friends, one thing is for sure – she’s got the sweetest heart!
You can watch the adorable video below.
@alanahlorraine ruby always trying to make friends!! #foryou #fyp #foryoupage #dogsoftiktok #tiktokdogs #dogdaycare ♬ You've Got a Friend In Me – Cavetown