A miniature dachshund's attachment to her beloved toy donkey took an adorable turn after she chose to stand watch while the cuddly animal was in the washing machine.
Sam, a pet owner from the Netherlands, took to TikTok to share the heartwarming footage of her wiener dog, Anijs, keeping a close eye on her best friend.
If there's one thing Anijs loves, besides cuddles and food, it's her cuddly donkey. "Her donkey is her favorite toy," Sam told Newsweek. "She takes it everywhere. It even went with us on holiday, and every morning the first thing she does is look for him. It has this really annoying squeaker, and she loves that."
A good toy can make a huge difference to the day-to-day well-being of a dog. In a 2004 study published in the journal Animal Welfare researchers monitored how 32 adult dogs in a rescue shelter reacted to being exposed to five different toys over six days.
While responses varied, they found the welfare of the canines involved was noticeably enhanced by the addition of toys. From the day she arrived as a puppy some 18 months ago, Sam has adored Anijs.
She had always wanted a miniature dachshund ever since she was a child, but her parents did not allow it. As an adult, she longed to have a chocolate dapple wiener dog, but it took time and patience for her to get one.
"I was on a list for a litter. They expected all chocolate dapple puppies, but when the puppies were born all of them were black. There was only one chocolate dapple in the whole litter, and she was reserved for another lady already," Sam said.
A few weeks went by, with Sam continuing to search. Then, out of the blue, she got a call saying the woman the chocolate dapple dachshund had originally been promised to had developed an allergy and could no longer care for the puppy.
That puppy ended up being Anijs, who wasted little time in settling in.
"She's very smart and very stubborn and doesn't do anything she doesn't want to do," Sam said. "She's extremely loyal and affectionate and a little clown always making us laugh. She also doesn't want anyone to feel bad, even when I just sneeze she always comes to check on me to see if I'm OK."
Sam has gone to great lengths to care for Anijs. Recently, that required her to give the donkey toy a much-needed clean. It was a task she approached with some trepidation. "This was the first time I washed him because I was scared it would melt or shrink," she said.
Thankfully, she had Anijs on hand to keep watch through the process. The clip posted to her TikTok channel, anijs.the.sausage, shows him watching through the glass window of the laundry machine door.
Sam was impressed by her dachshund's dedication to her beloved toy, noting in the clip how Anijs was "not leaving his side" throughout the process. Now significantly cleaner, the donkey is back where he belongs, with Anijs.
Given how well it went, further washes will likely be in order over the coming months, with Anijs quietly keeping an eye on the proceedings, no doubt.
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.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
