The heartwarming moment a dog was left confused by her own wagging tail has melted hearts online.
In a video with over 1 million views on TikTok, user @rt95829 shared footage of Amber gently wagging her tail for the first time.
A once-frightened dog who had endured severe emotional scars, Amber seemed a little confused by the sight of her own wagging tail. The text overlay said: “Amber, my rescue with severe PTSD notices her tail wagging for the first time!”
In the caption, Amber’s owner described her incredible transformation: “Amber came to me as a frightened mom with five puppies. Any movement and every sound shut her down. She would lie as low to the floor and far back in the corner as she could just hoping nobody would notice her. This is after a year of love, regular meals, and a warm, safe bed. She responds well to my voice but heard a noise that made her nervous so back to her bed under my desk.”
Amber came to me as a frightened mom with five puppies. Any movement and every sound shut her down. She would lie as low to the floor and far back in the corner as she could just hoping nobody would notice her. This is after a year of love, regular meals and a warm safe bed. She responds well to my voice but heard a noise that made her nervous so back to her bed under my desk. #workinprogress
The internet couldn’t get enough of the sweet moment. Viewer @boodash72 said: “We had a rescue dog, we gave him a ball.. he showed everyone in the family that ball for WEEKS, he was so happy and proud he finally had a ball.”
While @Regi wrote: “I cried when a foster I had, after three days, he laid down to sleep instead of sleeping sitting up and started snoring. These poor babies.”
“No dog should be confused about their wagging tail,” wrote @Unhinged but funny.
Do Dogs Get PTSD?
While PTSD, or post traumatic stress disorder, is most often associated with humans, there is evidence that dogs also suffer from the condition after a traumatic experience, also known as Canine PTSD or C-PTSD.
A 2012 study led by Japanese researchers Miho Nagasawa, Kazutaka Mogi and Takefumi Kikusui examined the impact of trauma on dogs abandoned after the 2011 Fukushima earthquake.
Researchers monitored urinary cortisol levels, a biomarker of stress, in two groups of dogs. They tested both dogs abandoned in the Fukushima area, and dogs from Kanagawa, a non-disaster-affected region, and then retested in another 10 weeks.
The team recorded and analyzed the behaviors of the two groups, focusing on factors like aggression, trainability and social attachment.
The results were clear. Fukushima dogs exhibited higher cortisol levels after 10 weeks, indicating prolonged and extreme stress compared to the Kanagawa dogs. Fukushima dogs also exhibited lower trainability and reduced attachment to humans.
Newsweek reached out to @rt95829 via TikTok for comment.
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