A tired dog’s very relatable reaction to a noisy baby nearby had his owner, and the internet at large, in hysterics.
Danni Keane’s American Bullies, Norman and Annabelle, have much in common as litter mates who have spent their entire lives together up until this point. “Their mother was surrendered to a local shelter when she was a week away from giving birth,” Keane told Newsweek. “We fostered her, delivered her 12 puppies and raised them for 8 weeks.”
The litter had been born on a Friday 13, so they thought it would be appropriate to name each after a horror movie villain. Norman was named after Norman Bates from Psycho while Annabelle’s name stemmed from the doll-based supernatural horror movie of the same name.
Originally, Keane, from Maryland, and her husband were supposed to help all 12 of the puppies get adopted. It didn’t quite work out that way though. “We hadn’t planned on keeping any,” Keane said. “We were still grieving our dog who had passed 6 months prior, but my Annabelle bonded with my husband when she was 3 weeks old and Norman pulled at my heartstrings with all his whining and wanting to be held, so we decided to adopt them both.”
Their shared interests include walks, visits to SniffSpots and car rides. They do differ in some respects though. Keane said Annabelle enjoys being treated to “corn cobs” from her dad while Norman just loves food of any kind. The biggest contrast between the two pups, however, comes in their relationship to Keane’s 11-month-old grandson, who is affectionately known as “Smalls.”
“Annabelle doesn’t pay much attention to Smalls. She checks on him throughout the day, but prefers to love him from a distance,” Keane said. “My grandson and Norman have a cute relationship. Norman was obsessed with him when he was just a little infant. Now that Smalls is bigger and able to interact more, and most importantly can share his food with Norman, their bond has grown deeper.”
Norman likes to keep a close eye on Smalls and is usually found sitting or sleeping close to wherever the toddler might be. It’s not always easy though, as the video posted to TikTok under the handle @annabelle_and_norman highlights.
Keane watches Smalls in the daytime, while his mom is at work, and the clip captures what is a typical lunchtime for both child and dog. While Smalls is in his activity center, watching an episode of the popular preschool show Ms. Rachel, Norman is laying on his favorite chair by the window, trying, but ultimately failing to sleep. Dogs need their sleep, with the American Kennel Club (AKC) estimating that canines spend around 12 hours a day enjoying some shut-eye.
Unfortunately, Smalls’ enjoyment of Ms. Rachel was getting in the way of Norman enjoying a snooze. “Smalls loves to jump and the activity center is very loud when he jumps,” Keane said. “Smalls also gets super excited when Ms. Rachel sings certain songs like ‘Wheels on the Bus.’ When those songs come on Smalls screams with excitement and jumps. Again, it’s very loud.”
Though intervention was clearly required, Keane couldn’t help but record what was unfolding and Norman’s reaction. To Keane it seemed as though Norman was pleading with her to take Smalls away, asking: “Is it nap time yet?”
“I think Norman looked fed up because he likes his quiet time, and that’s his favorite spot to nap,” Keane said. “It’s hard to nap with all that noise, but Norman will not leave the room because he wants to be near Smalls so he has to deal with the noise.”
At the time of writing, the video showcasing Norman’s reaction has gone viral since being posted last week, amassing over 1 million views. Keane isn’t entirely surprised. “I shared the clip because I thought the look on Norman’s face was funny, and the activity center is almost comically loud. It sounds like an earthquake,” she said.
She also felt there was something about Norman’s response that would be relatable to parents as well as pet owners. “Just like every show for little ones, after a while you’ve had enough,” she said. “Norman was emulating that feeling perfectly.”
The post Laughter At Tired Dog’s Reaction To Noisy Toddler: ‘Is It Nap Time Yet?’ appeared first on Newsweek.
