A pair of senior Staffordshire bull terriers have won over the internet with their slow but determined ball chase around the house.
In a viral TikTok video shared on Friday under the username @kaseyej13, the two pups, Ava and Alfie, can be seen chasing each other to play with the same ball, despite having one each, before a tense altercation leads them to part ways.
“Senior citizens ball chase”, the poster writes in the clip, as she explains in the comments that they always want to steal each other’s toys.
As they age, dogs become significantly slower, their will suffer from stiffness in their limbs, grow more impatient, and often go gray around the muzzle.
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The age at which a dog is considered a senior varies greatly depending on their size and breed, with smaller breeds generally living longer than their larger counterparts.
Pet MD says that while it is still not fully understood why large dogs don’t live as long as smaller breeds, experts believe it’s due to smaller dogs having less stress on their bodies, particularly their hearts.
Because of this, larger dogs are considered seniors much sooner. Small breeds like the Dachshund are usually labeled as seniors around 10 to 12 years, and medium breeds, like Australian Shepherd, at 8 to 10 years.
Larger breeds like the boxer have a shorter lifespan, and thus, they are considered seniors at around age 8 to 9, while for giant breeds, like the Great Dane, the number goes down to around 6 to 7 years.
The video quickly went viral on social media, having received over 1.8 million views and 384,400 likes on the platform so far.
One user, Elly B, said in the comments: “I’m disabled this is how my Labrador runs when I play chasey, anyone else he goes full speed but he pities me.”
SylviaR wrote: “Did they nap for a couple hours after that exhausting ball chase?”
Another user, KiwiMel14, commented: “At one point I was worried they would send the furniture flying they were going so fast. Such cuties.”
Windchijmes187 added: “I think it’s wonderful they have each other to play with even in their older years. Such privilege and fortune to be able to grow old together.”
Newsweek reached out to @kaseyej13 for comment via TikTok comments. We could not verify the details of the case.
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