A dad has gone viral after he recruited his dog to model a baby car seat he was trying to sell, prompting laughter as well as warnings about the safety issues associated with second-hand car seats.
Kayla Flores (@imkaylaaaaaa), 29, a nursing student from Michigan, shared a behind-the-scenes video of the photo shoot directed by her husband, Nate. The clip, which quickly took off on TikTok, garnered 126,700 likes and almost 900,000 views.
“My husband was messing around with the car seat trying to get it ready to sell, and she was laying on the floor being cute as always so he put her in there to model it for the pics. She pretty much lets him do whatever he wants with her. She is his baby. She adores him so much,” Flores told Newsweek.
In the video, Roxy—their 6-year-old cockapoo—is gently lifted into the seat and strapped in. She performs her duty like a pro, lying flat and gazing dotingly into her dad’s eyes.
“She is a nut job but also the biggest baby. She loves a good lap, especially if there’s a blanket involved (we call it her ‘blankie time’), and especially if it’s her dad’s,” Flores said.
The couple’s 14-month-old daughter, Sofia, also shares a close bond with Roxy.
“Roxy doesn’t totally love that a human baby came along and took some of her attention away, but she’s very gentle with her and tolerates her anyway,” Flores said.
And although Roxy looked adorable modeling the car seat, experts warn that selling or buying used car seats online can be risky. Kidsie.com points out that unless a secondhand car seat comes with a full history that shows it has never been in an accident and isn’t expired or recalled, it should not be reused. Even seemingly minor damage can affect the seat’s safety in a collision.
In the US, and in Michigan state, there is no specific law that prohibits the resale of used car seats, but safety experts caution against it unless the seat’s full history can be verified and safety checked.
Flores told Newsweek: “We would never sell something that we believed was unsafe. A lot of people are incorrectly saying that it is illegal. As long as the car seat is not expired and has never been in an accident, it is perfectly acceptable to sell it. The alternative would be to waste or recycle it, and we would much rather someone else get some use out of it than do that.”
Still, TikTok users couldn’t get enough of Roxy’s impromptu modeling gig.
“Veterinarian here. Be careful, once you strap her in like that, she’s gonna expect lullabies, teething toys, and her own iPad,” joked one user.
“The double leg lift killed me,” said Jasper.
“Oh my gosh…. Not the model soaking it like ‘yup, I’m the original baby,’” said Stephanie.
“No bc the way she is just accepting it,” added Sarah.
“My aunt said dogs are babies who never made it earthside that’s why their eyes are so human like,” another shared.
“Cutest little model I’ve seen. So well behaved,” one user chimed in.
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