A woman from Australia was looking after her son’s puppy while working from home, when, right in the middle of an important Zoom call, he started having the zoomies on camera and could not stop misbehaving.
The hilarious video was shared on TikTok on Thursday by the puppy’s owner, 33-year-old Aimon Clark from Queensland, under the username @notonyourrider. It shows the 8-month-old golden retriever x border collie cross, Sir, running in circles, jumping around, and chewing off his stuffed toy, all while his grandma attends a Zoom work meeting, failing to notice his shenanigans in the background.
Clark told Newsweek that his puppy is still learning how to play by himself so he follows them in every room of the house; also, he hates being alone.
Sir’s grandma has an important marketing meeting on Zoom while the pup misbehaves in the background. The golden retriever x border collie puppy’s zoomies went unnoticed until his grandma played the recording back and realized what he had done.
@notonyourrider.
“I run a live quiz panel show called ‘Not On Your Rider,’ hence the username, and we had a show down in Melbourne. Instead of leaving Sir with a dog sitter, I took him two hours down the coast to stay with my parents,” Clark said.
“I think he was trying to show off how good at playing he is in front of mum—but she didn’t even notice until playing the Zoom back! It is incredible that nobody on the call pointed it out.”
Although those unmistakable explosions of energy usually occur in puppies and younger canines, all dogs can get the zoomies at any time. But what exactly are they? And why do our pups get them? Also known as Frenetic Random Activity Periods (FRAPs), zoomies are bursts of energy that cause repetitive behaviors such as those shown by Sir in the viral video.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) says that, usually, zoomies are no cause for concern if your pup has enough space to run around without the risk of getting hurt, although constant zoomies may be a sign of behavior issues.
While they are usually caused by energy buildups, they can also be triggered by external factors like a visit to the vet, a bath, or spending most of their day confined to a crate.
Clark’s mom works as a dietitian, while she also owns a portion-control product business called Portion Perfection, and the Zoom call was a very important marketing meeting trying to figure out how to best publicize her products.
Thankfully, nobody mentioned Sir’s naughty behavior at all in the Zoom call, which is what Clark finds most hilarious about this whole situation.
Zoomies can be very disruptive, especially in situations like the one in the clip, when the owner really needs peace and quiet to work. So what can you do to stop your dog from getting the zoomies?
An article written by Dr. Joshua Montgomery and reviewed by Dr. Laura Fontana for BetterVet says that providing your dog with enough exercise and mental stimulation throughout the day should be enough to stop these energy outbursts.
Providing a calm environment and establishing a well-structured bedtime routine will also help tame their behavior. Positive reinforcement is also a great tool to teach your dog self-control.
Frequent or aggressive zoomies can be a sign of separation anxiety, which should be addressed by your veterinarian.
The video quickly went viral on social media, getting viewers from across TikTok. It has so far received nearly 6 million views and almost 600,000 likes on the platform.
One user, Jen, commented: “Zoom meeting? He heard zoomies meeting.”
Crystal S posted: “Grammy look what I can do … Grammy look … Look what I can do.”
Martiecila added: “It’s a zoom meeting so puppy is doing zoomies. Everything is how it supposed to be.”
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