‘I wish I had that kind of excitement in my life’: Dog won’t let anyone else play in public playground after she discovers the joy of slides

The thing about having heightened hearing and smelling, relatively weak eyesight, and a subhuman cognitive ability, is that everything is far more exciting and terrifying than others are capable of appreciating. So when your dog freaks out over the smell of rotisserie chicken or runs for the hills in the presence of fireworks, understand that he’s the most valid soul on Earth in those moments.

Similarly, when Autumn the chocolate lab locates history’s single greatest item in the form of a spiral slide at a children’s playground, you smile and nod, because Autumn is correct in her assessment. Why else would she eagerly hog this miniature adrenaline apparatus for herself?

Distributed by TikTok‘s @pubity, the delightful little 30-second video above sees Autumn gallop eagerly to the nearest set of stairs on the playground, all in the name of getting down the spirally slide as soon as possible. Autumn’s owner, Stephanie, contextualizes things by explaining that she brings Autumn to the park once a week specifically so that she can go down the slide. One gushes to imagine how Autumn responded to her first-ever encounter with that plastic endorphin factory.

Among the playground’s tenants is a little boy who takes great joy in watching Autumn indulge in her favorite pastime, even if it means he doesn’t get to go down the slide himself. She does eventually quit hogging the two-person queue, presumably because she wants other people to understand just how sensational this slide is.

Autumn and this boy may be slide buddies for life, but things could have gone a bit differently if the boy had a fear of dogs, and that’s not considering the possibility of any by-laws that may have prevented Autumn from reuniting with her slide week after week (if there were any, then everyone was too charmed by the pup’s enthusiasm to care; you might even say they let it slide). Had the boy possessed such a phobia, WebMD might suggest to his parents to ask him questions about dogs that he’s capable of answering, as this would give him space to feel anxious, allow him to address his fear, and learn how to regulate his emotions.

Explaining dog behaviors, such as barking, licking, or jumping, can also be helpful for alleviating a fear of dogs, although most parents of cynophobic children have probably never had to explain why a dog might make this sort of haste for a slide. But then again, the joy in Autumn’s eyes is all the explanation one needs, and could itself be a potent antidote to a fear of dogs.