It’s not unusual to see a dog doing its own thing in any given home, wandering freely from room to room. They’re part of the family and often have the run of the house. However, as a general rule, they tend to do that on four legs. With that in mind, prepare to be stunned as a TikTok is doing the rounds in which a dog with only three legs walks around on just two of them.
In the 11-second clip, uploaded by dexter dog ouray (username @dexterdogouray), which the pooch’s human is recording while drinking their morning coffee in the kitchen, the on-screen caption reads, “wait for it…” while the camera points towards an open door. Then, out of the darkness, Dexter, a Brittany Spaniel, wanders in without a care. He walks upright like a person and heads to greet his human, putting his third paw and head into their lap.
Further research into Dexter takes you to his official website, where it’s explained that he lost his front right leg after escaping his front yard and getting into an accident with a moving van. The adorable canine then bounced back by teaching himself how to walk on his two hind legs after being nursed back to health by veterinary experts and his caring owners.
The peculiar and heartwarming video has garnered much attention on TikTok, and many people have had their say about it in the comments section.
How did TikTok react?
Someone commented, “Imagine having someone sleep over and you don’t tell them about this.” They make a good point. That would be rather strange to experience.
Many people said they’d even be a little scared or unsettled if they saw Dexter wandering around on two legs, with comments like, “cute but if I saw this in the middle of the night I’d simply pass away,” “I’d pass away if I was high and that waddled into the room,” and “Honestly if he came around a corner in the dark I would probably scream.”
Some people even said poor Dexter resembled a skinwalker — a mythological malevolent witch creature from Navajo culture — with comments like, “That’s a skinwalker and you can’t convince me otherwise,” “ma’am that’s a skinwalker,” “That’s a skinwalker! Jk that’s an adorable dog though,” and “Very skinwalker. Very check for a zipper.”
Others referred to Dexter’s human-like stance with imagined quotes he might be saying, such as, “Oh Look at me! I’m a hooman. Bills, bills, bills,” “Well I’m off to Walmart,” “Excuse me my good man, we would like to buy some lumber,” “hunny I’m home what’s for dinner,” and “Damnit Loretta, have you seen my keys?!”
Of course, many people were complimentary about him, saying things like, “Look at this distinguished gentleman,” “what a distinguished gentledog,” “Beautiful and precious baby,” “Oh what a sweet baby! Lol,” and “He is so amazing!!!!”
A 2020 survey by Tripawds revealed that all but one of 198 dog parents who were asked said their dog adapted well to having one of their legs amputated. Dexter is living proof that dogs can be happy with one leg missing, and the survey affirms that. However, it’s fair to say most dogs with three legs use all of them to walk!