A couple from the United Kingdom thought they’d never see their dog again after he went missing in the woods, only to show up at their door out of nowhere.
Doorbell camera footage shared on TikTok on Friday by the poster, Natalie Baines, under the username @nattybaines, shows the pup running up and down the road before finally entering his home gates after recognizing the familiar smell.
“This is my 10 year old dog, Paddy. This is him finding his way home on his own in the rain off a busy road. He had originally gone out in the van with my partner, for a run around some woodlands. Which they do every week. My partner rang me in a panic saying Paddy got spooked by another dog and bolted,” reads layover text displayed on the viral clip.
“He said he couldn’t find him. He had been running around for ages trying to find him. I didn’t believe him, 10 years of walks and he’s never ever ran off. We were both so worried and didn’t know what to do. I was about to leave to drive to the woods and join the search when I heard a whining at the door.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes, my clever boy made it all the way home on his own. 2 miles across busy main roads. He must have been so scared. So grateful he got home safely.”
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Stories of dogs who like Paddy have been able to find their way home after going missing are not unheard of.
Dogster explains that dogs are great at finding their way around thanks to their heightened senses of smell and direction, and they’re also sensitive to the Earth’s geomagnetic field.
Dogs possess up to 100 million olfactory receptors, compared to humans, who only have about 6 million, which according to Dogster allows them to detect one drop of liquid in 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Moreover, like their ancestor, the wolves, dogs can build a mental map of their territory, using visual cues such as landmarks to help their visual orientation.
The video quickly went viral on social media, getting viewers from across TikTok. It has so far received over 216,400 views and 15,500 likes on the platform.
One user, Alice Zero, commented: “My Dachshund would run off and start a new life in the woods.”
User Lauren’s life said: “Mine did this after he was hit by a car he ran all the way home with my dad running after him, half the village turned up to see if he was ok, he was, driver didn’t stop.”
Mhairi added: “This is why they say you should walk your dogs local to your home often! Gets them oriented to how to get back.”
Newsweek reached out to nattybaines for comment via TikTok comments. We could not verify the details of the case.
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