The 'Exact Second' Blind Deaf Dog Realizes Owner Is Home Caught on Camera

A video of a blind and deaf dog realizing her owner has returned home from work has gone viral on TikTok, where it has received 4.7 million views.

The clip was shared by @haiku_cant_hear_you, the TikTok account of a "sassy and spunky" border collie named Haiku that's been blind and deaf since birth.

A message overlaid on the clip read: "You can see the exact second that Haiku notices that I'm home from work..." The footage showed the dog standing in a backyard with her nose to the ground, appearing to sniff around the grass.

Another note overlaid on the video said: "Getting upwind..." as the camera got closer to the dog. The pup was seen looking up from the ground and walking a bit forward as another message said: "There it is!"

With its tail wagging furiously, the dog was then seen going in a few circles before jumping toward the camera as a hand pets the excited pup.

A caption shared with the post read: "That's the moment! She loves her mama."

While it's not known how Haiku appeared to know that her owner had arrived home, the blind deaf pup's keen nose most likely would have helped.

The sense of smell is "a principal sensory modality for dogs," according to a January 2020 study in the International Journal of Comparative Psychology.

The study, which was conducted with a natural body odor captured on a T-shirt, found that "dogs habituated to a familiar odor and dishabituated to an unfamiliar odor."

In a September 2020 article in Psychology Today, Daniel Marston, a licensed psychologist specializing in cognitive behavioral therapy, said what was especially interesting about the aforementioned study was that "it addressed how dogs reacted and used the smell of a familiar person even if that person was not actually there."

A June 2015 article published by Cesars Way, the website of dog behaviorist Cesar Millan of the TV series Dog Whisperer With Cesar Millan, also noted that smell is "the most significant way that dogs interact with the world."

Sniffing around allows dogs to know where things are and what they are. When smell is used in combination with a blind and deaf pup's other remaining senses (touch and taste), your dog will have "a much easier time living normally," the article said.

Haiku's ability to sense her owner's presence may also be due to their strong bond.

According to a May 2013 study published in the online journal PLOS One, "This unique relationship between adult dogs and their human owners bears a remarkable resemblance to an infant attachment bond: dogs are dependent on human care and their behavior seems specifically geared to engage their owners' care-giving system."

The dog in the video moved TikTokers who responded to the post. L3 Waxy Wonders wrote: "That was so beautiful! I didn't realize their nose was that sensitive!..." The comment got 11,700 likes.

Shell said: "It warms my heart to know that dogs don't learn to wag their tails from watching each other but the happy wiggles just escape out their bottoms."

User M&M the shepskies said the dog must have been thinking, "I don't know where you are but I'm so happy."

User melinda simply wrote, "Oh my goodness how precious!," while CC2023 said, "My heart just exploded."

TikToker aysialynne said: "I love the silence as if we're experiencing what she is."

Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. The video has not been independently verified.

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