Dog Owner On Vacation Receives Wildest Video From Pet Sitter—'Don't Be Mad'

A vacationing couple were left stunned after receiving a text from their pet sitter that read: "please don't be mad" followed by a video.

Melanie Demi from Austin, Texas, was over in Barbados with her husband, celebrating their 5-year anniversary, when she received the video showing her 14-year-old senior rescue dog Cooper standing alongside a possum who was, well, playing possum.

It was about as bizarre a video as anyone could ever expect to receive while on vacation, especially as Cooper had never done anything like it before.

"We were all so shocked," Demi told Newsweek. "In his younger years he would try to chase after bunnies and birds, but he hasn't done that in years."

Adopted from a shelter nine years ago, Cooper, who is a golden retriever, is the eldest of three dogs alongside Brooklyn a 6-year-old Dachshund mix and Lucas, a 4-year-old Great Dane and would have been expected to set an example.

"Cooper had been shot and found by a shelter in Nebraska while we were going to school," Demi said. "He mostly loves to nap and spend time with his people, but in his prime he loved swimming." All of which is at odds with the behavior you might associate with the dog in the video they were sent.

Demi decided to share the footage to TikTok, under the handle herboozytails. "I thought it was just such a crazy, weird thing to happen while we were gone, especially since he's never done anything like that before, and figured others could relate to whatever antics their pups get into while the parents are away," she said.

At the time of writing, the video has been watched 2.7 million times, with many recounting similar pet-sitting horror stories. One user wrote: "The first time I pet sat for friends, their dog brought me the face of a rabbit; nothing else, only the face," with another commenting: "My dog killed a groundhog at the kennel and they called us and asked us what to do."

"So many people said their dogs also do the craziest things while they're with their pet sitter," Demi said. Was Cooper acting up because he was missing mom and dad? Studies have shown dogs miss their owners when separated.

In 2011, a study published in the journal Applied Animal Behavior Science highlighted this. As part of the research, 12 dogs with no history of separation anxiety were left home alone for 30 mins, two hours and four hours.

Researchers then monitored the dog's response to their owner's return after each period of time had passed. What they found was that there was a "higher frequency of physical activity and attentive behavior" when owners returned after two hours compared with 30 minutes.

Whatever the case, Demi was keen to stress that no possums were harmed in the making of the video. "The pet sitter, who luckily is a friend of ours, made sure both the possum and Cooper were OK, and then used a towel to scoop the possum up and put him outside on the patio," she said. "The little guy was unharmed and simply 'playing possum' and quickly ran away once he saw the coast was clear."

Demi already has a theory as to how things might have unfolded too. "I think the possum was in our backyard and saw the dogs, prompting his 'playing possum' response, and Cooper saw a fluffy creature that he wanted to bring inside."

Thankfully, mom and dad are back home and Cooper is starting to resemble his old self again.

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