Hearts Break as Fostered Dog Thinks New Teddy Is Her Baby

An adorable video of a foster dog mothering a fake puppy has gone viral on TikTok with more than 380,000 views.

In the video, Mara the dog can be seen sniffing a fake puppy. Her foster mom Lauren Petrocelli explains that the toy was "a gift when my dog passed away" on February 15.

"She just noticed this puppy, and I'm so curious what she's thinking because I can tell just from her body that she has given birth before, she's now spayed," said Lauren. "But I'm so curious what she thinks about this 'cause it's not a real puppy."

Mara then licks the puppy in the video, and the footage cuts to her lying on a bed, washing the fake animal.

While not common, female, and sometimes male, dogs using a toy as a substitute puppy can occur for a number of reasons. Veterinarians at Animal Medical of New City in New York say that one reason why a dog might be obsessed with a toy is that the animal is seeing it as a substitute puppy.

"Mothering is a strong instinct in many female dogs, regardless if they have been spayed or not," the veterinarians explain. "Some dogs, especially females (but males will also exhibit the behavior from time-to-time), play-act mothering with their toys. The toy satisfies a deep instinct to nurture and protect."

Dogs who believe their toys are puppies can exhibit protective behavior over the toy, carrying it around and taking it to their bed. Pet advice website Wag Walking says that, although this behavior might be perceived as "cute and is encouraged by dog owners," it can turn into aggression.

"If you notice your dog growling when you come near the toy or not wanting to release the toy, then you need to be ready for some intervention and not to encourage this behavior," Wag Walking experts say.

🛑 STOP!! i swear this will be the cutest thing you see all day

Most users wrote comments like, "That's so sweet. She's a beautiful girl," or "She's like 'so this must be my responsibility.'"

Some users posted that there may be some downsides to the situation, however. One wrote: "As cute as this is when my old dog did this she became extremely depressed as she realized it wasn't moving or breathing like it had passed away."

Another user commented: "Totally messed with the dogs head. Why? Why laugh? How's that funny?"

Petrocelli wrote in the comments: "She's fine, she hasn't expressed any sort of distress. It was just a cute moment."

Newsweek has reached out to @entirelp via TikTok and GoFundMe for comment.

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