A dog has gone viral for her emotional reaction to her owners' surprise return from their honeymoon after 10 days apart.
Judith Jelena Paus (@tschudiii) shared a video of her dog, Breeja, frantically searching the apartment after catching her owners' scent. In the clip, Paus and her husband mischievously hide under a blanket on the couch while Breeja runs around, desperately trying to locate them. The video has since garnered more than 84,500 views on Instagram.
"A close friend, who was taking care of our dog Breeja during that time, took her out for a walk while we snuck back into the apartment. We hid under a blanket on the couch. Breeja had already smelled us in the hallway and started looking for us, clearly excited but a little confused. She's a bit older now and didn't find us right away -- it's incredibly sweet to see her know something's up, but not exactly what or where. After a few minutes, she finally found us, and it was a truly emotional and joyful reunion," Paus told Newsweek.
The 13-year-old Phalène was captured circling the apartment, even sniffing the very blanket her owners were under before wandering off to continue her search. Eventually, her instincts led her back for a second look -- and that's when she finally discovered them, and enjoyed lots of snuggles.
Paus told Newsweek that she and her husband, André Resch, had wanted to capture Breeja's reaction after being away from her for over a week. The couple, who have been together for six years, moved from Germany to Lisbon, Portugal, almost two years ago -- where Resch also proposed. They married there earlier this spring and spent their honeymoon in Spain.
During the drive home, which took around six hours, Paus said they coordinated with their friend to ensure Breeja was out for a walk so they could sneak in and prepare the surprise. It wasn't easy holding back their excitement. "It was so hard hearing her in the hallway and not immediately running to hug her!" Paus said.
Paus added that Breeja has been by her side since she was a puppy, describing their bond as inseparable. "We're together 24/7 -- I genuinely can't put into words how much I love her. It's something only 'dog people' truly understand."
Outside of her life with Breeja, Paus is an author and YouTuber who runs the channel Judith Jelena DIY (with 95,000 subscribers) and shares creative projects with her 630,000 Instagram followers. "I teach people how to build, knit, and crochet things themselves -- it's all about DIY. My private profile usually doesn't get much attention, so it really warmed my heart to see how many people were touched by Breeja's reaction," she said.
"I just know it was torture not to grab your baby the second those paws hit the couch," commented Sammy.