Man stopped to pet a stranger’s Rottweiler pup months after losing his own — and broke down when he learned who she belonged to

A man was reminded of his own late dog when he walked past a woman sitting with a Rottweiler puppy. He could not help but stop to pet him and struck up a brief conversation with the woman he thought was the owner. The man felt emotional seeing the puppy and adored him, kneeling on the floor. Then, the woman interrupted him to inform him who the puppy belonged to, which moved the man to tears. Casie Wohali, who goes by @hawaii2355 on TikTok, captured the tender moment and shared it on the internet, amassing 1.7 million views.

The woman was waiting at an outdoor table with the Rottweiler puppy when the man gently approached her. “I lost my Rott a couple of months ago,” said the man, identified as the husband of Wohali’s sister-in-law. Feeling sad for the grieving dog owner, the woman offered to introduce him to the puppy. Elated by the opportunity, the man asked whether the pup was a boy or a girl and shared that his was a girl too. As he knelt down to pet her, he exclaimed, “Hi sweetheart, you’re beautiful.” The creator had been filming the heartwarming encounter from a corner of the sidewalk.  

“Hey, is your name Moses? I’ve been looking for you, actually,” the woman said suddenly. She informed the man that she was there for a surprise delivery. A questionable look washed over his face, but soon it all became clear. “Are you kidding me?” he said, looking up at his wife. Moses fought back tears as he held the puppy, who was a surprise gift from his wife. He broke down crying as the adorable puppy sat in front of him. “My sister-in-law surprised her husband with his new puppy,” the overlay text noted. Moses had lost his Rottweiler to a tumor and was still recovering from the loss, the caption hinted. 

The thoughtful gesture struck a chord with many people on the internet. Most viewers applauded how well-planned the surprise was because the wife knew her husband would stop to talk to the woman about her dog. “The fact you knew he would go pet it,” said @growinwithkatie and @ava.mckoskey penned, “Grown man immediately got down on the ground with a baby voice.” “I love how she set this up because she knew he would stop and say ‘Hi’," wrote @payton_gd. 

A study published in the journal News in Health stated that human-animal interactions have positive health effects, from decreasing levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, and lower blood pressure to increased feelings of social support and emotional well-being. “Dogs are very present. If someone is struggling with something, they know how to sit there and be loving,” said Dr. Ann Berger, a physician and researcher at the NIH Clinical Center in Maryland. 

You can follow @hawaii2355 on TikTok for more videos.