Owner keeps gate open and lets her senior dog 'escape' for a reason that is as emotional as it gets

As time passes, age catches up with everyone. The energy, curiosity and overall carefree moments of youth become treasured memories. Just like humans, animals also crave fearless adventures, endless energy and, of course, the joy of discovering something new. Although age slows them down, the spark of the youth always remains etched in their hearts. Likewise, a pet parent lets her senior dog, Miley (@smileymileystaffy), run down the sidewalks as if it had 'escaped' for an emotional reason. 

Miley was the "biggest escape artist" when the Staffordshire bull terrier was young and energetic. However, with age, even though Miley tries to escape and go for a walk, the senior dog "never makes it too far," the pet parent revealed. To keep Miley's spirit alive, her owner shared that she keeps the gates open and lets the dog feel like it has escaped. "Now I open the gate & 'let' her escape as my toddler loves catching her," the dog owner revealed in the video caption. In the now-viral TikTok video, Miley walked down the sidewalk while the owner and her toddler watched the dog from behind.

Additionally, Miley's mother and toddler sibling were walking with a stroller, ready to take the dog back if it was tired from the escape run. Notably, replying to someone in the comments, the woman revealed that handling escaping dogs is difficult. "I managed a pound/shelter for reasons and it was a big reason for surrendering/abandoning but as I experienced it for years I would try and give them all the advice," she added.

Meanwhile, reacting to the video, @loey wrote, "My old girl was paralyzed from the waist down but still tried to go for a bird in the garden when we took her out to do her business. I miss her so much." @0reochoco who resonated with Miley's video, commented, "Same with my dog I'm literally always tearing up at random times because he's a black dog and the whiting of his fur is so noticeable." @emily(ems) wrote, "Thank you for sharing this. My escape artist turned 3 in August and is losing that puppy. I thought about this and it’s much different to see it." Similarly, @tiffanytorres, another dog owner, wrote, "My fur brother use to take himself for walks. And we stood in the yard and yelled for him to come home and he always did. We love a free wandering soul."

On the other hand, @stephanie.lee commented, "Mine used to escape if I put her out for longer than 10 mins, would walk the streets knocking on doors for love until someone answered. She’s now got cancer and I can’t afford her surgery." @tonikka wrote, "My pup walks like that, her back legs are getting weaker. They think she has a form of Degenerative myelopathy (has no arthritis and her joints are good), just has a weak backend and a bit of dementia." @keeta wrote, "My boy who passed away used to run to the neighbors to play with their dog and I lived next to my high school he used to run to my school looking for me, the school would call my dad." @karma wrote, "From someone who never got to see her fur baby age, it's such a beautiful moment. My girl turned 8 over the rainbow Bridge, what I would do to have just 1 minute with her."

You can follow SmileyMileyStaffy (@smileymileystaffy) for more updates on Miley.