Woman hears her dog whining at the door — gets teary-eyed by the reason behind it

An emotional video landed on the internet when Amber Aquart, dog parent of Whiskey Toller, shared Whiskey’s clip on her Instagram account. While the account shows many of the dog's escapades, this one in particular hits closer to home. The video was posted on 24th June, 2025, under the handle name, @whiskeytoller, was captioned, “I heard whining at the door. Poor whisk doesn’t understand, I wish I could explain it to her! But I know she will love her new house even more.”

The clip showcases the lovely Whiskey wandering around the entire house, sniffing different areas as if internally confused and trying to understand the empty spaces that were once crowded with household furniture. Aquart continued her story further in the comment section, “We went back to our old house one night for the last time to grab the last things. I brought the dogs with me to say their final goodbyes. They hadn’t seen the house without all of our things in it, and I didn’t expect them to care much since we’ve always traveled with them. Whiskey kept going to the door of the basement and whining, I let her down there and she kept looking everywhere. I didn’t expect her to react this way at all.”

The overlaid texts on the Instagram video also explained Whisky's story and why she was found whining by the basement door. “My dog started crying when seeing our old house for the last time. She ran to her favorite part of the house and was looking for all of her things. She kept looking around wondering where everything went. She even tried sniffing to try and find her things. She seemed confused, but I promised her that she would see her stuff again soon. I know she will miss the house. But she will love her new house even more.” Dogs don't perceive reality or time in the same way as us, leading to them interpreting actions and events differently than us. This often leads to owners not recognizing their dog's urgent actions, moods, or needs.

The video not only captures a cute moment but also showcases the emotional intelligence of dogs. A recent paper by the National Library of Medicine found how living with humans over many years has helped emotionally intelligent dogs read our facial expressions and tone of voice. An intensive research involving more than 1,300 dogs showed that they process emotional signals in ways similar to human infants. Even stray dogs, who make up more than 80% of the global dog population, have been observed understanding the body language of humans.

The viral video gathered immense attention on the internet, resulting in more than 63,600 views and 4,651 likes. It also received positive comments from many users. @all.paws.out, wrote, "Awww... So sweet. Congratulations on your new house!" @odeleg, shared, "Went through that with Emily, took her a little while to get used to the new space, even when we put out her things, it’s an adjustment period. She will love it, congrats."

For more adorable dog content, follow @whiskeytoller on her Instagram account.